Becoming Involved in International Psychology: Why and How

P. 3–22.

Takooshian H., Novikova I., Chebotareva, Elena

"How can psychology faculty and students become more involved in international psychology?" This has become a more common question inside and outside the USA, for at least five reasons. (a) Origins. From its very origins in Europe in 1879, our "scientific study of behavior and mental life" began as an international field. (b) Growth. Over 75% of the world's psychologists became concentrated in one region (North America) through most of the 20th Century, though this has dropped sharply since 1990, to under 25% in 2016, as psychological science and practice grow much faster outside North America. (c) Diversity.  Since the 1970s, we psychologists have increasingly recognized the importance of human diversity (including cultural diversity) in our teaching, research, and practice.  (d) Barriers. There have been barriers separating the indigenous psychologies in 194 nations and other regions of the globe (Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America). (e) Resources. These barriers are now being reduced by new resources and technologies, such as the Internet and MOOCs (Massive Open On-line Courses). 

This chapter reviews why and how we can best internationalize our psychology teaching, in six parts: (a) The remarkably international origins of psychology in the late 1800s, followed by a decline in the 1900s.  (b) The overdue rise of "diversity" within psychology in the 1970s, including cross-national diversity. (c) The emerging concept of "international psychology," as a new form of diversity. (d) Some challenges to a truly international psychology.  (e) Twelve suggestions for U.S. and non-U.S. faculty and students to overcome these challenges.  This includes a concise overview of current resources to help new and veteran faculty and their students to deepen their involvement in international psychology: organizations, conferences, publications, websites, funding, technologies. 

Keywords: кросс-культурная психология, cultural diversity, cross-cultural psychology, культурное разнообразие, интернационализация науки, internalization advantages, интернационализация вузов, international psychology, международная психология

In book

Internationalizing the Teaching of Psychology

Charlotte: Information Age Publishing Inc., 2017.