Positive cross-cultural psychology: Exploring similarity and difference in constructions and experiences of wellbeing

Authors

  • Tim Lomas University of East London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v5i4.437

Keywords:

cross-cultural, culture, universalism, relativism, wellbeing

Abstract

Critical theorists have accused positive psychology of paying insufficient attention to cultural variation in the way wellbeing is constructed and experienced. While there may be some merit to this claim, the field has developed a more nuanced appreciation of culture than its critics suggest. However, it could also be argued that positive psychology has not sufficiently appreciated or absorbed the wealth of literature within cross-cultural psychology pertaining to wellbeing. This paper aims to forge a bridge between positive psychology and cross-cultural psychology by introducing the idea of ‘positive cross-cultural psychology,’ an interdisciplinary conceptual space for existing and future cross-cultural research on wellbeing. Moreover, the paper offers a meta-theoretical perspective on trends within this literature. It is suggested that cross-cultural research is underpinned by two broad orienting perspectives: a ‘universalising’ perspective, which holds that, despite apparent cultural differences, people share a common human nature; and a ‘relativising’ perspective, which argues that people are strongly shaped by their cultural context. However, the paper finally argues that most research can actually be seen as offering a synthesising perspective – labelled here as ‘universal relativism’ – which recognises universals in the ways wellbeing is sought, constructed and experienced, but allows for extensive variation in the ways these universals are shaped by culture.

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Author Biography

Tim Lomas, University of East London

Lecturer in positive psychology

Module and deputy programme leader, MSc in Applied Positive Psychology

Department of Psychology

University of East London

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Published

2015-12-17

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Section

Articles

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