An Ecocultural Taxonomy for Cross-Cultural Psychology

Abstract

The problem of the interpretation or explanation of psychological variation or communality between cultures is the central methodo logical and theoretical issue in current cross-cultural psychology. There is a tendency to mistakenly equate "culture" with "nation" or "ethnic group." The concept of nation-state in cross-cultural research is used in both defining samples and interpreting results. The authors propose the use of ecological and social indicators of nations as context variables, within the framework of Berry's ecocul tural theory. Seventy-seven ecological and social indicators were selected from statistical yearbooks. Cluster analysis of nations resulted in 25 indicators, based on a priori categories of ecology, economics, education, mass communication, population, and religion, and are presented together with the profile means. The results can be used for the selection of nations in cross-cultural research, for the investigation of the relationships of these indicators to psychological variables, and for the eventual establishment of a workable ecocultural theory for cross-cultural psychology.