Psychology and Culture

With increasing globalization, countries face social, linguistic, religious and other cultural changes that can lead to misunderstandings in a variety of settings. These changes can have broader implications across the world, leading to changing dynamics in identity, gender, relationships, family, and community. This book addresses the subsequent need for a basic understanding of the cultural dimensions of psychology and their application to everyday settings. The book discusses the basis of culture and presents related theories and concepts, including a description of how cognition and behavior are influenced by different sociocultural contexts. The text explores a broad definition of culture and provides practical models to improve intercultural relations, communication, and cultural competency. Each chapter contains an introduction, a concise overview of the topic, a practical application of the topic using current global examples, and a brief summary. This up to date overview of psychology and culture is ideal reading for undergraduate and graduate students and academics interested in culturally related topics and issues.

Lisa M. Vaughn is Associate Professor in Paediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine / Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. She is trained as a social psychologist, counsellor and medical educator and her primary interests are sociocultural issues affecting the health and well-being of families, especially immigrant and minority populations.

"This is a very succinct and clear introduction to psychological differences across cultures. It covers a very broad area of research and is well referenced with up-to-date papers and books. It is a well-written and highly accessible text." - Adrian Furnham, Department of Psychology, University College London, UK