2019 – V Latin America Regional Conference

Conference website: http://www.iaccp2019.com

Dear Participant in the 5th Latin American Regional Conference of Cross-Cultural Psychology

The International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) was founded in 1972 and held its inaugural meeting in Hong Kong in 1972. Only one year later, in 1973, the tradition commenced to hold smaller regional meetings in odd years, whereas our International Congresses have always been held in even years. The first ever regional conference was hosted in Ibadan, Nigeria. Since then IACCP has been the host of two further African Regional Conferences, five Asian, nine European, two North American, and four Latin American Regional Congresses. The Regional Conference in San José, Costa Rica in the fifth in the Latin America sequence. Yet, the San José event adds a novelty to IACCP’s scientific meetings: It is the first time we hold an IACCP event south of Mexico. We finally enter the Global South also in the Americas!

The goal of cross-cultural psychology is the study of the role of cultural factors in shaping human behavior, that is, the interpretation or explanation of how cultural variation is associated with variation or communality of psychological variables.

The aims of IACCP are to facilitate communication among persons interested in cross-cultural psychology and to pursue more effectively the universal validity of psychological theories in all branches of psychology and related disciplines. Cooperation with neighboring disciplines like sociology, political science, or anthropology are the call of the day.

The original trench between nomothetic comparative research, with the goal of determining general processes or psychological universals across cultures as well as variations in psychological variables attributable to specific cultural features within societies, and cultural/indigenous research, with a focus on the analysis of specific cultures and processes therein, is largely an issue of the past.

Interest in cross-cultural psychology has greatly increased during the past few decades. IACCP now has a world-wide membership drawn from most diverse cultural backgrounds. Through meetings, conferences, its Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, and interpersonal exchanges, it provides a vehicle for communication and cooperation among its members and a means of drawing the attention of other psychologists and scientists in related disciplines to the dynamic interactions between culture and behavior. IACCP is committed to the pursuit of excellence in scholarship and research, to the application of knowledge in the amelioration of social problems, and to the maintenance of high standards of ethical behavior among its members.

You are cordially welcomed to the V th Latin American Regional Congress in San José, Costa Rica, which is sure to continue the IACCP conference tradition of excellence in its scientific program under the dedicated leadership of Mariano Rosabal-Coto.

Klaus Boehnke
President