Digital Commons Network^™

Determining Autistic Aesthetics: How To Find Autistic Artists In Canada, Gerald S. Beaulieu

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

As notions of Autism slowly move from a pathological to a cultural framework it is a fair question to ask if this includes a distinctive Autistic aesthetic. This is a comparative question, evaluating a distinctive aesthetic against established norms and to do this effectively you need samples. The more samples you have the better the comparison. It certainly makes sense that individuals with divergent neurologies and sensory experiences would perceive the world and reflect it differently through their content creation across artistic disciplines. The challenge however is finding this content as works by autistic creators are exceedingly rare and hard …

Sculpting Aesthetic Experiences Through Autistic Indigenous Knowledge, Manuel A. Sánchez Peña

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

The intersection between the autistic mind and the experience of aesthetic elements sculpts a distinct lens through which individuals could explain and appreciate the human experience. Differences between neurotypicals and autistics in terms of sensory experience, cognition and communication, combined with knowledge produced by the Philosophy, Psychology, and Anthropology fields in Aesthetics permit the application of the Neurodiversity Paradigm as a source to explain the perception of aesthetics in the collective. The complexity of these experiences in autistic people not only expands deeper comprehension on aesthetic experiences and all its relativisms, but also illustrates neurodiversity as a form of cultural …

Ell Cultural Inclusion Initiative, Julia L. Gidley

Masters Theses

This project draws on Maslow’s theory of motivation using his hierarchy as a framework, as well as Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. This project aims to engage and involve English Language Learners (ELL) in the classroom by informing educators of strategies that help to find commonalities among students and cultivate communication between Native English Speakers and ELLs thus developing a culturally inclusive classroom. By building the relationships between the two student subgroups (ELLs and NESs) teachers will gain a class of students who have a well-developed world view, increase language acquisition, and develop a deep appreciation and respect for other cultures. Through …

Culturally Responsive Teaching In The Art Room, Katherine Starr Dana

Culminating Experience Projects

This project examines culturally responsive teaching in the art education classroom. As diversity in student populations increase in art rooms all across the United States, there is a lack of diversity in the teaching workforce-which remains predominately White and female (Lee, 2012). In order to bridge the overwhelming demographic divide to meet the needs of all students, art teachers must become better positioned to work in increasingly diverse school populations and create meaningful connections to student’s experiences. In order to achieve this goal, art teachers must become culturally competent through the use of culturally responsive teaching. The project is a …

Views On Aging – Current Trends And Future Directions For Cross-Cultural Research, Anna E. Kornadt, Clara De Paula Couto, Klaus Rothermund

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The investigation of what enables societies and individuals to age well remains one of the greatest challenges of our time. Views on aging are a decisive factor in this process, and thus, improving their understanding through cross-cultural research is of utmost importance. In the current review, we address the role of socio-ecological variables and cultural values and beliefs when investigating country differences in what people think about older persons and getting old themselves. Several complexities are introduced in terms of a differentiated conceptualization of views on aging that takes life domains and normative prescriptions into account, and also in terms …

The Rice Theory Of Culture, Thomas Talhelm

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The rice theory of culture is the idea that rice farming societies developed into more interdependent, tight cultures in response to the demands of the plant. Farming in general is an interdependent subsistence style, but traditional paddy rice farming was starkly different from other major crops like wheat, corn, and potatoes. Paddy rice required twice as much labor per hectare as wheat farming. Farmers responded by creating customs to share labor. Paddy rice also depended on irrigation systems to flood and drain the fields. Once farmers controlled water, they now had to coordinate how much water each farmer got, when …

Conspiracy Theories Through A Cross-Cultural Lens, Roland Imhoff

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Conspiracy beliefs and an overarching conspiracy mentality binding them together are hot topics in psychology, not the least due to potential societal costs that are associated with them. Despite anecdotal evidence supporting the ubiquity of such beliefs across the globe, very little research has systematically explored cross-cultural differences, let alone tested theory-based hypotheses about such differences. The present paper highlights important methodological and theoretical considerations in developing a sound research program in predictors of country-level variations in conspiracy endorsement.

Home Literacy As A Way To Improve Students’ Academic Achievement And Motivation, Foster Strong Familial Relationships, And Bridge The Gap Between Home And School: A Framework For Custom Family Literacy Programs, Julia Marie Brown

Culminating Experience Projects

A child’s home environment is one of the greatest contributors to their social and cultural background, as it innately impacts their educational experiences and attitudes towards learning. Similarly, language development and literacy are deeply rooted in social, cultural, and historical experiences. Thus, the integration of literacy within home environments can strengthen families, contribute to overall academic success, and increase motivation and engagement amongst learners. While researchers and educators alike agree that fostering strong home literacy environments is beneficial for families as a whole and children as learners, many family literacy programs fail to bridge the gap between home and school …

Providing High-Quality, Diverse Literature For Kindergarten Classrooms, Tamara Powell

Culminating Experience Projects

There is a need to utilize more high-quality, diverse literature in kindergarten classrooms across the United States to ensure that students are being exposed to culturally relevant texts. The purpose of the Diverse Story Kinder Kit is to provide educators with access to authentic, culturally relevant literature that can be shared with kindergarten students to help develop identity, awareness of other cultures, and appreciation of other cultures. The project is framed under the Reader Response Theory and the Critical Literacy Theory to examine how high-quality literature has a positive impact on student response to literature that reflects students own experiences. …

The Impact Of Culture On Business Negotiations, Nadia L. Gonzalez

Honors Projects

Understanding the impact of culture and cultural differences is essential in negotiations. Using both Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory and the GLOBE Project’s nine cultural dimensions, this paper highlights the impact of culture in international business negotiations. After discussing the dimensions and various national attributes attributed to these dimensions, this paper highlights several important cultural strategies for firms to keep in mind when negotiating. It concludes with propositions and a discussion about how negotiators can improve their skills through an understanding and respect of cultural differences.

Human-Centered Design And Foundation Staff: A Case Study In Engaging Grant Beneficiaries, Nicholas G. Randell, Megan Macdavey

The Foundation Review

As part of ongoing efforts to engage grant partner voices in their work with young people who have intellectual disabilities, program staff at the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation have explored the notion of being physically proximate to these young people as a way to more authentically listen to them and their families — those for whose benefit the foundation’s grant dollars are ultimately intended.

The staff’s most recent engagement strategy looked at a way of solving problems and designing solutions for people that puts those people at the focal point of the process: human-centered design. For the Tower Foundation, …

Family And Socialization Factors In Brazil: An Overview, Maria Auxiliadora Dessen, Cláudio V. Torres

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The structure of the Brazilian family is related to five sub-cultures that, in turn, relate to the geographic regions of the country. This chapter presents a brief characterization of Brazilian culture and family, and describes changes in the structural relations and in the redefinition of models of Brazilian family organization. In order to illustrate the subtle interactions among social factors that influence the family in Brazil, we point out some values, beliefs, and practices employed by middle- and working-class parents. This paper also describes some of the characteristics of parent-child relationships within these families, providing an overview of children’s work, …

Institutional Resources With Notable Foci On Psychology And Culture, Walt Lonner, Wolfgang Friedlmeier

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The following Centers, Institutes, Programs and Units (hereafter called “entities”), all components of colleges and universities in many countries, are important resources for teaching, research, consultation and services that have some focus on psychology and culture. The aim of this list is to provide brief information about each entity and to identify the main contact person(s) at each.

Mexicans’ Emotion Regulation Strategies And Relationship Satisfaction By Gender, Sofía Rivera-Aragón, Rolando Díaz-Loving, Claudia Ivethe Jaen-Cortés, Gerardo Benjamín Tonatiuh Villanueva-Orozco, Pedro Wolfgang Velasco-Matus, Luz Maria Cruz-Martínez, Angélica Romero-Palencia

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

Vater and Schröder-Abé (2015) found that suppressing expression can potentially interrupt couple communication, therefore producing negative interpersonal behavior and diminishing satisfaction in the relationship. Considering that emotional regulation and relationship satisfaction have shown cultural variations, the object of the study was to assess the relationship of these two constructs in 166 male and 231 female Mexican young adults. Sánchez-Aragón’s (2012) Emotional Regulation Strategies Scale, adapted for couples, and Córtes, Reyes, Díaz-Loving, Rivera-Aragón, and Monjaraz’s (1994) Relationship Satisfaction Inventory were administered to the sample. Negative and significant correlations were found between both expressive suppression strategies and relationship satisfaction. Data is discussed …

Who Cares? Attitudes Of High School Students From Various Countries Towards Global And Domestic Environmental Issues, Kseniya Fomichova, Taku Misonou

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

This study focused on attitudes of 16 year-old students from six countries towards environmental issues on domestic and global scales. Male and female students from China, Guinea, Japan, Malaysia, Ukraine and Vietnam expressed their level of concern about the following in regard to their country and the world: (a) air quality, (b) drinking water quality, (c) pollution caused by atomic power plants, (d) clearing of forests, (e) extinction of plants and animals, (f) climate change and (g) global disaster. This research focused on gender and cultural variability and invariance under diverse conditions of students’ backgrounds.

The most pronounced intercultural regularity …

The Underrepresentation Of African Americans And The Role Of Casting Directors, Chantal Suhling

Undergraduate Research

Films are cultural products, which reflect the existing ideologies in a culture. In the American culture the two dominant ideologies are white normativity and patriarchy. With the Oscars right around the corner, the world is anticipating this year's nominees and winners. Hopes are high that this year the Academy Award for best actor will go to someone who is diverse. If films are reconstructions of culture, then can we really expect to see change at the Oscars? Through thorough qualitative research and interviews with industry professionals, a detailed picture of the role of casting directors in the casting process for …

Conceptualizing Cultural Variations In Close Friendships, Roger Baumgarte

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The goal of this article is to propose a model, new to the field, describing cultural variations in close friendships. The model addresses shortcomings in past research regarding how close friendships differ in individualist compared to collectivist cultures. The model proposes three dimensions, with six overlapping but conceptually useful styles of friendship, Independents versus Interveners, Includers versus Excluders, and Idealists versus Realists. Succinct, simplified descriptors of each style follow: Independents respect each other’s autonomy, value spending quality time with friends, and support each other’s sense of self. Interveners are actively involved in their friends’ lives, reflecting the …

Reconsidering Attachment In Context Of Culture: Review Of Attachment Studies In Japan, Kazuko Y. Behrens

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

This paper revisits the attachment controversies, reexamining the debates regarding attachment phenomenon being universal or culture-specific, and reconsiders whether it is possible to conduct culturally sensitive attachment research in non-Western societies while incorporating systematic empirical designs to enable replications across cultures. The goal of this paper is to improve our understanding about the clash between the fields and achieve consensus regarding the value of attachment research while acknowledging the limitations of attachment research in certain cultural contexts. The cultural debate will focus on one non-Western culture – Japan – where the controversy began. Finally, this review proposes the way in …

Internal Culture, External Impact: How A Change-Making Culture Positions Foundations To Achieve Transformational Change, Amy Celep, Sara Brenner, Rachel Mosher-Williams

The Foundation Review

This article argues that a foundation’s internal culture is critical to achieving large-scale social change, but that efforts to build a change-making culture too often are left out of strategy conversations.

While there is no one culture that suits every foundation, a particular set of characteristics must be present in those that seek large-scale social change: a focus on outcomes, transparency, authenticity, collaboration, racial equity and inclusion, continuous learning, and openness to risk.

This article offers insights into why culture can be challenging for foundations to address and maintain, examines cases of successful culture change at foundations, and offers advice …

The Inclusion Of Culture In Canadian Social Psychology Textbooks: A Content Analysis Of Introductory Texts, Colin Scott, Saba Safdar

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Cultural diversity features prominently in Canadian social and political life. Canadian social psychologists, for their part, have led a rich tradition of research on intercultural relations. We identified the undergraduate social psychology textbooks used to introduce students of psychology in Canada to the field and examined the extent that culture is incorporated into the teaching of introductory social psychology. Through a content analysis of Canadian-published introductory social psychology texts, we found that these textbooks are inclusive of cultural diversity, although not all textbooks covered culture with the same depth. Across textbooks, cultural coverage was broad, with many hits across textbooks, …

Is “Culture” A Workable Concept For (Cross-)Cultural Psychology?, Ype Poortinga

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

In this essay three points are addressed:

First, despite repeated findings of limited cross-cultural variation for core areas of study, research in cross-cultural psychology continues to be directed mainly at finding differences in psychological functioning. This often happens at the cost of attention for similarities between groups, or invariance. As a consequence, cross-cultural psychology as a field is feeding into stereotyped views of “them” versus “us”.

Second, the notion of culture implies a holistic perspective, in which various aspects of the behavior repertoire within a group tend to be seen as hanging together. Such views tend to contribute to ideas …

Cultural Priming As A Tool To Understand Multiculturalism And Culture, Arzu Aydinli, Michael Bender

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

What is multiculturalism, and how is it typically studied? The current paper provides answers to these questions by introducing approaches to the study of multiculturalism and their implications. We first present the view of multiculturalism as a static and dispositional phenomenon (i.e., demographic, as well as most uni- and bidimensional conceptualizations of acculturation) and then focus on more dynamic approaches to multiculturalism, that view culture as emerging from domain-specificity, situated cognition, or as a dynamic constructivist process. As part of a dynamic approach to culture, two prominent techniques of priming cultural orientations (i.e., priming Individualism - Collectivism versus Cultural Frame …

A Cultural Perspective On Romantic Love, Victor Karandashev

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The article presents a conceptual, historical, anthropological, psychological, and sociological review of cultural perspectives on love: how culture affects our experience and expression of love. The evidence suggests that love is a universal emotion experienced by a majority of people, in various historical eras, and in all the world’s cultures, but manifests itself in different ways because culture has an impact on people’s conceptions of love and the way they feel, think, and behave in romantic relationships.

Cultural Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction And Overview, Nicholas O. Rule

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

The integration of cognitive neuroscience with the study of culture emerged from independent ascensions among both fields in the early 1990s. This marriage of the two previously unconnected areas of inquiry has generated a variety of empirical and theoretical works that have provided unique insights to both partners that might have otherwise gone overlooked. Here, I provide a brief historical introduction to the emergence of cultural neuroscience from its roots in cultural psychology and cognitive neuroscience to its present stature as one of the most challenging but rewarding sub-disciplines to have come from the burgeoning growth of the study of …

Helping And Volunteering Across Cultures: Determinants Of Prosocial Behavior, Arzu Aydinli, Michael Bender, Athanasios Chasiotis

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Why do people help others and what motivates them to engage in voluntary work? Are the psychological mechanisms that initiate prosocial behavior similar across cultures? In order to find answers for these questions, we give an overview of the prominent approaches to helping, and report findings of studies investigating informal spontaneous help and formal, planned forms of helping. A linchpin of our review is to go beyond a mere descriptive comparison of helping and volunteering across cultures, and to examine the pathways leading to helping and volunteering, which we argue can be considered universal across cultural contexts. Previous studies demonstrate …

Psychology Of A Culture: Humanism And Social Ineffectiveness Embedded In Polish Ways Of Life, Pawel Boski

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

This paper is intended as a learning tool for students wishing to expand their knowledge on culture – psychology interaction derived from a single culture perspective. The paper presents a cultural psychology approach to two themes of Polish culture: Humanism and Social (In)-Effectiveness. The text is divided into three distinct parts: (1) A detailed account of a foreigner's encounter with Poland, where standards typical for this culture are introduced; (2) Historical analysis tracing the origins of these two syndromes in Poland; (3) Empirical comparative studies combined over twenty five years, and their meta-analysis.

Revisiting The Mutual Embeddedness Of Culture And Mental Illness, David Lackland Sam, Virginia Moreira

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

In this paper, we discuss the intricate relationship between culture and mental illness. Our central position is that there cannot be mental illness without culture. We argue that our limited knowledge to the onset, manifestation, course and outcome of mental illness is due in part to the cross-cultural psychological conceptualization of culture, where culture is seen as an independent variable influencing mental illness, the dependent variable. This is in addition to the limitations of the biomedical model in accounting for the origins of mental illness. Using depression and schizophrenia as examples, we argue for the need to see culture and …

Promotion, Prevention Or Both: Regulatory Focus And Culture Revisited, Jenny Kurman, Chin Ming Hui

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Regulatory focus theory (e.g., Higgins, 1997) presented a differentiation between promotion orientation, focused on growth and advancement, and prevention orientation, focused on safety and security. Cross-culture differences in these systems generally show that that collectivist, Eastern cultures (mostly East-Asian cultures) are considered as prevention oriented whereas Western cultures are considered as promotion oriented. Two main claims that contribute to the refinement of the relations between culture and regulatory foci will be presented. The first refinement pertains to the relations between individualism-collectivism and regulatory foci on base of the vertical-horizontal distinction, showing that vertical collectivism is especially relevant to regulatory foci. …

Kinana Hale: An Investigation Of The Tropical And The Desert And How They Shape Our Notion Of Identity And Self, Connie Pan

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

My project is a series of creative non fiction writing which ranges from small bodies of writing that explore a simple idea or a simple moment to larger essays that contemplate more complicated ideas. The writing attempts to expand on the definition of the personal narrative within the genre of creative non-fiction by juxtaposing personal experience and research to demonstrate what Sandell Morse insists is desired: “Creative non-fiction seems to be filling a universal craving for what is theoretically true… Yet, something insides us craves a reality closer to home.”

I combined my personal experiences of growing up on Maui, …

Emotion Representation And Perception Across Cultures, Jeanette Altarriba, Dana M. Basnight, Tina M. Canary

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Are emotion words or emotion categories universal, or are particular emotions and emotion categories specific to certain cultures? The current review explores the answer to this question by summarizing the limited number of studies that have addressed this issue. The representation of emotion is discussed with regards to verbal and nonverbal (facial) processing, in turn. The evidence indicates that the answer is often conflicting and that issues such as methodological, linguistic, social and cultural variance have contributed to the often contradictory findings.