Psychological Universals: What Are They and How Can We Know?
Top Cited Papers
- 1 January 2005
- journal article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Psychological Bulletin
- Vol. 131 (5) , 763-784
- https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.5.763
Abstract
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.Keywords
This publication has 142 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Nature of Social and Personality Psychology as Reflected in JPSP, 1965-2000.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004
- Bootstrapping & the origin of conceptsDaedalus, 2004
- Cultural Practices Emphasize Influence in the United States and Adjustment in JapanPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2002
- Emotions in collectivist and individualist contexts.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2001
- Cross-Cultural Variations in Predictors of Life Satisfaction: Perspectives from Needs and ValuesPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1999
- Validity problems comparing values across cultures and possible solutions.Psychological Methods, 1997
- Subliminal Affective Priming Resists Attributional InterventionsCognition and Emotion, 1997
- Developmental changes in perception of nonnative vowel contrasts.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1994
- On the Universality of Social Psychological TheoriesJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1987
- “Mental abacus”: The effect of abacus training on Chinese children's mental calculationCognitive Psychology, 1984