A Cross-Cultural Psychology Study for a Multinational Organization

Cross-cultural psychology is an emerging field focused on assessing the cultural influence on human behavior (Berry & Dasen, 2019). While certain aspects of human behavior and thought processes are universal, cultural differences can significantly impact individuals’ perceptions, attitudes, and actions. One of the primary challenges for multinational companies today is the effective management of human resources. The internationalization of organizations increases cultural diversity within the workforce, which can lead to conflicts (Keith, 2019). Cross-cultural psychology research can play a crucial role in assisting Human Resource Management (HRM) to identify the underlying causes of these conflicts, address cultural biases, and suggest effective strategies to prevent such conflicts (Berry & Dasen, 2019). This blog post discusses the role of cross-cultural psychology in managing cross-cultural conflicts and facilitating HRM to successfully manage a diverse workforce.

Culture is a multifaceted concept that includes several dimensions, making it challenging to define. Major dimensions of culture include collectivism and individualism, which add to the complexity of cultural dynamics. Therefore, literature often defines culture in association with demographic variables such as social factors, economic conditions, religious practices, racial differences, and language (Gelfand et al., 2017). Berry and Dasen (2019) defined culture as a collective practice of values, beliefs, norms, actions, and practices by a specific group of people in a geographically distinct location. These cultural factors play an important role in shaping individuals’ professional behaviors.

The literature recognizes the significance of culture and emphasizes promoting research on cultural influences within psychological contexts (Gelfand et al., 2017). The main objective is to evaluate how culture impacts psychology. Although the influence of culture on human psychology has long been acknowledged, there remains no definitive method to accurately measure this impact. Cross-cultural psychology aims to conceptualize culture to examine its effects on human behavior, studying the relationship between culture and human behavior among different cultural groups (Berry & Dasen, 2019).

Ashdown and Buck (2018) described cross-cultural psychology as the study of overt (observable) and covert (non-observable) behaviors in a cultural context. Overt behaviors include actions and responses, while covert behaviors encompass feelings, emotions, and beliefs. Culture plays a foundational role in cross-cultural psychology (Causadias & Vitriol, 2018).

Shiraev and Levy (2016) suggested that people within the same cultural group exhibit similar psychological processes and functions. These similarities help understand differences in overt and covert behaviors among various cultural groups in cross-cultural psychology.

Causadias and Vitriol (2018) supported this view, stating that culture represents the psychic unity of humankind. The role of culture in cross-cultural psychology highlights that psychological functions vary significantly across different cultures worldwide.

Cross-cultural psychology is essential in analyzing the impact of diverse cultural features on human behavior within specific groups and interactions between different cultural groups. It facilitates identifying the underlying causes of conflicts between individuals from different cultural backgrounds, contributing significantly to clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, and counseling (Shiraev & Levy, 2016).

The primary goals of cross-cultural psychology include comparing unique behaviors influenced by specific cultures with universal behaviors. This comparison helps identify how culture affects individual behavior, communication, interactions, social experiences, and personal and professional relationships. Another goal is to recognize areas of psychology subject to biases (Unanue et al., 2016).

Cross-cultural psychology also systematically studies behaviors and experiences during cross-cultural interactions under cultural influence, identifying potential conflicts. Another objective is to investigate psychological phenomena in different cultural settings, allowing psychologists to measure psychological concepts and paradigms equivalently across cultures. These goals help establish the generalization of findings, forming a relativistic research framework to analyze how different cultures influence psychological phenomena (Unanue et al., 2016).

Developing an effective method to systematically study the psychological functioning of different cultural groups is crucial. There has been ongoing debate between universalism and cultural relativism. Some scholars argue that culture should be understood on its terms, while others believe that comparing human behavior across different times and cultures can help identify the unique influence of culture on individual behavior. These comparative and non-comparative schools of thought are linked with Western and non-Western methodologies of cultural assessment (De Mooij, 2015).

Different psychological theories and domains will be employed to assess the cause of cross-cultural conflicts within a multinational organization. The first methodology is a social-psychological study, popular in cross-cultural psychology. This method assesses illusion susceptibility in association with natural human behavioral phenomena in open environments. It also effectively assesses unique learning patterns and cognitive approaches under specific cultural influences (De Mooij, 2015).

Etic and emic approaches will be used to identify similarities and differences between conflicting cultures within the organization. The methodology will involve the following steps (De Mooij, 2015):

1. Identification of Cultural Differences:
   • Assessing cultural differences between two cultural groups experiencing conflicts to develop a better professional relationship.
2. Recognition of Meaningful Cultural Dimensions:
   • Identifying cultural dimensions that explain these cultural differences, such as communication and timing of professional interactions.
3. Conceptual Application of Cultural Dimensions:
   • Applying identified cultural dimensions to explain human behavior and their influence.
4. Empirical Evidence:
   • Experimenting with cultural dimensions to observe behavior and collect empirical evidence describing the cultural cause of conflicting behavior. This step also identifies cultural biases contributing to the severity of conflicts. Bias is defined as a difference in thoughts or behaviors that do not have similar meanings across studied cultures.

Biases can arise when linking culture and psychological variables. Psychologists’ perceptions, beliefs, and cultural attributes can contribute to research biases. Inappropriate research methods can also result in biased findings. To increase the effectiveness of this cross-cultural research, the possibility of the following biases will be considered and avoided (Keith, 2019):

1. Conceptual Bias:
   • Arises when inequivalent theories, concepts, or hypotheses are compared between different cultures. To avoid this bias, concepts with the same equivalence among the compared cultures will be used.
2. Method Bias:
   • Divided into procedural biases, sampling biases, and linguistic bias. To avoid these biases, appropriate representatives from both cultures will be selected. Research instruments, instructions, or questionnaires will be designed to be equivalently comprehended by both cultural groups. Back translation can minimize linguistic biases, and data collection procedures should have equal meaning in both cultures. Method biases can be reduced by increasing structural equivalence, internal reliability, operationalization, and factor analysis.
3. Response Biases:
   • Occur when respondents provide socially desirable answers or extreme responses unrelated to the question’s content. Other response biases include acquiescence bias and reference group-influenced biases. These biases can be avoided by providing adequate awareness about the research’s need, importance, and impact of individual responses.
4. Interpretation Biases:
   • Insignificant statistical findings in cross-cultural research indicate interpretation biases. These biases can be avoided using justified data and statistical software like SPSS or ANOVA. The interpretation of findings is critical in cross-cultural research, and researchers’ cultural filters can affect accurate interpretation. Therefore, a careful and conscious approach will be used.

The findings from this cross-cultural research can identify the variances and similarities between two cultural groups in the workforce. A mindfulness-based practice can be developed to guide both cultural groups about their differences and increase cultural acceptance towards others. This practice can help avoid future cross-cultural conflicts (Keith, 2019).

Effective human resource management is a significant challenge for multinational companies today. The internationalization of organizations increases cultural diversity within the workforce, potentially causing conflicts. Cultural factors play a crucial role in shaping individuals’ professional behaviors. The primary goals of cross-cultural psychology are to compare unique behaviors influenced by specific cultures with universal behaviors and understand how culture affects individual behavior, communication, and interactions. Different psychological theories and domains will be employed to assess the cause of cross-cultural conflicts within the organization.

• Ashdown, B. K., & Buck, M. (2018). International Aid as Modern Imperialism—What Does Cross-Cultural Psychology Really Have to Offer? A Commentary on “The Positive Role of Culture: What Cross-Cultural Psychology Has to Offer to Developmental Aid Effectiveness Research, by Symen A. Brouwers”. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(4), 545-553.
• Berry, J. W., & Dasen, P. R. (2019). Culture and cognition: Readings in cross-cultural psychology. Routledge.
• Causadias, J. M., Vitriol, J. A., & Atkin, A. L. (2018). Do we overemphasize the role of culture in the behavior of racial/ethnic minorities? Evidence of a cultural (mis) attribution bias in American psychology. American Psychologist, 73(3), 243.
• De Mooij, M. (2015). Cross-cultural research in international marketing: clearing up some of the confusion. International Marketing Review, 32(6), 646-662.
• Gelfand, M. J., Aycan, Z., Erez, M., & Leung, K. (2017). Cross-cultural industrial organizational psychology and organizational behavior: A hundred-year journey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 514.
• Keith, K. D. (Ed.). (2019). Cross-cultural psychology: Contemporary themes and perspectives. John Wiley & Sons.
• Shiraev, E. B., & Levy, D. A. (2016). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications. Routledge.
• Unanue, W., Vignoles, V. L., Dittmar, H., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2016). Life goals predict environmental behavior: Cross-cultural and longitudinal evidence. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 46, 10-22.

4o