my hunger for doing psychology outside of the lab.

how certain types of conversations (related to sexuality, or talking about people's incomes, or people's health issues) may provoke feelings of shame when people from different cultures communicate. ---> has any research been done on this?

Also, remember this: Examining cultural artifacts to study culture outside the head could be one way for me to not regret choosing an academic path!!!

Read for MS Discussion - Canada included in crowding beh

Personal space: Where we now stand.

Hayduk, Leslie A.

Psychological Bulletin, Vol 94(2), Sep 1983, 293-335. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.94.2.293

A review of the "personal space" research reveals that an overwhelming accumulation of evidence weighs against the use of projective measurement strategies, while the interrelations between the various real-life measures remain poorly documented. A "nondichotomous carrier mechanism" reconceptualization is proposed to reorient investigation of the confused pattern of sex effects. Other findings show that once data based on projective measures are discarded, it becomes clear that personal space gradually increases in size between 3–21 yrs of age. The evidence regarding cultural and subcultural differences in personal space is considerably weaker than has frequently been assumed. The present review further reveals that formerly implicit links between personal space and crowding have congealed into specific and fruitful theoretical parallels. The use of attribution, expectancy, and equilibrium theories in interpreting the results of personal space research is discussed, and the causes and consequences of personal space preferences are considered in terms of personality, situational effects, and acquaintanceship. (12 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Engebretson, D., & Fullmer, D. (1970). Cross-cultural differences in territoriality: Interaction distances of native Japanese, Hawaii Japanese, and American Caucasians. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 261-269.

Existing normative studies have focused on backcountry encounter norms reported by North Americans. This study compares encounter norms and perceptions of crowding reported by visitors from five different countries of origin—Canada, United States, Japan, Germany, and England—to a frontcountry day‐use recreation area. Data were obtained from random samples of two types of visitors—those riding in “snocoach” tour vehicles (n = 463) and those on the toe of the glacier (n = 375)—at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, Alberta. Results indicated both similarities and differences among the visitors. In terms of differences, Anglo American respondents were least likely to specify a norm, while the Germans and Japanese were most likely. Among those who reported an encounter norm, however, the average tolerance limit did not vary by country of origin. Few differences were also apparent for perceived crowding levels among the five visitor groups. Irrespective of country of origin, when contacts exceeded the respondent's norm tolerance limit, crowding increased. Similarities and differences between frontcountry and backcountry settings were also evident. For example, consistent with previous research, fewer of our frontcountry respondents reported an encounter norm when compared to backcountry studies. When a norm was specified, the tolerance limits were substantially higher than those observed in backcountry research. The implications of these findings for additional research are discussed.

LaFrance, M., & Mayo, C. (1978). Cultural aspects of nonverbal communication. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2(1), 71-89.

A review of the literature on cultural aspects of nonverbal communication reveals the existence of both similarities and differences in the display of nonverbal behavior. It is argued that similarities are most manifest when analysis is at the level of the individual and the focus is on the objective, formal properties of the behavior; differences are more likely to become manifest when the analysis is at the level of the relationship between individuals and the focus is on the interpersonal import of the behavior. Material on gaze and eye contact, body motion and gesture, interpersonal distance and touch, facial expression, and paralanguage is surveyed and organized into three primary sections. The sections reflect the major functions nonverbal behavior is presumed to perform: (1) the sending of emotional states; (2) the conveying of interpersonal attitudes, particularly intimacy and status; and (3) the management of conversation. Implications are drawn concerning potential miscommunication in intercultural encounters.

Inferential ratings can be valuable in that they

capture complex patterns of behavior in an overall

interpretation (provided that interobserver reliability

is adequate). It is also possible to ask how descriptive

behaviors combine to create a global impression. For

example, speaking in a loud voice, touching the other

person, and engaging in relatively less gazing at the

partner while listening (compared to while speaking)

 

all contribute to the inference of dominance. When

investigators wish to establish the validity of inferences

about nonverbal cues, they must establish a criterion

for deciding what the cues mean. Because nonverbal

cues are often emitted outside of the encoder’s con-

scious awareness, one often cannot rely on the en-

coder’s self-report as a criterion; moreover, in many

research settings (e.g., in public), it is not possible to

ask encoders about the meanings of their behaviors. A

common alternative is the use of the consensus of

observers as the criterion; for example, if observers

agree that an expression looks sad, then ‘sadness’

becomes the operational definition of the expression’s

meaning. Another method is to identify the meaning

of expressions on the basis of situational context; for

example, the facial expression of a person who is

confronted with a dish of rotting meat would be

assumed to reflect ‘disgust.’

As stated earlier, nonverbal cues often do not have

clear meaning in isolation from other cues and

information about the circumstances.


A given nonverbal behavior may have similar

meanings in many places (e.g., smile means happiness,

scowl means threat), but the degree to which that

behavior is emitted may vary across cultures. The term

display rules is used to describe local norms for when,

and to what extent, and by whom, different nonverbal

behaviors are to be used (Ekman 1982). Often ob-

served is the difference between contact and non-

contact cultures, those that encourage physical and

sensory involvement and those that do not (E. T. Hall

1966). An example would be reduced frequency of

interpersonal touch and greater interpersonal dis-

tances in Northern European vs. Mediterranean,

Middle Eastern, or Latin American countries. Ges-

tural emblems, mentioned earlier, which often have

meanings associated with sex or insult, show marked

cultural differences in meaning, producing many

opportunities for embarrassment between communi-

cators from different cultures. Differences in emitted

behavior and in communication accuracy have

also been documented with respect to mental illness,

pain and physical illness, and age.

Wonderful explanation for arguing culture > personality - Use to cite in MS!

In search of culture's role in influencing individual social behaviour - Asian journal of social psychology
While Mendoza-Denton and Mischel (2007) focused on how socio-cultural contexts affect the formation of cognitive-affective units, Hong and Mallorie (2004; see also Hong, Morris, Chiu & Benet-Martínez, 2000) examined how cultures condition the availability and accessibility of different implicit theories that individuals use to interpret their social world. In comparison to these attempts, Bond separated the situation from personality, contending situations as socially shared affordances.

Culture may also play a role at a meta-level in affecting the ‘beta weights’ (i.e. how determining a component is in predicting the behaviour outcomes) of the four components and their interactions across contexts. On the one hand, cultures can promote or limit the experiences an individual may have. Bond argued that personality (P) may manifest in the situations an individual chooses to enter or avoid. However, an over-emphasis on the role of choice in the situations an individual is in may be a commitment of the fundamental attribution error. On the other hand, Weber (from Gerth & Mills, 1948) introduced the concept of ‘life chances’ in how economic-political factors constrain and limit the kinds of outcomes an individual can have. Similarly, cultures can funnel individual's life chances through the emphasis or rejection of certain practices, interpretations, and values (Kitayama & Markus, 1999). Values promoted by a community will be given more opportunities to be expressed (Mendoza-Denton & Mischel, 2007), consequently resulting in particular situations being more prevalent in some cultural contexts than others (Kitayama, Mesquita & Karasawa, 2006). In other words, cultures restrict the choices that are available to the individuals embedded within and provide the rules by which people are to make choices in their lives (Schwartz, 2000).

In addition, Bond discussed that the overlaps between P(S) and O(S) are likely to be greater in settings where pressure toward conformity is greater. This is interesting and can be related to recent advancements in research on inter-subjectivity and tight versus loose cultures. For example, Wan and colleagues (Wan et al., 2007; Wan, Torelli & Chiu, 2010) have shown that, at an individual level, the stronger the participants identify with the group, the more they would be affected by the consensual values of the group (vs their own personal values). At a cultural level, Gelfand and her colleagues (2011) have shown that some nations have clearer norms (consensus) and enhanced pressure for conformity to norms (i.e. tight cultures), whereas other nations are less so (i.e. loose cultures). In general, Chinese, in comparison to Americans, tend to have a higher identification with the national group (Hong, 2009). Likewise, Asian cultures are tighter than Western cultures (Gelfand et al., 2011). This implies that theories mainly emphasizing P would not be as applicable in understanding Asian psychology.

Furthermore, in this globalized era where cultures' juxtapose in the same social and temporal space (Chiu, Mallorie, Hean Tat Keh & Law,2009), individuals often possess multiple cultural knowledge systems (Hong et al., 2000). This adds a dynamic aspect to the traditional notion of cultural influence, as individuals' cultural knowledge systems can be differentially activated by their immediate social contexts. Depending on the particular context or situation, individuals vary in their use of specific cultural knowledge to understand, interpret, and behave (Chiu, Gries, Torelli & Cheng, 2011; Hong et al., 2000). As such, cultural influences can no longer be regarded as static, but dynamic.

he includes both the norms, O(S), and perception of the consensus of the norms, CO(S), as social factors affecting the individual's behaviours. Secondly, interestingly, he also proposes that the beta weight of O(S) and CO(S) would also be affected by the culture, such that the beta weight for O(S) and CO(S) to affect behaviour is stronger in collectivist cultures than in individualist cultures. Bond's proposal is a timely addition, as the recent discourses of intersubjectivity and tight versus loose cultures have shed light on the normative influences of culture. Culture provides individuals with shared representations, that individuals, subsequently, use to impart meanings.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.chain.kent.ac.uk/doi/10.1111/ajsp.12016/full


ALSO see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.chain.kent.ac.uk/doi/10.1111/ajsp.12018/full

Research on Nostalgia

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/nostalgia/publications/

Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., Routledge, C. R, Arndt, J., & Zhou, X. (2009). Buffering acculturative stress and facilitating cultural adaptation: Nostalgias as a psychological resource. In R. S. Wyer, Jr., C.-y. Chiu, & Y.-y. Hong (Eds.), Understanding culture: Theory, research, and application (pp. 361-378). New York, NY: Psychology Press.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html - interesting, as they say feelings of nostalgia is universal. But I'm sure for Russians or more complain-lover cultures, making people become nostalgic won't have positive effects, at least not when instantly asked. I am ready for science to fail me!

Prof at Tilburg - some interesting research

http://publications.uvt.nl/repository/vingerhoets/publications.html

• Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M., Sanders, N., & Kuper, W. (1997). Health issues in international tourism: The role of health behavior, stress, and adaptation. In M. van Tilburg & A.J.J.M. Vingerhoets (Eds.), Psychological aspects of geographical moves: Homesickness and acculturation stress. (pp. 201-216). Tilburg: Tilburg University Press.
   (Free access)
   
  (More)

• Becht, M.C., & Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M. (2002). Crying and Mood Change: a Cross-Cultural Study. Cognition and Emotion, 16(1), 87-101.
   (Free access)
   
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• Hemert, D.A. van, Vijver, F.J.R. van de, & Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M. (2011). Country and crying: Prevalences and gender differences. Cross-Cultural Research, 45, 399-431.
   (Free access)
   
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another study idea

perception of attractiveness of girls according to their major.

Possible Thesis Titles

Challenging the Gendered and Ethnicized Organization: The Role of Group Affirmation In Counteracting Ingroup Distancing among Muslim Women

A Consequence of Systemic Bias in the Workplace: Exploring the Role of Group Affirmation in Thwarting "Ingroup Distancing" among Minority Women

When You Distance Yourself from Your Own Comrades?: A Consequence of the Biased Organizational Culture

When Minority Members Distance Themselves from Their Own Group: A Consequence of the Biased Organizational Culture and the Role of Group Affirmation In Counteracting Ingroup Distancing