I must say that I am not too impressed with attempts by some tipsters
to find Eurocentric conceptual equivalences in other cultures.
Concepts like intelligence,attribution ,empathy and so on do
not carry the same meaning in other cultures.
The Eurocentric penchant for emphasizing experimental methodology
as the key to understanding causal relationships may be internally
valid,but this is no indication that it has external validity.
>From the info from that PsyInc search,it seems like researchers
think that they can go to other countries and just transfer
their tools and come to valid conclusions.
Chinese college students may be like students in the U.S,but
a selected group of Chinese students may not be representative
of the indigenous Chinese.There is an area of study called
Indigenous Psychology which differs from Cross-cultural
Psychology.When we are dealing with Indigenous Psychology-
a separate and distinctive methodology must be developped
for virtually every culture.
It is my observation re the FAE that international students
are more likely to blame themselves for both academic successes and
failures,whereas U.S students take credit for successes and have a
tendency to blame environmental factors for their failures.
-probably an offshoot of being culturally conditioned to assume
that when things go wrong the environment may have played a part.
It can be a form of stubborn and rigid and inflexible individualism.
As to attack on opinions,let me say this about that.Some opinions
may be based on reliable experiences and observations and inferences
based on these should not be discarded.Good and reliable
observations can yield valid results.See old text by Hutt and Hutt
and other types of ethological research.
When I compare and contrast cultures,I know what I am noting
because I was raised and educated in differing cultures.
Now there is culural transformation taking place all the time.
Interestingly enough,the Westernization of some cultures
may bring in the same predicaments as the West(obesity
in India and crime in Johannesburg) but these are introduced
by the West and not indigenous.
There is alot of bystander apathy to the homeless in the U.S
which does not involve being in a crowd.
Stay tuned!
I cannot wait to comment on shame and guilt cross-culturally.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
"Da cross-cultural dude on TIPS."
