Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Psychology : A Concise Introduction

Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Psychology: A Concise Introduction explores the specific ways one’s cultural background shapes one’s sense of self, emotions, motivation, judgments, relationships, and more. It discusses race, politics, God, sex, money, and how you like your coffee. In the process, this book unpacks “culture” in all its various forms, including (but not limited to) ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, and religious culture. It also covers what happens when cultures collide (e.g., diversity issues and multiculturalism) and presents insights into the future of culture.

To this end, this book uses empirical psychological research on culture and applies it to real-world issues, like whether money makes one happy or being online makes one unwell. It presents the mounting evidence suggesting that much of our psychological processes is culture-specific, theory-driven, and context-dependent. It includes chapters on the newest, most groundbreaking issues facing the study of culture, including how to unpack the origins of culture—where it comes from, how to test the history of culture in modern-day laboratory studies, how culture shapes the brain (and how the brain changes culture), and the question of cultural change in the era of globalization.