IACCP Sponsored symposium at the APS 2015 conference, Amsterdam
Association for Psychology Science, International Convention of Psychological Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands (12-14 March, 2015)
Integrative Science in the Study of Individuals in Their Cultural Context
Chair: Fons J. R. van de Vijver, Tilburg University, The Netherlands; North-West University, South Africa; and University of Queensland, Australia
The symposium will provide a cutting-edge overview of integrative science in (cross-)cultural psychology. The overview is based on four different domains: (1) climate and psychological functioning; (2) developmental tasks; (3) cultural neuroscience; (4) current models of organism—environment interactions in (cross-)cultural psychology.
Presentations:
Why and How Humans Transform Climatic Cold and Heat Into Collectivism Versus Individualism
Evert van de Vliert, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Climato-economic theorizing has been successfully applied to explaining the central cultural characteristic of collectivism versus individualism. Extending this line of theorizing with the mediating impact of parasitic disease burdens, van de Vliert proposes an explanatory research model that integrates climatic, parasitic, and economic imprints on cultural collectivism versus individualism.
The Cultural Solution of Universal Developmental Tasks
Heidi Keller, University of Osnabrueck, Germany
Integrative approaches in (cross-)cultural developmental science are described. We need to identify biological predispositions from evolutionary and neuroscience perspective and the shared meanings and behaviors from the cultural perspective. Moreover, we need sociodemographic information to describe contexts and their affordances and constraints.
Culture, Oxytocin and Prosocial Behaviors
Heejung Kim, University of California, Los Angeles
Using the framework of gene-culture interactions, Kim examines the constituent role of culture, as a form of social environment, in the behavioral expression of an oxytocin receptor polymorphism. She will present recent findings in which examining psychological and biological mechanisms underlying these interactions.
Models of Organism — Culture Relationships
Fons J. R. van de Vijver, Tilburg University, The Netherlands; North-West University, South Africa; and University of Queensland, Australia
Van de Vijver describes models of interactions between the organism and environment as currently studied in psychology. The study of interactions requires models of how individual and cultural elements are involved in bidirectional changes. An overview of current models will be provided.