International Psychology - Definitions and Scope

Definitions and Scope

International psychology is concerned with the emergence and practice of psychology in different parts of the world. It advocates committed involvement in worldwide and regional psychology and policy-making organizations such as the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS: it includes 82 national psychology associations), the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP), the International Council of Psychologists (ICP), the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA: it includes 35 national psychology associations), the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicología (SIP), and many others. The goal is to establish psychology as a global discipline that in its theories, research practices, applications, and ethical aspirations is focused on the Psychological study of humanity as a whole while avoiding as much as possible ethnocentric biases and preoccupations.

In contrast, the term “global psychology” is more frequently used to refer to the worldwide investigation of global issues and phenomena of interest from a psychological and psychocultural point of view. Examples include the investigation of subjective well being, identification and treatment of mental health problems, the psychological dimensions of family systems, gender roles and gender-typed behavior, childrearing practices, cognitive and emotional functioning, international attitudes, value systems, intergroup conflicts, threats to the natural environment, societal transformation and national development, the struggles of disempowered groups (such as women, children, and immigrants and refugees) as seen in global perspective.

Cross-cultural psychology may be defined as the comparative study of behavior and mental processes in different cultures. It aims to measure the psychological phenomena across cultures and looks for patterns, generalizability, and culture-specific differentiation. An example would be the investigation of child-rearing practices and their psychological consequences among distinctly different groups. Cross-cultural psychology focuses on the relationship between psychology and culture (such as language, traditions, and socialization practices) and how it affects individual human functioning. In this respect, cross-cultural psychology constitutes one important element of global psychology. Cross-cultural psychology emerged during the 1960s-1970s as a separate field of study with a definite identity; it is thus older than the more general field of international psychology, which is only now emerging as a distinct discipline.

The Oxford English Dictionary (1993) defines global as, “…pertaining to or involving the world, worldwide” (p. 1101) and international as, “Existing, occurring, or carried on between nations…Agreed on by many nations; used by, or able to be used by (the people of) many nations” (p. 1397). At present the term international psychology is in wider use although Stevens and Gielen (2007) have proposed the preferential usage of the term global psychology in order to underline the increasingly global nature of psychological phenomena and problems together with their scientific investigation and efforts to ameliorate them. More generally, the emergence and intensification of an international psychology movement is part and parcel of the broader process of globalization in the economic, technological, sociocultural, political and ecological spheres. It reflects and makes use of the increasingly global flow of information, ideas, and peoples.