CPRG Themes

CPRG Culture & Psychology Research Group

Themes

The following themes are associated with the interests of the Culture & Psychology Research Group.

The Cultural Grounding of Psychological Experience: The first theme of the CPRG is a level of causation that is often neglected in psychological accounts: the extent to which observed patterns of psychological functioning—like the fundamental attribution error, self-enhancement motivation, teenage rebellion, emphasis on romantic relationship, etc.—are not "just natural" but instead are the products of particular, sociocultural circumstances. We seek to make this process visible, not just for "exotic" patterns observed in "other cultures", but also for the familiar patterns that are routinely reported in mainstream Psychology literature without reference to their underlying, cultural grounding.

The Cultural Grounding of Psychological Processes: A second theme of the CPRG refers to the cultural and social bases of psychological processes. Research in psychology often proceeds as if the roots of the processes it studies— stereotypes, prejudice, perception, memory, motivation, preference, and even consciousness itself—are located in isolated, individual minds. In contrast the we consider the extent to which these psychological processes can be said to reside or originate in social and cultural worlds.

The Cultural Grounding of Psychological Science: A third theme of the CPRG is the extent to which the discipline of Psychology, itself, is a cultural product. Although scientists often imagine themselves to be neutral, positionless observers of a universal, objective reality, the third theme of the CPRG is to consider how theory and practice in Psychology and other social sciences reflects particular—and potentially variable—constructions of reality (e.g., concepts like person, child, and relationship).

The Psychology of Culture: Although psychologists have begun to recognize the importance of "culture" for the study of psychology, they have devoted little attention to the flip side of this relationship: What, if anything, can Psychology contribute to the study of culture? A fourth interest of the CPRG is to consider psychological processes involved in the dynamic reproduction of cultural reality.