Cultural System vs. Pan‐cultural Dimensions: Philosophical Reflection on Approaches for Indigenous Psychology

Abstract

The three approaches for conducting psychological research across cultures proposed by Berry (1989), namely, the imported etic, emic and derived etic approach are critically examined for developing culture-inclusive theories in psychology, in order to deal with the enigma left by Wilhelm Wundt. Those three approaches have been restricted to a certain extent by the pan-cultural dimensional approach which may result in the Orientalism of psychology in understanding people of non-Western cultures.This article is designated to provide the philosophical ground for an alternative cultural system approach to construct culture-inclusive theories in psychology. Following the principle of cultural psychology: "one mind, many mentalities" (Shweder et al., 1998), the alternative strategy contains two steps: First, based on Bhaskar's (1975Bhaskar's ( , 1978 critical realism, all universal mechanisms should seek to represent the operation of the human mind. Second, based on Archer's (1995) analytical dualism, the mechanisms of the universal mind may be used as frameworks for analyzing any cultural tradition. The culture-inclusive theories thus obtained represent the synchronic morphostasis of a cultural system, which may be used as theoretical frameworks for conducting either qualitative or quantitative empirical research in studying the diachronic morphogenesis of socio-cultural interaction in a particular culture.

Culture‐Inclusive Theories of Self and Social Interaction: The Approach of Multiple Philosophical Paradigms

“…In my first article in this special issue (Hwang, ), I discussed the philosophical grounds of critical realism (CR) and analytical dualism for constructing universal mechanisms and culture‐inclusive theories in psychology. In this article, I will present my Mandala Model of Self , as well as my Face and Favor model to show how they may serve as a new “model of man” for an integration of culture and psychology.…”

The sociocultural movement in psychology, the role of theories in sociocultural inquiries, and the theory of sociocultural models

“…The recent movement of the indigenisation of psychology that has been occurring in many countries (Ardila, 1993; Boski, 2006; Heelas & Lock, 1981; Hwang, 2012; Kim & Berry, 1993; Kim, Yang, & Hwang, 2006b; Pe‐Pua, 2006; Rao, Paranjipe, & Dalal, 2008; Utz, 2011) [see also the special issue in the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology , 2019, 32(2)] experiences serious theoretical, epistemological, and methodological challenges that the representatives of this movement are trying to resolve (Hwang, 2015a; Kim & Park, 2006; Lambert, 2014). A primary objective of indigenous psychologists is to find a theoretical platform on which to build the structure and content of their discipline (Hwang, 2015b,2019; Kim, Yang, & Hwang, 2006a; Kumar, 2011; Misra, 2011).…”

Editorial: Eastern Philosophies and Psychology: Towards Psychology of Self-Cultivation

“…Because these two models are supported to be universal, the second step of his strategy is using them as frameworks to analyze any cultural system in opposition to the pan-cultural dimensional approach of reductionism prevalent in mainstream psychology (Hwang, 2015b). …”

“…Following Hwang's (2015a,b) strategy, Wu conceptualized the process of cultivating the ideal self in Confucian education on the basis of her cultural-semantic analysis of the “ Lessons for Learning ” (Xue-Ji) in the Classic of Rites (Liji). Fwu et al studied the mediating role of self-exertion on the effects of effort on learning virtues and emotional distress after academic failure; Chen et al examined high-school teachers' beliefs about effort and their attitudes toward struggling and smart students.…”