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Theorists who endeavor to take sociality seriously have made substantial strides, but the phenomenological immediacy of experience has not been well explored or sufficiently addressed. This dissertation proposes an approach to cultural psychology that accounts for such experience. It addresses how authors such as Hubert Hermans, James Wertsch, Ken Gergen, Derek Edwards, and Jonathan Potter have tended to propose visions of cultural psychology that do not do justice to such experience, partly because they have different analytic interests. Regardless, there is a need in current theorizing in cultural psychology to address culturally orchestrated action in a way that includes experience. This dissertation attempts to address this need. To provide an alternative view on cultural psychology, this dissertation turns to the Russian thinker, Mikhail Bakhtin, and his notion of speech genres. The inherent sociality of embodied experience that is part of Bakhtins notion of speech genres is presented in contrast to the views of above-mentioned authors. This work presents a view of Bakhtins discussion of realism in relation to experience and sociality. This discussion leads to an alternative sociocultural understanding of individual agency that is central to the ontogenetic development of selfhood. The discussion then progresses to examine what Bakhtin can contribute to a psychology embroiled in postmodernism. Where self has been treated as socially constructed and changeable such that notions like faithfulness to oneself, which is generally thought to belong in the domain of a true core self, are rendered futile Bakhtin offers a view of embodied self that both requires and clarifies these notions. The proposed alternative concludes by addressing how research could be conducted for those interested in extending the proposed cultural psychology in an empirical direction.

This interdisciplinary research project investigated the process of healing utilized by Açorean Portuguese traditional healers. The purpose was to facilitate an understanding of this process for multicultural counselling practices in North America. The theoretical framework is informed by medical anthropology and the work of Arthur Kleinman (1980, 1987). Kleinman has been called an ethnographer of illness because of his belief that suffering is social and, as such, culturally constructed. He contends that without consideration of the experience of suffering and the social aspects of suffering, health care practitioners face poorer outcomes in treatments (Kleinman, 2005). The current ethnographic study was carried out in the Açorean Islands of Portugal and asked the following research question: How do traditional healers in the Açorean Islands facilitate wellness in people suffering from illness? Illness was defined as the personal experience of physiological and/or psychological disease or distress (Kleinman, 1980). This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge dealing with multicultural counselling as follows: a) it adds knowledge by contributing an in-depth description of Portuguese Açorean traditional healers, which was previously absent from the counselling psychology literature: b) it expands on existing research to further explicate the significance of suffering in the world for Portuguese Açoreans and the role traditional healers play in witnessing this suffering; and c) it highlights the multifaceted impact of language when English speaking counsellors work with second language English speaking clients.

This interdisciplinary research project investigated the process of healing utilized by Açorean Portuguese traditional healers. The purpose was to facilitate an understanding of this process for multicultural counselling practices in North America. The theoretical framework is informed by medical anthropology and the work of Arthur Kleinman (1980, 1987). Kleinman has been called an ethnographer of illness because of his belief that suffering is social and, as such, culturally constructed. He contends that without consideration of the experience of suffering and the social aspects of suffering, health care practitioners face poorer outcomes in treatments (Kleinman, 2005). The current ethnographic study was carried out in the Açorean Islands of Portugal and asked the following research question: How do traditional healers in the Açorean Islands facilitate wellness in people suffering from illness? Illness was defined as the personal experience of physiological and/or psychological disease or distress (Kleinman, 1980). This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge dealing with multicultural counselling as follows: a) it adds knowledge by contributing an in-depth description of Portuguese Açorean traditional healers, which was previously absent from the counselling psychology literature: b) it expands on existing research to further explicate the significance of suffering in the world for Portuguese Açoreans and the role traditional healers play in witnessing this suffering; and c) it highlights the multifaceted impact of language when English speaking counsellors work with second language English speaking clients. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The present study examined the nature of test anxiety from a cross-cultural perspective, with a specific reference to children in the Indian culture. In particular, the present study investigated the role of intra-individual variables (fear, anxiety, depression, and somatization) and extra-individual variables (activities schedule, consequences of failure, perceived parental expectations and involvement and parental expectations and involvement) in predicting test anxiety. A culturally sensitive methodology consistent with Berry's imposed etic-emic-derived etic approach was adopted wherein a combination of qualitative and quantitative data was examined. A sample of 231 children from government, government-aided, and private schools participated in the study. Qualitative data was collected using focus groups and open-ended questions and provided an enriched understanding of the manifestation of test anxiety and its correlates in a sample of school going children in India. Quantitative data was collected from translated and adapted western questionnaires and surveys that tapped intra-individual and extra-individual variables examined in the current investigation. Overall, the qualitative data indicated that social derogation and somatization were salient aspects of the phenomenological experience; while high stakes exams, authoritarian parenting styles, and poverty, were significant contextual factors related to test anxiety in Indian children. Quantitative data suggested that somatization was correlated to test anxiety and predicted test anxiety above and beyond other intra-individual variables. However, among the extra-individual variables, only consequences of exam failure and perceived parental expectations were correlated with test anxiety and these did not predict test anxiety above and beyond the intra-individual variables. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Ph. D.

The aim of the thesis entitled Cross-cultural psychology, culturological contribution to the selected topics, is to present the field of cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology in the Czech Republic. This thesis focuses on the selected topics from the area of study of cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology. The thesis is a theoretical and literary overview. Attention is paid to the four thematic areas of psychology: the influence of culture on cognitive processes, individual development in culture, the relationship between personality and culture, and psychological aspects of intercultural interaction. The work focuses on the challenges and limits of studies of the human psyche in a cross-cultural perspective. Cited empirical studies show that cultural context affects many mental functions. From the perspective of culturology as a science, this thesis represents a contribution to the interdisciplinary study of culture at the individual level.

Research on aesthetic perception of dance has been recently generating considerable interest within the field of Psychology of Aesthetics. There are, however, a number of methodological and conceptual gaps in our knowledge such as the application of the method of production, as well as understanding the role of motion smoothness, synchronous movement, and cultural factors in aesthetic perception. The present basic research addresses those gaps through five psychological experiments. In study 1, participants generated static sequences of images according their preference. Smooth continuation of meaningful objects was preferred when considering implied motion. In study 2, participants sorted images into moving sequences that they would like to see. Participants liked movements with smooth motion. In study 3, participants rated different schematic video animations depicting two dancers. Participants preferred smooth movements preformed in synchrony. In study 4, participants rated video animations depicting different types of motion performed by human body or abstract shapes. Participants preferred smooth synchrony. In study 5, British and Japanese participants watched synchronous and asynchronous actual dance video clips, rated the videos according their aesthetic judgement and answered questionnaires about motivations and individualism/collectivism. British participants preferred asynchronous dance while Japanese participants preferred synchronous dance. Studies 1 and 2 applied the method of production for the first time to study aesthetic preference for human movement, studies 1 to 4 support the neurocognitive model of aesthetic appreciation in the performing arts. Study 5 supports our cultural hypothesis: British participants preferred asynchrony (in line with analytical perceptual style, Western focus on individual movements), whereas Japanese participants preferred synchrony (holistic style, Eastern focus on group movement). Convergence between the neurocognitive model and the cultural hypothesis is discussed. The present research opens new lines of research in perception of human movement and performing arts: the method of production, motion smoothness, synchrony, and cross-cultural aesthetics.

Research in cultural psychology suggests that mind and behavior are necessarily cultural. The implications of this perspective call into question assumptions of scientific psychology's cultural neutrality and indicate that it may be a form of cultural community in its own right. As such, it seems that it will necessarily be defined by certain cultural biases that are exclusive of other cultural biases. Nevertheless, providing that scientists can strive to identify their explicit and implicit cultural biases, and so long as they can define their sciences in terms of cultural biases that are rational and mandatory within the internal logic of psychology, psychology's specific cultural biases may enable them to advance knowledge in ways that other cultural approaches, such as religion or ethics, cannot. This paper suggests criteria for identifying whether any given cultural biases within psychology might be justified or unjustified and reviews exemplars of justified and unjustified implicit and explicit cultural biases. It also discusses how, in cases of unjustified cultural bias, alternative cultural perspectives can be instrumental in scientific advancement. Ultimately, the paper suggests that psychologists can be culturally inclusive without compromising the truly critical cultural biases that make psychological science worthwhile. Moreover, it suggests ways in which cultural inclusion may be beneficial for individual psychologists, the discipline of scientific psychology as a whole, and in how psychological science engages with other cultural communities.

92 students from a Southern California liberal arts college and two Beijing universities participated in an online questionnaire. Their cultural tendencies (i.e. level of collectivism and perception of family support) and responses to hypothetical investment scenarios were observed. Participants were asked to provide the amount they would invest in each scenario as well as a risk safety rating. The Chinese respondents reported higher cushion and collectivism scores than the Americans. Furthermore, the Chinese sample offered more money for the three riskiest scenarios; they also rated three scenarios safer than the Americans did. The cushion and collectivism scores were not found to predict risk appraisal and amount invested in the scenarios. The results suggest that cultural biases may have an impact on the financial risk-taking behavior of different peoples, but other cultural variables and situational determinants may play an equally influential role in affecting risk perception and investment behavior.

Though much research has been conducted concerning the horizontal and vertical attributes of individualism and, not much has been done comparing and contrasting an Eastern culture, collectivism to a specific aspect of American culture, individualism, such as Korean American. The 32-item INDCOL scale was used to measure the 4 attributes (Singelis et al., 1995). Contrary to the proposed hypothesis, this study found high scores in horizontal individualism in Korean American participants and high scores in horizontal individualism and horizontal collectivism in Korean participants. These results could indicate a shift towards a different attribute in the Korean and Korean American community.