A review that pinpoints three weak spots in culture-comparing psychology — comparing just two cultures, leaning on student samples, and hunting only for differences explained in circles — and proposes fixes.
A Study for Refinement of Research Methods in Cross-Cultural Psychology
비교문화심리학의 연구방법 정교화를 위한 제언
QUESTION
What research-method problems does today's cross-cultural psychology have, what challenges do they pose to understanding people in their cultural context, and how can those challenges be overcome?
FINDINGS
The habit of setting just two cultural groups side by side appeared not only in international journals but equally in cross-cultural studies published in Korea.
비교문화심리학 연구가 두 개의 문화 집단을 서로 견주는 방식으로 수행되는 추세는, 한국에서 발표되었던 연구들에서도 동일하게 관찰되었다The trend of conducting cross-cultural psychology research by comparing two cultural groups with each other was equally observed in studies published in Korea.p6해외 학술지의 출판 경향과 비교하고자, 국내 심리학 학술지들에 게재된 문화 관련 연구들을 분석하였다To compare with publication trends in international journals, culture-related studies published in Korean psychology journals were analyzed.p5Of the cross-cultural studies in Korean Psychological Association journals, 69.8% (30 studies) used undergraduate students.
69.8%인 30개의 연구가 학부생들을 대상으로 수행되었음을 알 수 있었다…it was found that 30 studies, or 69.8%, were conducted with undergraduate students.p11한국심리학회 간행 학술지들에 1992년에서 2018년 사이 발표된 총 43개의 비교문화 연구들을 직접 분석한 결과Directly analyzing a total of 43 cross-cultural studies published in Korean Psychological Association journals between 1992 and 2018…p11Even among Koreans, students see themselves as less collectivistic than non-students do.
한국인들 가운데에서도 학생이 아닌 사람들에 비하여 학생들은 스스로가 덜 집단주의적이라고 여기는 것으로 나타났다…even among Koreans, students were found to regard themselves as less collectivistic than non-students.p12Explanations like “Asians are collectivistic, so they value social harmony; valuing harmony shows they are collectivistic” go around in a circle, the author argues.
‘아시아인들은 보다 집단주의적이다, 그러므로 그들은 개인적인 성취보다 집단의 목표 달성과 사회적 조화를 더 중요하게 여긴다“Asians are more collectivistic; therefore they value achieving group goals and social harmony more than personal achievement…p16그리고 이러한 특징은 그들이 집단주의적이라는 것을 의미한다.’라는 식의 기술은 순환적이다…and this trait means they are collectivistic’ — such a description is circular.p16IN DAILY LIFE
In depth
This paper, more closely — every sentence carries an original quote and page number.
Background
Cross-cultural psychology has shown that minds work differently across cultures, and that these differences are fundamental rather than measurement mistakes.
서로 다른 문화 맥락에 속한 사람들 간의 심리적 차이는 측정 오류를 넘어선, 보다 근원적인 차이임을 알아낸 것이다…it found that psychological differences between people in different cultural contexts are more fundamental differences that go beyond measurement error.p2기존에 밝혀진 심리학 원리들이 모든 문화권의 사람들에게 보편적으로 적용될 수 있는 것은 아니며…psychological principles established so far cannot be applied universally to people of all cultures, and…p2Measurement error has been widely discussed, but how to handle challenges like choosing cultures and samples has not — so this paper takes those on.
그 중요성에도 불구하고, 측정 오류의 경우와는 달리 위와 같은 도전을 어떻게 넘어서야 할 지에 대해서는 아직 논의된 바가 많지 않다Despite their importance, unlike measurement error, there has not yet been much discussion of how to overcome such challenges.p4이러한 도전에는 대표적으로 비교를 위한 문화 집단의 선택 및 표본 추출의 적절성 문제, 문화 간 변산의 연원을 탐구하는 문제 등이 포함된다These challenges notably include choosing cultural groups for comparison and the adequacy of sampling, and exploring the sources of cross-cultural variation.p4이 논문에서는 측정 오류와 관련된 문제를 제외한 연구방법 상의 도전에 초점을 맞추고자 한다This paper focuses on methodological challenges other than those related to measurement error.p4Method
A review of research-method problems; to see the situation in Korea, the author also searched for and analyzed cross-cultural studies in Korean Psychological Association journals.
검색 키워드는 [비교문화], [문화비교] 및 [국가비교]로 설정하였다The search keywords were set as [cross-cultural], [culture comparison], and [country comparison].p5본 논문에서는 현 시점의 비교문화심리학 연구가 안고 있는 세 가지, 서로 연관된 연구방법 상의 문제들을 소개한다This paper introduces three interrelated methodological problems facing cross-cultural psychology research today.p4해외 학술지의 출판 경향과 비교하고자, 국내 심리학 학술지들에 게재된 문화 관련 연구들을 분석하였다To compare with publication trends in international journals, culture-related studies published in Korean psychology journals were analyzed.p51992년에서 2018년 사이 한국심리학회 간행 학술지들에 발표된 총 43개의 비교문화 연구들을 찾을 수 있었다A total of 43 cross-cultural studies published in Korean Psychological Association journals between 1992 and 2018 were found.p5학술연구정보서비스(Research Information Sharing Service; RISS), 한국학술정보Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), Koreanstudies Information Service System…p5KISS), DBpia 및 한국심리학회의 데이터베이스를 이용하여, 한국심리학회 발간 학술지에 출판된 비교문화 경험연구 논문들을 검색하였다…(KISS), DBpia, and the Korean Psychological Association database were used to search for empirical cross-cultural papers in the association's journals.p5분석에는 연구자들이 직접 복수의 문화로부터 자료를 수집, 비교하였던 연구 논문들만을 포함시켰으며Only papers in which the researchers directly collected and compared data from multiple cultures were included in the analysis.p5Detailed findings
Of 382 culture-related quantitative studies in the leading cross-cultural psychology journal (2008–2015), 53.4% (204) compared just two groups or two cultures.
382개 가운데 53.4%인 204개의 연구가 두 집단이나 두 문화 간 비교에 관한 것이었다…of 382, 204 studies, or 53.4%, concerned comparisons between two groups or two cultures.p5비교문화심리학 분야의 권위 있는 학술지 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology에 2008년부터 2015년 사이 출판된 문화 관련 양적 연구들 382개382 culture-related quantitative studies published 2008–2015 in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, an authoritative journal in the fieldp5In Korea, 74.4% (32) of the 43 cross-cultural studies in Korean Psychological Association journals from 1992 to 2018 compared only two cultural groups.
1992년에서 2018년 사이 한국심리학회 간행 학술지들에 발표된 총 43 개의 비교문화 연구들을 찾을 수 있었다. 그런데 이 가운데 74.4%인 32개의 연구A total of 43 cross-cultural studies published in Korean Psychological Association journals between 1992 and 2018 were found. Of these, 32 studies, or 74.4%…p5들이 두 문화 집단 간의 비교를 다루고 있었고, 8개의 연구들(18.6%)이 세 문화 집단 간…dealt with comparisons between two cultural groups, while 8 studies (18.6%) [compared] three cultural groups…p6When only two cultures are compared, they usually differ in language, religion, history, climate and more, so it is hard to pin down what caused the psychological difference.
어떠한 요인들이 연구에서 관찰된 심리적 차이를 발생시켰는지 특정하기 어렵고…it is difficult to specify which factors produced the psychological differences observed in the study…p6인종적 배경, 언어, 종교, 역사, 철학적 전통, 교육 제도, 지리, 기후 등 연구에서 고려되거나 측정되지 않았던 요인들 상에서도 서로 다르다면…if they also differ on factors not considered or measured in the study, such as ethnic background, language, religion, history, philosophical tradition, education system, geography, and climate…p6In a Hokkaido study the author describes, Japanese from Hokkaido — which, like the US, has a history of voluntary migration and settlement — found happiness in both personal achievement and social harmony to a similar degree, as Americans do.
홋카이도 일본인들이 개인적인 성취와 사회적인 조화 모두에서 비슷한 정도로 행복을 찾는 것으로 나타났는데…Hokkaido Japanese were found to find happiness to a similar degree in both personal achievement and social harmony…p10미국과 유사한 자발적 정착의 역사를 가진 다른 지역에서도 미국처럼 독립성을 장려하는 문화적 기풍이 발견될 것이라고 주장하며 홋카이도 출신의…arguing that a cultural ethos encouraging independence would also be found in other regions with a history of voluntary settlement like the US, [they designed a study of people] from Hokkaido…p9모두에서 비슷한 정도로 행복을 찾는 것으로 나타났는데, 이는 미국인들의 경우와 유사하였다…found happiness to a similar degree in both, which was similar to Americans.p10In a Kenyan study, Nairobi university students' self-concepts were the opposite of other Kenyans' and resembled American students' — an example of students not representing their society.
케냐인 대학생들의 자기개념은 다른 케냐인들과는 반대이자 오히려 미국인 대학생들과는 유사하게…the self-concepts of Kenyan university students were, contrary to other Kenyans and rather similar to American university students…p13학생 집단이 비교 준거 상에서 모집단의 나머지 구성원들과 완전히 반대 극단에 위치하는 경우도 있다There are cases where the student group sits at the completely opposite extreme from the rest of the population on the comparison criterion.p12An analysis of 80 cross-cultural journal articles found 69% set hypotheses only about cultural differences; none proposed a hypothesis about universality.
이 논문들 가운데 69%에서 오로지 문화 간 차이에 대한 가설만을 설정하였는데…69% of these papers set hypotheses only about cross-cultural differences…p13Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology에 출판된 80편의 비교문화 연구 논문에 제시된 가설과 결과를 분석한 바에 따르면According to an analysis of the hypotheses and results of 80 cross-cultural papers published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology…p13분석에 포함되었던 어떤 논문에도 문화 보편성에 관한 가설은 제시되어 있지 않았다None of the analyzed papers proposed a hypothesis about cultural universality.p13Tribespeople in Burkina Faso with no exposure to Western culture correctly recognized pride expressions — comparing maximally different cultures can strongly show universality.
서구 문화를 접할 기회가 없었던 서아프리카 내륙 부르키나 파소의 부족 사람들도 자부심의 표현을 자부심의 표현으로 정확히 인지함을…even tribespeople of Burkina Faso in inland West Africa, who had had no chance to encounter Western culture, accurately recognized expressions of pride as expressions of pride…p15서로 최대한 다른 문화들 간에 유사성을 찾아냄으로써 자부심의 문화 보편성을 강하게 뒷받침하는 결과를 얻을 수 있었다By finding similarity between maximally different cultures, the study obtained results strongly supporting the cultural universality of pride.p15Men from the US South and North did not differ meaningfully when not insulted; differences appeared only after an insult — showing why differences and similarities must be viewed together.
모욕을 당하지 않았을 때에는 두 집단 간에 의미 있는 차이가 나타나지 않았으나When not insulted, no meaningful difference appeared between the two groups, but…p16모욕을 당하는 조건과 모욕을 당하지 않는 조건에서 미국 남부 출신과 북부 출신의 남성들을 비교하였다Men from the US South and North were compared in insult and no-insult conditions.p16이와 같이 차이와 유사성을 함께 조망한다면, 문화에 대한 보다 풍부하고 완전한 이해에 다가갈 수 있을 것이다Viewing differences and similarities together in this way brings us closer to a richer, more complete understanding of culture.p16Authors’ interpretation
Depending on the angle, either difference or similarity stands out, but each contains the other, so both should be examined together.
문화 간 차이는 유사성을 내포하고 유사성은 차이를 내포하므로…because cross-cultural differences imply similarities and similarities imply differences…p16어떻게 바라보는가에 따라 차이와 유사성 중 어느 한 쪽Depending on how one looks, one of difference or similarityp15문화차가 드러나지 않았던 조건이나 상황도 문화차가 나타난 조건이나 상황과 함께 조명할 필요가 있다Conditions where cultural differences did not appear should be examined together with those where they did.p16To trace where cultural differences come from, an “ecocultural approach” — explaining cultural and psychological diversity as adaptation to ecological and sociopolitical settings — is useful.
인간의 문화적, 심리적 다양성이 특정한 맥락에 집단적으로나 개인적으로 적응한 결과로 나타난다고 설명한다It explains that human cultural and psychological diversity appears as the result of collective and individual adaptation to particular contexts.p17문화차를 설명하거나 문화 간 차이의 연원을 밝힐 때 생태문화적 접근In explaining cultural differences or tracing their origins, the ecocultural approach…p17생태문화적 접근에서는 생태적, 사회정치적 맥락에 대한 인간의 적응에 초점을 맞춘다The ecocultural approach focuses on human adaptation to ecological and sociopolitical contexts.p17The author concludes that by carefully examining methodological difficulties and seeking better tools, we can reach a broader, richer understanding of the human mind.
문화 맥락 속에 위치한 인간을 파악하는 데 활용할 더 나은 도구가 무엇인지 탐색한다면…if they explore what better tools can be used to understand humans situated in cultural contexts…p19연구방법 상의 어려움을 면밀히 살피고…carefully examine the methodological difficulties and…p19궁극적으로 인간의 마음에 대하여 보다 폭 넓고 풍부한 이해에 가깝게 다가갈 수 있을 것이다…ultimately we can come closer to a broader and richer understanding of the human mind.p19Limits the authors note
Problems related to measurement error were left outside this paper's scope.
이 논문에서는 측정 오류와 관련된 문제를 제외한 연구방법 상의 도전에 초점을 맞추고자 한다This paper focuses on methodological challenges other than those related to measurement error.p4Key terms
Just-minimal-difference approach A sampling method that matches two groups as closely as possible on education, language and everything else, so that culture is the only difference between them.
문화만이 두 집단 간의 유일한 차이점이 되도록 하는 표본 추출법이다…a sampling method that makes culture the only difference between the two groups.p6Method of triangulation To find the source of a difference first seen between groups A and B, researchers also observe a third group C that resembles A in some ways and B in others.
두 집단(집단 A와 B) 사이에서 최초에 드러난 문화차의 원천을 파악하기 위하여 제3의 집단(집단 C)을 관찰하는 것이다…observing a third group (group C) in order to identify the source of the cultural difference initially revealed between two groups (groups A and B).p8WEIRD Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic — a term used to criticize behavioral science for drawing its samples mostly from such groups.
산업화되고 민주적인 서구 사회의 교육 수준 높고 부유한 집단에 의존하는 행동과학의 표본 추출 관행을 비판한 바 있다…criticized the sampling practice of behavioral science that relies on highly educated, wealthy groups in industrialized, democratic Western societies.p11