Culture and basic psychological processes--toward a system view of culture: comment on Oyserman et al. (2002)

Psychol Bull. 2002 Jan;128(1):89-96. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.128.1.89.

Abstract

D. Oyserman, H. M. Coon, and M. Kemmelmeier (2002) provide a most comprehensive review of empirical studies that used attitudinal surveys to capture cultural variations in individualism and collectivism. In the present article, the author suggests that the cross-cultural validity of attitudinal surveys can no longer be taken for granted. Moreover, the meta-theory underlying this literature (called the entity view of culture) is called into question. The author presents an alternative meta-theory (called the system view of culture) and discusses its implications for future work in cultural and cross-cultural psychology.

Publication types

  • Comment
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Attitude*
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Cultural Characteristics*
  • Humans
  • Psychology, Social*
  • Systems Theory*