AsseeninseveralAnnualReviewofPsychologyarticlesoncultureandpsychologypublishedsincetheyear1990(see,e.g.,Gelfandetal.2007a,Heinedefds123Buchtel2009forthemostrecentreviews),considerableprogresshasbeenmadeinthepasttwodecades.MuchofthisworkinitiallyfocusedonsystematiccomparisonsbetweenWesterncultures(asexemplifiedbyNorthAmericancultures)andEasterncultures(asexemplifiedbyEastAsiancultures)(e.g.,Kitayamaetal.2006a,Markusdefds123Kitayama1991,Nisbettetal.2001).Unlikeitspredecessorsthatusedsurveysastheprimaryinstrument(e.g.,Hofstede1980),thisnewworkreliedmuchmoreheavilyonexperimentalmethodsandsuggestedthatsomefundamentalaspectsofbasicpsychologicalprocessessuchascognition,emotion,andmotivationcanbesystematicallyinfluencedbyculture.Althoughthisworkwasguidedbythegeneralhypothesisthatsocialorientationofindependenceversusinterdependenceorindividualismversuscollectivismisakeydimensionunderlyingtheculturalvariation(Markusdefds123Kitayama1991,Triandis1989),researchershavealsoexaminedalternativedimensionsincludinghonor(Nisbettdefds123Cohen1996),tightness(Gelfandetal.2007b),religiosity(Cohendefds123Rozin2001),andhierarchy,(Shavittetal.2010)amongothers.
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