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Responsible behavioral science generalizations and applications require much more than non-WEIRD samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2010

Vladimir J. Konečni
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California–San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109. [email protected]://psychology.ucsd.edu/people/faculty/vkonecni.php

Abstract

There are many methodological considerations – some intricately associated with the use of WEIRD samples – that adversely affect external validity as much as, or even more than, unrepresentative sampling does. Among suspect applications, especially worrisome is the incorporation of WEIRD-based findings regarding moral reasoning and retribution into normative expectations, such as might be held by international criminal tribunals in “cognitively distant” war-torn areas.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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