Journal
PSYCHOLOGICAL BULLETIN
Volume 131, Issue 5, Pages 763-784Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.5.763
Keywords
universals; cross-cultural differences; cross-cultural methods; evolutionary psychology
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Funding
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH [R01MH060155] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Psychological universals, or core mental attributes shared by humans everywhere, are a foundational postulate of psychology, yet explicit analysis of how to identify such universals is lacking. This article offers a conceptual and methodological framework to guide the investigation of genuine universals through empirical analysis of psychological patterns across cultures. Issues of cross-cultural generalizability of psychological processes and 3 cross-cultural research strategies to probe universals are considered. Four distinct levels of hierarchically organized universals are possible: From strongest to weakest claims for universality, they are accessibility universals, functional universals, existential universals, and nonuniversals. Finally, universals are examined in relation to the questions of levels of analysis, evolutionary explanations of psychological processes, and management of cross-cultural relations.
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