Cultural Psychology

Cultural Psychology is the study of the influence of cultural factors, such as traditions, language, and philosophy, on behavior and mental processes. It is an interdisciplinary subfield of Psychology, that developed from the collaboration of Psychology and other Social Sciences.

Cultural Psychology shed light into the difference between Western philosophy and Eastern philosophy. Cultural psychologists characterize Western philosophy as individualistic, and Eastern philosophy as collectivistic. Individualism refers to emphasis on personal agency, where the individual is primarily responsible for situations, prizing leadership, standing out, and being different above all other traits. Collectivism, in contrast, refers to emphasis on group agency, where the group is mainly responsible for situations, prizing cooperation, sharing, and unity above all other traits. This difference between western and eastern philosophies were observed by cultural psychologists to have implications on education:

• Group Study is more common among easterners.
• Student-Teacher Interaction is valued among easterners as a factor for student performance.