Abstract
This special Issue of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology celebrates the 50th anniversary of the founding of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) in 1972. This article seeks to provide a summary of the main influences that led to its founding, and the events and activities that followed. In this article, we search for the many relationships between cultural and behavioral phenomena, beginning around the turn of the 20th century, and continuing to the present. This review follows a chronological sequence and is organized according to the main events that led to the founding of IACCP.
Keywords
Early Researchers in Culture and Psychology
The elusive concept of human culture has been part of thought and theory in the behavioral and social sciences for two or more centuries. Psychology has not been immune to this attempt to link cultural and behavioral phenomena. Indeed, the International Union of Psychological Science published a volume on basic concepts in psychology and included a chapter on “culture” (Berry & Triandis, 2006). But, for most of its history, and for most psychologists, culture was ephemeral or generally ignored, or was left to their academic colleagues, such as those in anthropology and linguistics, to figure things out. However, some anthropologists incorporated the psychological study of individuals in their work, including Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, Irving Hallowell, Melville Herskovits, Francis Hsu, Clyde Kluckhohn, Florence Kluckhohn, Ralph Linton, Bronisław Malinowski, Margaret Mead, and Anthony Wallace. Many of them have been classified as working in the domain of “psychological anthropology,” a field that examines the relations between psychology and anthropology from a cultural anthropology perspective.
At much the same time, beginning in the first decades of the 20th century, some influential psychologists were actively including culture in their work, particularly the pioneering work of Wundt (1904, 1913; see Berry, 1983) and Rivers (1901). Others in this tradition were Frederick Bartlett, Ernest Beaglehole, and Alexander Luria. Somewhat later, other psychologists began to consider culture in earnest in the lead up to the seminal sixties: Simon Biesheuvel, Leonard Doob, Gustav Jahoda, Kurt Lewin, Otto Klineberg, Gardner Murphy, André Ombredane, and Durganand Sinha.
International Organizations
In addition to these individual psychologists, some of them came together to form organizations quite early in the history of psychology. The first International Congress of Psychology was held in Paris in 1889, the second in London in 1892, the third in Munich in 1896, and the fourth in Paris in 1900. A continuing committee called the International Congress of Psychology was established to organize the successive congresses of psychology. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, there was a growing sentiment that psychology should have an international organization with broader activities than simply arranging for the international congresses. After 1945, this coincided with an initiative of UNESCO to encourage the formation of international unions by sciences that did not already have one. At the first International Congress of Psychology to be held after the Second World War (in Edinburgh, in 1948), it was decided to organize an International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) in 1951 with statutes similar to those of a variety of international unions. While the international situation has markedly improved over the years, psychology (as we know it in the West) has been and remains to a large extent culture-bound and culture-blind.
The full history of cross-cultural psychology (see Jahoda & Krewer, 1997; Klineberg, 1980) includes numerous sorties, usually efforts by “lone wolf” inquisitive scholars mentioned above. These dared to delve into the often difficult task of specifying the various roles that culture and its proxies, such as ethnicity, diversity, and the contentious term, “race,” have played in all facets of the discipline of psychology. Many of these efforts were fueled by a growing suspicion that “Western” psychology, and perhaps even the entire fabric of the social and behavioral sciences in general, were found lacking when trying to explain the grand sweep of human behavior throughout the world. The three most striking examples of organizations reaching out were the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP, founded in 1920), the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS, 1951), and the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicologia (SIP, 1951). These organizations gave some, but not much, attention to culture from the very beginning. But, none of them had exclusively featured culture in their accounts of human behavior. Hence, an organization that was dedicated to the role of culture in the development and display of individual behavior was called for.
Precursors to the IACCP
One can point to any number of factors that led to a sea change in the attention given to culture by psychologists in the 1960s. Among them was the post-World-War II reconstruction in many societies, bringing people into direct contact with each other; the increasing international cooperation generated by the United Nations; the increased availability of cheap international air travel; and the emergence of various youth volunteer corps. Perhaps the most important influence was the rise in civil and social unrest in many countries, which presented a serious challenge to the status quo, including that in academic life, teaching, and research. Almost overnight, there were anti-war and anti-poverty movements, and increased attention to Indigenous Peoples’ rights, women’s rights, educational rights, and human rights in general.
In addition to these societal-level changes, certain other events and several publications set the stage for a surge in a growing interest in culture as a critical factor in psychology.
International Psychology Conferences
Three conferences, all held within a span of 5 years (1966–1971), were important in this burgeoning revolution and were pivotal in the development of cross-cultural psychology. The conferences were held in Hawaii (U.S.A.), Ibadan (Nigeria), and Istanbul (Turkey). A short description of each will help set the stage for a brief discussion of further developments in culture-oriented psychology.
The Hawaii conference (1966)
The Culture Learning Institute, part of the East-West Center (EWC) in Honolulu (USA), hosted a small conference in 1966, entitled “Psychological Problems in Changing Societies.” (Note that the “West” in the name of the EWC was represented by a single country, the USA, while the “East” was represented by many countries in the Pacific Rim). As detailed elsewhere (Lonner, 2018), that event was funded by the United States Office of Naval Research. Organized and chaired by F. Kenneth Berrien of Rutgers University, approximately 22 psychologists from the United States and Pacific Rim countries participated. Berrien, who died at the relatively early age of 63, was at the time becoming a major influence in shaping the development of cross-cultural psychology (Berrien, 1967).
The East-West Center group followed through with a Newsletter that lasted a few years. It was designed to include reports of activities, plans, research results, and other news among those who attended the conference. In the May, 1969 issue of the Newsletter, it was announced that: “Under the editorship of Walter J. Lonner, Western Washington State College, Bellingham, Washington, the Journal of Cross-Cultural Studies (sic) is being launched this year. This will provide an additional and specialized outlet for research of the kind in which we are interested. Heretofore the Journal of Social Psychology and the International Journal of Psychology had been receptive to cross-cultural reports but have included a much wider range of articles.” (p. 3).
It is noteworthy that shortly after the EW Center sponsored the 1966 conference, the University of Hawaii’s Department of Psychology became a leader in the area of culture and mental health, with Anthony J. Marsella playing an important part.
The Ibadan conference (1966–1967)
A second conference was held about a year later in Ibadan (Nigeria). It was another pivotal event that influenced many culture-oriented psychologists. This gathering of some 50 scholars, many from Africa and several Western countries, was held from late December, 1966 to early January, 1967 at the University of Ibadan. Its purpose was to bring psychologists and other social scientists from Africa and the West together in the hope that they could develop research collaborations. Similar in scope to the East-West Center’s meeting, this conference was successful in bringing primarily social psychologists together to discuss social psychological problems in developing countries.
An important offshoot of the Ibadan conference was the inauguration of the Cross-Cultural Social Psychology Newsletter. The first issue of that mimeographed missive was dated March, 1967, and included letters, abstracts, and news items relevant to the themes of the conference. Harry Triandis, a prominent social psychologist in those early days (and well beyond), edited the Newsletter during its first year. He was followed as editor by Yasumasa Tanaka of Japan for a few years. That mimeographed publication reached a fair number of psychologists. When the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology was inaugurated in 1972, the essence of the Newsletter became part of that effort. It gradually morphed into the Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin, with William K. Gabrenya, Jr. serving as an energetic editor for many years. The Bulletin is no longer active. The IACCP webpage lists Bulletin archives and the most recent is 2012. The Bulletin communication activities have shifted to social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, in recent years. For more details and informative perspectives about the early years of this activity, see IACCP.org.
The Istanbul conference (1971)
The third watershed conference was held in Istanbul (Turkey) in 1971. Organized by Lee Cronbach (U.S.A) and Pieter Drenth (The Netherlands), it was sponsored by the NATO Advisory Panel on Human Factors. The original purpose was to hold a conference on “mental tests,” their theoretical bases and practical applications, and in particular, the problems and difficulties with respect to testing in contexts in which variations in the cultural environment and in learning opportunities were demanded increasing attention.
The conference papers covered areas that have come to be known as “culture and cognition” and “cross-cultural methodology.” A volume of proceedings was published (Cronbach & Drenth, 1972). It included many topics that soon became central to cross-cultural psychology: testing and assessment in their social framework; cross-cultural research strategies; educational intervention; and correlates and determinants of test performance. The presentations and discussions anticipated many of the topics of concern to the field, including the balance between environmental and genetic determinants of mental abilities, the question of fairness and bias in the use of tests, and whether verbal tests should be included or not in instruments used for cross-cultural comparability.
These three conferences were, in retrospect, evidence that so-called “mainstream” psychology, with its narrowness and hegemonic parochialism, could no longer fit the modern and rapidly changing world. Despite ample and obvious evidence that there were many culture-oriented psychologists throughout the world in the 1960s, and certain universities that were enlightened in that direction, we have heard of no other conferences that appeared during that decade that were attended by psychologists from so many countries and cultures. These conferences, in the days when email and zoom did not yet exist, also provided opportunities for the first face-to-face interactions among many of those who were only just aware of each other’s existence, and who later formed the nucleus of IACCP. We do not, of course, discount the importance of the IAAP, SIP, and the IUPsyS, but none of those focused exclusively on culture. This paucity of gatherings of like-minded psychologists with a specific interest in culture was soon to change in many ways.
Cross-Cultural Psychology Directories, 1968 to 1971
These conferences were important stimuli for the growth of cross-cultural psychology. In addition, during the 1960s, a number of cross-cultural psychology books began to appear. Also, the International Journal of Psychology was launched in 1966 by the IUPsyS. It had articles on cross-cultural methodology in its inaugural issue (e.g., by Frijda & Jahoda, 1966), and soon thereafter on other cross-cultural topics.
These activities fueled discussions in Edinburgh and Sydney between John Berry and John Dawson who considered the need to develop a way for such researchers to learn about each other’s topics and cultures of interest, and perhaps to collaborate. This perceived need to build a network of interacting cross-cultural psychologists was well-timed, since many other researchers were now writing in the field.
In 1967, Berry mailed a survey to about 150 individuals who were identified in this new literature. The result was the first “Directory of Cross-Cultural Psychological Research” (Berry, 1968/1969). It listed 144 individuals arranged by country and cross-listed by topics and cultures of interest. This was soon followed by two expanded directories (Berry & Lonner, 1970; Berry et al., 1973), published by the Center for Cross-Cultural Research at Western Washington State College (see below). The 1970 version was sent gratis to hundreds of scholars who subscribed to the JCCP. These directories, listing more than 600 and 1,130 individuals, respectively, became a source of information during the founding of JCCP (in 1970) and of IACCP (in 1972). These Directories, along with the founding of JCCP were keystones in establishing a network of like-minded cross-cultural psychologists. A “grand alliance” came together in 1972, when John Dawson took the lead in establishing the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.
The International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
Following from these conferences, journals, and directories, the next logical step was to create an organization that could consolidate these activities. The International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology was founded in 1972 by John Dawson. It was the first psychological association or organization in the world to include “cross-cultural psychology” in its name.
The proposal to found IACCP was presented in 1970 by John Dawson in the Cross-Cultural Social Psychology Newsletter
John L. M. Dawson Department of Psychology University of Hong Kong With the marked increase in research in cross-cultural psychology over the past few years, a number of concurrent developments have taken place which have assisted the process. These have included the setting up of the International Journal of Psychology which has provided an initial coverage for cross-cultural psychology, while in addition a list of cross-cultural psychologists has also been published thus facilitating communication between research workers in this area. A further development has been the emergence of an excellent Cross-Cultural Newsletter in Social Psychology which provides a very good coverage of research activities and publications in the area, as well as circulating the address list of recipients. More recently the rapid growth of this field has been the emergence of a new journal to provide of more comprehensive coverage for papers in cross-cultural psychology and related areas. This is the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. It is now proposed that there is a need to take a further step in this process and form an International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychologists, which could provide a focal point for activities in this area and in particular to bring cross-cultural psychologists together through the organization of international conferences and also regional meetings. It is proposed that the society could be incorporated in such a way that the annual membership fee would be made to cover the cost of both the Newsletter and the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, which could become the publications of the Association. Furthermore the editorial board of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology could easily be utilized to set up a committee which would be representative of most countries active in this field. It is also suggested that the 1st. Conference of the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychologists could be planned for Hong Kong in August, 1972, just before the Tokyo I.U.P.S. conference. Thus, as such a large number of psychologists would be visiting Tokyo, this would be a most convenient time and place to organize the conference. It would also be possible to organize meetings of the association well before that date in terms of national and regional meetings. A final point is that it is considered that this association should become an association for cross-cultural psychologists from all branches of psychology, not just social psychology, as recent findings in cross-cultural psychology have highlighted the need for cross-cultural research in other areas such as perception, learning, cognitive processes, and even physiological psychology. Thus, before psychology can begin to talk about universal validity of psychological theories, there is a need to carry out cross-cultural studies in all areas of psychology. (Notes: Please address any comment, suggestion, or opinion about Dr. Dawson’s proposal to this Editor) (Received Aug. 28) Source: Dawson, J. L. M. (1970). International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychologist: A Proposal. Cross-Cultural Social Psychology Newsletter, vol. 4, no. 5, p, 3
It is important to note that the proposed title of the new association was later changed following discussions between John Dawson and others. The group decided to replace “of” with “for,” and “psychologists” with “psychology” so that those in all relevant disciplines (such as anthropology, psychiatry, and sociology) would feel welcome in the association.
A Constitution and Bylaws for the Association were agreed upon (in 1972), with provisions for ensuring representation of members from, and for biennial meetings to be held in, all cultural regions of the world. Diversity was at the heart of the organization.
The Role of John Dawson
John Dawson is recognized and honored as the founder of IACCP. Dawson was born in Sydney in 1930 and raised in Australia. He received his BA from the University of California (1951). He then enrolled in the Army Officer School (Australia, 1952–1956), and the Civil Defense College (Australia, 1956–1959). He decided to further his academic career and went to Oxford University, where he received a Diploma in Anthropology (1961), and his D.Phil (1963), supervised by Henri Tajfel, and examined by Gustav Jahoda. He then began work in the Department of Social Anthropology of the University of Edinburgh (1963–1969), working mainly in Sierra Leone as an industrial psychologist carrying out test development, and doing research on social and cognitive psychology projects. In 1965, he returned to Australia as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney (1965–1967) where he worked with Aboriginal communities on projects dealing with social change. His international and cross-cultural interests were furthered when he was appointed as the founding Chair of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong (1967–1984). Because of illness, he took early retirement in 1984 and he died in Hong Kong in 1987. (See obituary, Berry, 1988).
Dawson published widely in social psychology: Tajfel & Dawson, 1965, Disappointed Guests, Allan and Bacon; Taft et al., 1970, Aboriginal Attitudes and Social Conditions, Australian National University. Dawson is best known for his work in “Bio-Social Psychology”: Cultural and physiological influences on spatial-perceptual processes in West Africa (International Journal of Psychology, 1967, 2, 115–128 and 171–185). His main works were his Inaugural lecture at the University of Hong Kong: Theoretical and research bases of bio-social psychology (University of Hong Kong Gazette, 1969, 16, 1–20) and his book: Psychological effects of bio-social change in West Africa: A study in bio-social psychology (1975) published by the Human Relations Area Files Press, FC1-001, in 2 Volumes).
Inaugural Conference of IACCP, Hong Kong, 1972
The inaugural conference of IACCP was held at the University of Hong Kong (following the IUPsyS conference in Tokyo), from August 22 to 25, 1972. About 120 psychologists from many countries attended the 4-day conference. Jerome Bruner became the first president of the Association, and quickly passed the presidency to Gustav Jahoda, who served as the association’s first full-term president. Bruner was a very busy Harvard professor who probably had too many “fish to fry” (to use a colloquialism) and he knew that he was asked to give the keynote speech as an honorific gesture. Bruner left Harvard right after the conference and spent 8 years (1972–1980) at Oxford University, where he had the Chair in the Department of Experimental Psychology. Moreover, even then, Jahoda had superstar status. He always had a twinkle in his eyes, a well-worn pipe in his mouth, and sometimes a biting quip for anyone who strayed from logic. He perfectly led by example and was revered. He was the ideal inaugural president. Four decades later he was well enough to give the first Lonner Lecture (see below) at the 2006 IACCP conference in Spetses, Greece.
At the inaugural conference, a full slate of papers was spread over the 4-day gathering. A selection of those papers was published 2 years later (Dawson & Lonner, 1974), thus becoming the first book published under the auspices of the IACCP. The registrants represented a cultural mix with some names that readers will readily recognize:
Africa—Chris Bakere, Alistair Mundy-Castle, Michael Ogbulu Okonji, Mallory Wober.
Australia—Steve Bochner, Alastair Heron, Daphne Keats, Leon Mann, Ron Taft, Allison Turtle.
Canada—Fran Aboud, John Berry, Sid Irvine.
Germany—Elke Kroeger, Bernie Wilpert
Hong Kong—John Dawson, David Ho, Brian Young.
India—Anandalakshmy, R. Rath.
Iran—Iraj Ayman.
Japan—Yasumasa Tanaka, Akira Hoshino.
UK—Jerome Bruner, Frank Heller, Barbara Lloyd, Helmut Morsbach, Neil Warren.
USA—Rich Brislin, Henry David, James Fawcett, Harry Gardiner, Patricia Greenfield, Francis Hsu, Alex Inkeles, Herb Kelman, Walt Lonner, Tony Marsella, Marshall Segall, June Tapp, Harry Triandis, James Whitaker, Beatrice Whiting, John Whiting.
Activities of IACCP
Organization and Structure of IACCP
During the inaugural IACCP conference numerous offices and procedures that are characteristic of professional organizations were established. The offices of President, Secretary-General, and Treasurer were key positions. Regional representatives also became important positions. An Executive Committee (EC) was formed and it immediately made decisions about the structure of IACCP. A Communications and Publications Committee was also formed. It has had the responsibility of looking after the JCCP, the newsletter, and other publications, and most recently the social media communications.
From the beginning, the goal of IACCP was to be truly international, and inclusive of all cultural and psychological perspectives. One feature designed to achieve this goal was the decision to have the Regional Representatives equally distributed across the six culture areas of the world as defined by the anthropologist, George (Pete) Murdock: Africa (sub-Saharan); Circum-Mediterranean; East Eurasia; Insular Pacific; North America; and South America. Later, these six areas became more focused, with members added to represent smaller cultural regions.
To encourage membership and participation of colleagues from lower income countries, the Association had a fee structure that varied according to national income. It also provided travel and other support for young psychologists through the Witkin-Okonji Fund. This fund was initially established with moneys available from the 1974 conference, which enabled the Nigerian psychologist (Michael Okonji) to visit Hy Witkin after the conference. The fund has since grown and become a major conference support for the inclusion of many young psychologists from around the world. The general “culture” of IACCP was, and remains, one of collegiality and openness to new ideas and new members from many perspectives and cultures. First-time attendees at conferences often remark on this quality, and the lack of hierarchy that often prevails in other academic organizations.
In addition to international representation in the structure of the association, other perspectives on how to conceptualize and study relationships between culture and behavior have been welcomed. For example, the perspectives of cultural psychology and indigenous psychology have found places in the activities of the association.
IACCP Conferences and Conference Proceedings
In this section, we focus on the types of conferences the association believed they should have, where they should be held, and how frequently they should be held. Early on, the IACCP Executive Committee decided that there should be two types of conferences (International and Regional), and that they should meet biennially, with international conferences to be in even-numbered years and the regional conferences to be in odd-numbered years. And because the international conferences were designed to accommodate all IACCP members, it was recommended that they should meet in places that were as close as possible to the much larger International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) and the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) conferences, both of which meet quadrennially. Such scheduling made it less expensive and much easier for most to attend both an IACCP and an IAAP or an IUPsyS conference, whichever was closest temporally and geographically.
International IACCP conferences have usually been attended by approximately 500 participants. The much smaller regional conferences typically have drawn about 200 attendees, on average. Both types of conferences were large enough to have full and varied programs that featured paper and poster sessions, symposia, panel discussions, and invited speakers. One newer addition to the conference programs occurred in 2004 when the Association created the Walter J. Lonner Distinguished Lecture Series. The Lonner Lectures recognize Lonner’s (and others’) lengthy contributions to the field and also recognize a distinguished researcher who is invited to give a keynote lecture. Invited lectures have been made possible by the funds the Association receives from the sale of the copyright of JCCP to Sage Publications.
Along with the intellectual aspects of conferences, entertainment featuring music and dance of the local culture, has been a favorite at conferences, and well worth the time and money and effort to attend. Important aspects of both types of conferences have been collegial and social, in addition to the academic content. Unlike monolithic congresses, IACCP conferences have invariably been described as warm and cozy, and as a “happy family.” Almost everyone has known many of the other attendees or established new friendships during the conferences. Indeed, lifelong friendships have been formed during these gatherings. Taken together, IACCP conferences have been held in 26 countries, with Canada hosting four, Australia, Hungary, Japan, Germany, China, Turkey, and the United States hosting two each (For a complete list of IACCP conferences, see IACCP.org). As one might imagine, hundreds of scientific projects involving many cultures have been designed during the 3 to 5 days of the conferences.
International IACCP conferences
Beginning in 1972, international IACCP Conferences have been held every 2 years. Information about the first four conferences is given below. Work is afoot to make available on the IACCP website similar information for all the international conferences. Swets and Zeitlinger, a large publishing company in Lisse, The Netherlands, published selected readings from 14 international conferences (2–16 from 1974 to 2002). Since that company filed for bankruptcy in 2004, various other publishers have published the proceedings. If readers wish to locate any of the books, or any articles in them, interlibrary loan services can be used through many university libraries or through IACCP.org.
Following are descriptions if the first four conference volumes:
1972. Inaugural conference. Hong Kong, John Dawson, Organizer. Conference Proceedings: Readings in Cross-cultural Psychology, J. L. M. Dawson & W. J. Lonner, Eds. (Hong Kong University Press, 1974). Jerome Bruner gave the inaugural presidential address. He immediately vacated the presidency and Gustav Jahoda was voted in as the Association’s first full-term president.
1974. Second conference. Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Conference Proceedings: Applied cross-cultural psychology, J. W. Berry & W. J. Lonner, Eds. Presidential Address: Gustav Jahoda: Applying cross-cultural psychology to the third world.
1976. Third conference. Tilburg, The Netherlands. Conference Proceedings: Basic problems in cross-cultural psychology, Y. H. Poortinga, Ed. Presidential Address by Harry C. Triandis: Impediments to the progress of cross-cultural psychology.
1978. Fourth conference. Munich, West Germany. Conference Proceedings: Cross-cultural contributions to psychology, L. Eckensberger, W. J. Lonner, & Y. H. Poortinga, Eds. Presidential address: M. A. O. Durojaiye, The need for international cooperation in cross-cultural psychology with special reference to action research in Africa.
From 1980 to the present, the years and venues for the remaining international conferences are available online at IACCP.org.
Regional IACCP conferences
As noted earlier, from the beginning the IACCP decided to hold its biennial international conferences in even-numbered years. Regional conferences have been popular because they provide opportunities to fill some gaps in coverage, both geographically and topically. However, no major IACCP “business” such as elections, committee reports, or decisions affecting the entire membership receives attention at regional conferences.
Only rarely have books based on regional conferences been published. For further information about them including dates and locations, please see IACCP.org.
Publications of the IACCP
Like most professional associations and organizations, the IACCP has been involved with a number of publications. The main publication is the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology; others are the Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, and the Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin. Another set of publications comes in the form of books that contain selected articles from our international conferences (see below).
The Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
In 1968 the Center for Cross-Cultural Research (CCCR) was founded at Western Washington State College (Western Washington University since 1977). The CCCR became an official unit in the Department of Psychology and was led by co-directors/founders—Walter J. Lonner and his senior colleagues, the late Robert D. Meade. John Berry (Queen’s University, Canada), Pierre Dasen (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Harrison Gough (University of California at Berkeley, USA), Cigdem Kagitcibasi (Bogazici University, Turkey), Ype Poortinga (Tilburg University, The Netherlands), Marshall Segall (Syracuse University, USA), Durganand Sinha (University of Allahabad, India), and Harry Triandis (University of Illinois, USA) were consulted about steps to take in such an enterprise. Numerous others were involved in the early stages of modern cross-cultural psychology. To our knowledge the CCCR was the first titled entity in a department of psychology in the world to be officially sanctioned as a cross-cultural unit. No doubt many other psychologists gave lectures on psychology and culture and contributed to basic knowledge in the area, but they did so as individual scholars or in small groups (e.g., Segall et al., 1966), but not as members of official academic centers or units.
At the new CCCR, Lonner quickly took an important step that was consistent with his core interest in the discipline of Psychology: To help expand the discipline’s global reach. After an international survey we conducted in 1968 assured him and CCCR associates that the periodical he had proposed would fill a need (there were a few dissenters), the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (JCCP) was inaugurated. Copyrighted by (then) Western Washington State College and published quarterly both on campus in Bellingham, Washington, it was initially a “cottage industry” with a limited budget but accompanied by abundant confidence in its success. The first issue was published in March of 1970. Early in 1971 J. L. M. Dawson (see below) wrote to Lonner. He wanted to know if this new publication might be a natural candidate to join hands with the IACCP in the nascent endeavor that he was spearheading. At about the same time, the American Psychological Association expressed a keen interest in JCCP and suggested it would be a fine addition to the APA’s publications portfolio. Lonner rejected the APA overture because he enjoyed the relative independence of the growing journal. He believed, as did several local and international colleagues with whom he consulted, that it should not be tied to, or owned by, any single country or national organization.
So, accepting Dawson’s proposal and gaining approval from Western Washington University, in 1972 the 3-year-old JCCP became the official IACCP journal. It was an excellent and unique fit. At no cost to the IACCP, it instantly became the main identifying item of the IACCP. Likewise, the CCCR and its Journal became instantly associated with a new entity that had an abundance of international promise. Also, in 1972 the relatively new Sage Publications offered to become the publisher of the Journal, with Western Washington University retaining the copyright and the IACCP retaining control of all editorial matters.
A cosmic change occurred in May 4, 2004 when Sage bought the copyright to the Journal, radically improving the financial picture of IACCP. Suddenly the somewhat financially challenged IACCP became comfortably solvent. And, of course, Western Washington and the CCCR reaped unexpected financial and curricular benefits. Details of this merger, as well as more details about the Journal’s history, are given in Lonner (2018, 2019).
The compass logo that originated with the CCCR (and Lonner had the pleasure in drawing), naturally, became the logo of the Journal. Because of the merger of the Journal and IACCP, the logo was adopted by the new association. The logo might be viewed as a sobriquet of cross-cultural psychology in general. Logos, as symbols, have considerable staying power.
At that critical juncture in the development of what might be called the “institutionalization” and “organizationing” of cross-cultural psychology, the stage was set for further activities. It had found a name, a home, and an identity: the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. Western Washington State College (now University), with its beautiful campus and strong academic programs, was a kind and generous birthplace of the Journal. The central administration and the psychology faculty gave Lonner, at his impassioned request, free reign in the early year of the Journal. The numerous faculty who were associates of the CCCR enjoyed plenty of benefits from it and its international outreach. But birds, when strong enough, leave the nest. So it was for the Journal, which is about as egalitarian as it can be in the competitive world of publications. It is truly a major voice in the continuing inclusion of culture in psychological theory, research, practice, and teaching.
Over the years, the Journal’s Editorial Advisory Board has had more than 200 Consulting Editors, about 35 Associate Editors from 18 countries and eight Editors-in-Chief.
The Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (ORPC)
The ORPC is based on a few simple ideas. It was conceptualized in the late 1990s by Walt Lonner as an innovative, easily accessible, and free teaching aid for his courses in “Psychology and Culture” at Western Washington University. Its immediate predecessor was a book of readings edited by Lonner and Malpass (1994). That book contained 43 relatively short chapters written by culture-oriented scholars, most of them psychologists, who accepted their invitation to contribute to it. John Berry and Deborah Best, co-editors of this special issue, were two of the contributing authors. Several others who have written articles for this special issue also contributed, including Michael Bond, and Pierre Dasen. The earlier book was widely adopted, but regular printed books, if revised, take time to produce if they are to compete with more recent publications. Patience lost.
Thus, the ORPC, consisting of selected book chapter and journal articles, as well as fresh writings, was expanded and launched in 2001 as a copyrighted and internet-based publication of the Center for Cross-Cultural Research. Seeing its promise as a world-wide aid in the classroom and other venues, in 2008 the copyright was transferred without cost to the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. The ORPC is now an open access journal freely available to both authors and readers world-wide. It is monitored by the IACCP’s Communications and Publications Committee. The current editor of the ORPC is Michael Bender of Tilburg University, the Netherlands.
As a free and open-access publication, with approximately 125 articles spread across 11 units (topical areas), the ORPC often serves as the only “textbook” available in those parts of the world where textbooks are rare or too expensive for the typical student. The editors’ work on making these readings attractive without any financial remuneration involved. There are no costs for readers or contributors, resulting in a true open access format (often labeled diamond open access). ORPC uses the motto, “Giving Cross-Cultural Psychology Away.” That phrase is a slight modification of “Giving psychology away” that George A. Miller used in his APA presidential address many years ago (Miller, 1969). These readings rely on culture-oriented psychologists to devote some of their valuable time to prepare and submit readings that can easily be accessed online, taking advantage of technology that was not available 30 years ago.
Continued success of the ORPC depends on active participation by all professionals whose contributions are encouraged and are warmly welcomed by many. Interested contributors are urged to contact any of the ORPC editor for further information.
Some other Cross-Cultural Journals
As already noted, the JCCP was the first psychology journal that was totally devoted to cross-cultural psychology. It wasn’t long before other journals featured “culture” in their masthead policies. Noted above, for instance, was the interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural Research, sponsored by the Society for Cross-Cultural Research (1966). In 1977, the International Journal of Intercultural Relations was launched by an organization that has the current title of the International Academy for Intercultural Research (IAIR). In 1996 the quarterly Psychology and Culture was launched. Like the JCCP, it is published by Sage Publications and largely focuses on cultural psychology, which is perhaps the closest counterpart of cross-cultural psychology. Another international journal, markedly predating all the above (founded in 1956), was a publication of the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University (Canada). Its original title was Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review. Under its present title, Transcultural Psychiatry, this popular journal is exclusively devoted to the publication of articles dealing with cultural psychiatry and mental health. The journal Psychology and Developing Societies is particularly important for increasing the coverage of diverse cultures world wide.
Some additional international journals merit mention in this context. For example, the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD) publishes the International Journal of Behavioural Development, and the Association Pour Recherche Interculturelle (ARIC) publishes an online journal Alterstice (http://www.alterstice.org).
The oldest of the regional journals is the Revista Interamericana de Psicologia (Interamerican Journal of Psychology, IJP). It was inaugurated in 1951 in Mexico City, and at the time of this writing it was celebrating its 70th year. The IJP is published under the auspices of the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicologia (SIP). Its mandate is to serve all the Americas with its pole-to-pole geographic extensions, including the southern tip of South America and the far northern reaches of Canada. Other regional (but not global) journals include the Asian Journal of Social Psychology, the European Journal of Social Psychology, the Pacific Rim Journal of Psychology, Journal of Psychology in Africa, and the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.
Some journals published by national psychological associations also address cultural issues. For example, the International Division of American Psychological Association—Division 52 began publishing International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation in 2012. Additionally, the American Psychological Association Division 45 (the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race) publishes the journal Cultural Diversity and Mental Health (now Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology). Other national associations also publish culture-related articles in their journals, including the APA Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and the Canadian Psychological Association Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, as well as others by national societies in many countries.
These days it should surprise no one to find culture-oriented articles in a wide spectrum of academic journals, including many that are tangentially related in important ways to the discipline of psychology. This spread of topical coverage is evidence that culture as a mediating or moderating factor in a wide range of disciplines. When the JCCP was founded in 1970, it was guided by the slogan “To study all that is human.” That byline has turned prophetic.
Publications with Cross-Cultural Psychology Content
In addition to culture beginning to appear in journals, it was also began to appear in other types of publications. The typical introductory psychology text, read by millions each year, has been very sparse in covering culture (Lonner, 1989; Lonner & Murdock, 2008). This was also the case for most other textbooks for upper-level students (Best & Ruther, 1994). In contrast, a careful examination of other kinds of publications in contemporary psychology will uncover hundreds of articles, treatises, books, and book chapters that in some way now include culture as an important contributor to the development and display of human thought and behavior.
For a brief period in the 1990s, IACCP sponsored a monograph series published by Tilburg University Press. The goal of the series was to provide more space for detailing the cultural contexts of the psychological study than is usually available in a journal article. The focus of the four monographs that were published was on language and cognitive development.
Other publications in the field include the long-lasting Cross-Cultural Research and Methodology Series, co-edited by Walt Lonner and John Berry for Sage Publications. The series began in 1975 and ended in 1999. During this period, more than 30 volumes were published.
A freely-available publication, which has many IACCP members as contributors, is the 1997 edition of the Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology in three volumes. Although now dated, the chapters contain useful summaries of many domains of cross-cultural psychology at the mid-point of our 50-year journey. Allyn and Bacon graciously made it available for all to use without cost at <https://www.google.ca/search?q=Handbook+of+cross-cultural+psychology&source=hp&ei=UKhZYrSUIYW1tAa7nKmQBQ&>
Courses with Cross-Cultural Psychology Content
It is encouraging that the teaching of and about culture in psychology departments around the world has exploded in the past 50 years. This entails a much deeper consideration of culture than found earlier. There are now several academic units or centers in various countries that include serious and sustained study of culture in their academic offerings. Moreover, one does not have to belong to some official unit or center to engage in teaching and research of the kind that the IACCP gladly endorses. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of psychology departments in a wide variety of cultures that encourage small groups of faculty members to participate, and even to lead, in research of this kind. Students genuinely love to learn about how the world works beyond the cultural boxes in which they have born and reared. The popularity of study-abroad programs is ubiquitous. Many of the academics who have contributed to this Special Issue have taught such courses as “Psychology and Culture” for many years. To a person, they will tell you that academic exploration along those non-traditional lines is among the best parts of their jobs in academia.
Honorary Fellows of IACCP
In keeping with a tradition that most academic and professional associations covet, the IACCP recognizes individuals who have, in various ways, made significant contributions to the field. During its 50 years, the IACCP has recognized individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to the field. Those so honored are listed in the website at IACCP.org. They include 26 individuals (18 males and 8 females) from 14 countries, most of whom were added every 2 years and usually announced at the international IACCP conferences. Nineteen have served as IACCP president.
Concluding Remarks
In this review of the precursors, birth and early years of IACCP, we have outlined that, starting in the 1960s and accelerating in the 1970s—and still developing—cross-cultural psychology has become a strong and sustaining voice in the discipline of Psychology. This modern development has been heavily influenced by the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology and the numerous ways that it and its members have contributed to its growth. The readers of this special issue, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the roles that the IACCP has played in this expansion, can learn a great deal more by following the developments as explained on its website. Even more can be learned, especially about historical matters, by visiting the IACCP Archives at the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology (CCHR) located at the University of Akron in Cleveland, Ohio. (U.S.A.).
At various meetings during the past 15 years, Lonner and Berry have organized symposia on the Archives Project. They encouraged cross-cultural colleagues to contribute appropriate material to the Archives. The Association itself has contributed many useful documents and artifacts to this unique source of information.
A more opportune way to learn more about cross-cultural psychology in both historical and contemporary perspectives is to read the articles in this special issue. Written by established cross-cultural psychologists, this accumulated knowledge will benefit many scholars. As co-editors of this special issue, we express our thanks for their contributions. Just as most of these individuals have contributed to the growth of global psychology, these articles will help stimulate increasing growth in the future.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.