“Multiculturalism as a Generic and Permanent Perspective of Global Psychology”

Paul B. Pedersen, UAB August 5, 2000 at the APA in Washington at the invitation of the APA International Relations Committee

“It is widely asserted that we  live in an era in which the greater part of social life is determined by global processes in which national cultures, national economies and national borders are dissolving.  Central to this perception is the notion of a rapid and recent process of economic globalisation.  A truly global economy is claimed to have emerged or to be in the process of emerging, in which distinct national economies and, therefore, domestic strategies of national economic management are increasingly irrelevant.  The world economy has internationalized in its basic dynamics, it is dominated by uncontrollable market forces, and it has as its principal economic actors and major agents of change truly transnational corporations, that owe allegiance to no nation state and locate wherever in the globe market advantage dictates.” 

P. Hirst & G. Thompson (1996) Globalisation in question: The international economy

and the possibilities of governance, Oxford Polity, p.1

Contents1. All behaviors are learned and displayed in a cultural context

2. If the world’s population were only 100 people 

3. Oskamp’s review of “Environmental psychology”

4. Howard identifies “Killer Thoughts”

5. Miller identifies cultural bias

6. National Advisory Mental Health Council, NAMHC (1996)

7. Stanley Sue cites external validity issues

8. Lewis-Fernandez and Kleinman  identify 3 culture-bound assumptions

9. Alternative and complementary therapies more popular

Contents (continued)10. Many reasons why Alternative therapies are popular

11. Culture free or culture fair tests have failed

12. Global Changes are required

13. Conventional assumptions of “textbook psychology”

14. The Up-Side of a multicultural perspective

15. Multiculturalism as a Fourth Force

16. Resistance to Multiculturalism as a Fourth Force

17. The rise of  “Indigenous Psychologies”

18. Yang has developed a list of “Seven No”

19. Yang has also developed a list of “Ten Yes” 

20. Bingham summarizes the multicultural needs of psychology

1.  All behaviors are learned and displayed in a cultural context

• Accurate assessment

• Meaningful understanding

• Appropriate intervention

• Making cultural context central strengthens psychology

If the world’s population were only 100 people:

• 57 Asians

• 21 Europeans

• 14 North and South Americans

• 8 Africans

• 52 are female

• 70 are non-White

• 59% of the wealth belongs to 6 people

• All six people are citizens of the US

• 80 live in sub-standard housing

• 70 are unable to read

• 50 suffer from malnutrition

• 1 has a college education.

3. Oskamp’s review of “Environmental psychology”

• Ecological disaster

• Psychologists can change attitudes

• We are at war

• Destructive lifestyles of the 19th and 20th century

4. Howard identifies “Killer Thoughts”

• Consumption produces happiness

• No need to worry about the future

• Short term rewards are more important

• Growth is good

• Get as many resources as you can

• Keep energy prices low

• If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

• Wait until there is scientific proof

• We will always find new solutions

5. Miller identifies cultural bias

• The self-interest motive is self confirming

• Self interest determines behavior

• The power of social norms

• Norms demonstrate cultural bias

6. National Advisory Mental Health Council, NAMHC (1996)

• Cultural beliefs influence diagnosis and treatment

• Diagnosis differs across cultures

• People express symptoms differently

• Diagnosis vary in each culture

• Most providers are from the majority cultures

7. Stanley Sue cites external validity issues

• Different research approaches are appropriate

• Ethno-cultural beliefs are important

• Much attention to internal validity

• Less emphasis on external validity

• Internal validity supports causal inferences

• External validity renders findings meaningless

• Internal validity leads to majority culture domination

8. Lewis-Fernandez and Kleinman identify 3 culture-bound assumptions

• The egocentricity of the self

• The mind-body dualism

• The view of culture as an arbitrary superimposition on biological reality

9. Alternative and complementary therapies more popular

• One third of the people in the US

• One half of those in Europe

• About 80% of people world-wide

10. Many reasons why Alternative therapies are popular

• Less expensive

• Third party payments

• Reverse technology transfer

• Patient is a participant in healing

• Patient is less helpless

• More low tech

• More gentle and natural

• Relies on self-healing capabilities

• Values subjective relationship

11. Culture free or culture fair tests have failed

• Content validity

• Semantic validity

• Technical equivalence

• Criterion validity

• Conceptual equivalence

12. Global Changes are required

• Textbooks incorporate international examples

• Introduce cross-cultural perspectives

• Theories culturally contextualized

• Psychology understood in its historical context

• Invite more international authors and editors

• Cite more psychological research from outside the US

• Co-authored publications across cultures

• Collaborative research

13. Conventional assumptions of “textbook psychology”

• Unimodal measure of “normal” behavior

• Individualism

• Specialized expertise

• Psychological abstractions

• Dependence usually undesirable

• Natural support systems ignored

• Linear thinking preferred

• Adapt and adjust to the status quo

• History is not very relevant

• Culturally learned assumptions already known

14. The Up-Side of a multicultural perspective

• Accuracy

• Conflict Management

• Identity

• A Healthy Society

• Encapsulation Protection

• Survival

• Social Justice

• Right-thinking

• Personalized Learning

• Spirituality

• Political Stability

• Strengthened Psychology

15. Multiculturalism as a Fourth Force

• Psychology seems to be going through a paradigm shift

• The movement is from a monocultural to multicultural perspectives

• Transpersonal psychology first claimed to be a fourth force

• The new rules emphasize tolerance of ambiguity rather than dissonance reduction

• Reality is more multidimensional than unidimensional

• Both subjective and objective data are valid

• Chaos Theory and Complexity Theory is self-organizing, dynamic and non-linear

16. Resistance to Multiculturalism as a Fourth Force

• Competes with established theories

• Affirmative action, quotas, and emotional controversy

• The arguments against post-modernism

• Universalists

• No accepted standard definition

• No acceptance of measurable competencies

• Unrealistic

• More research is needed

• Can not include all possible groups

• Multiculturalism is “anti-White”

17. The rise of  “Indigenous Psychologies”

• Family orientation is central

• The Chinese generalize their familistic experience

• Rejects an individualistic perspective

• Individualism has dominated psychology

• Interconnectednes and synthesizing opposites 

18. Yang has developed a list of “Seven No”

• Not to habitually adopt Western psychological concepts

• Not to overlook Western psychologist’s important expertise

• Not to reject useful indigenous ideas

• Not  to adopt cross-cultural approaches that impose Western ideas

• Not to use concepts that are too broad or abstract

• Not to think out research problems exclusively in English

• Not to politicize research

19. Yang has also developed a list of “Ten Yes”

• To tolerate vague and ambiguous conditions

• To be a typical Chinese when functioning as a researcher

• To consider the cultural setting of psychological phenomenon

• To give priority to studying culturally unique behavior

• To begin any research with immersion into the natural setting

• To investigate both the process and the content factors

• To base research on the Chinese intellectual tradition

• To go beyond traditional aspects of understanding

• To go beyond psychological functioning in understanding

20. Bingham summarizes the multicultural needs of psychology

• Develop cultural competence

• All curriculum incorporates multiculturalism

• Minority representation

• Recognition of cultural bias

• A social support network

• An inclusive and positive campus climate

• Negating multiculturalism is stopped