Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T19:35:55.240Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Commentary: Nuancing the Meaning of Cultural Diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Cristina Jayme Montiel  and
Ma. Elizabeth J. Macapagal
Cristina Jayme Montiel*
Affiliation:
Ateneo de Manila University
Ma. Elizabeth J. Macapagal
Affiliation:
Ateneo de Manila University
*
Address for correspondence: Cristina Montiel, Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University, PO Box 154 Manila 1099, Philippines. E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The featured articles in the section on cultural diversity across the Pacific address important cultural issues in psychology as applied to psychopathology (Marsella & Yamada, 2011), intercultural relations and acculturation (Berry, 2011) and the phenomenon of culture shock (Furnham, 2011). We appreciate how the three articles offer a wide multidisciplinary lens and view mental problems from this broader vantage point. Beyond narratives of biology and individual personality dispositions, the authors include an anthropologists' eye to viewing mental illness (Marsella & Yamada, 2011), use sociological explanations of intergroup relations in a multicultural model of acculturation (Berry, 2011) and refer to demographic migration patterns to elucidate culture shock among foreign students (Furnham, 2011). The contribution of this set of writings lies in its insightful emphasis on how culture interfaces with one's subjective life. Our essay unpacks the cultural lens used in the psychological accounts, points out conceptual spaces that are largely unexplored in cross-cultural psychology (something that is observed and lamented by these authors in their articles here and elsewhere) and suggests avenues for future research about cultural diversity.

Keywords

cultural diversitycultural identityintergroup asymmetryPacific Rim
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , December 2011 , pp. 81 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

References

Berry, J.W. (1980). Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. In Padilla, A.M. (Ed.), Acculturation: Theory, models, and some new findings (pp. 9–25). Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Berry, J.W. (2011). Intercultural relation and acculturation in the Pacific region. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 4(2), 95–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhatia, S. (2007). Rethinking culture and identity in Psychology: Towards a transnational cultural psychology. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. 28(1), 301–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furnham, A. (2011). Culture shock: Literature review, personal statement, and relevance for the South Pacific. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 4(2), 87–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, K., & Sasso, T. (2011). Mapping the contours of contemporary positive psychology, Canadian Psychology, 52(2), 82–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markus, H.R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsella, A., & Yamada, A.M. (2011). Culture and psychopathology: Foundations, issues, directions. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 4(2), 103–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reilly, B. (2008). Ethnic conflict in Papua New Guinea. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 49(1), 12–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seligman, M.E.P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5–14.Google Scholar
Triandis, H.C. (1995). The psychological measurement of cultural syndromes. American Psychologist, 51, 407–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trumbull, C. (Ed.). (2002). 2002 Britannica book of the year. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.Google Scholar
Zhou, Z., Jondol-Snape, D., Toping, K., & Todman, J. (2008). Theoretical models of culture shock and adaptation in international students in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 33(1), 63–75.Google Scholar