Human behavior in global perspective : an introduction to cross-cultural psychology /

Four leading cross-cultural psychologists pooled their knowledge in preparing this broad survey of an important interdisciplinary field. The book proposes an "ecocultural" framework for understanding the numerous dimensions of human behavior that are subject to cultural, social, and environmental influences. The processes of socialization and enculturation thus receive special attention as the authors review scientific findings regarding cross-cultural differences in visual perception, cognition, intelligence, competitiveness, achievement motivation, gender identity and roles, and aggression. In the final chapters, the effects of cultural change and culture contact are examined, along with their implications for theories of ethnocentrism and nationalism. The lengthy bibliography should prove useful to researchers and students alike. The book is probably most important because it presages the multiculturalization of psychology as a whole, the effect of global communications and increased global awareness. The authors may have established the parameters within which cross-cultural research will be conducted during the 1990s. For advanced undergraduates and up. T. Sloan University of Tulsa