Children, between the …show more content…
M., Erneling, C. E., Montero, M. & Lee, N., 2007) discuss the characteristics and distinctions between various forms of global and alternative psychologies, including international, global, cross-cultural psychology, ethnic, economic, political and liberation psychology (as cited in Stevens & Gielen, 2007). Although the terms are used interchangeably, international and global psychology consist of notable differences.
On the surface, “[b]oth terms speaks to demographic, economic, political, and technological macro-processes that continue to international and interregional world wide networks” (Stevens & Gielen 2007, p. 4). However, international psychology emphasizes relationships and the use of psychological processes among and between cultures, and nations. International psychology operates from a more relativist approach which takes into account the congruency between psychology, research and the context of operation. In contrast, global psychology is predicated on the broader encapsulation of the world or a worldview, that implies a certain degree of universality. As Steven (2007) explains, the aim of global psychology “operates to increase the frequency broaden the scope, and enhance the meaningfulness of communication among psychologists and psychology students with shared interests from diverse countries and cultures ((Stevens …show more content…
Similar to global psychology, the cross-cultural approach to psychology encompass a universal or etic paradigm of human functionality (p. 9). While cross-cultural psychology is viewed as an umbrella for the cultural model and ethnic studies, cultural perspectives differ in their approach to cultural analysis. Moreover, “[b]ecause cultural psychology entails the investigation of a single culture, rather than cultural comparison, cultural psychologist adheres to a relativist or emic perspective of human functioning” (Stevens, 2007, as cited in Stevens & Gielen, 2007, p. 9). Furthermore, the cultural perspective hones in on processes related to meaning making, such as the bidirectional relationship between a specific culture and psychological characteristics as they relate to language, myths, symbols, traditions and socially constructed phenomena (Triandis, 2000a, as cited in Stevens & Gielen 2007, p.