Etics and Emics Awry: Contesting Matsumoto and Juang's Interpretation

7 Pages Posted: 12 Dec 2017

See all articles by Eric Sonnicksen

Eric Sonnicksen

Western New Mexico University, Students; Missouri State University

Date Written: October 14, 2017

Abstract

David Matsumoto and Linda Juang’s depiction of the concepts is awry, as in, the authors identify etics as the universal aspects of psychological processes and emics as the means peoples of differing cultures implement these processes. The contention of this paper there is there has been limited success in obtaining empirical evidence to advance the idea of a universal psychology. Therefore, in considering cross-cultural comparisons, a more valuable approach is to consider the indigenous psychology of a people, as an emic approach from “bottom up” perspective to minimize an observer’s cultural bias or ethnocentricity. Whereas etics is a means to engender a universal psychology derived from cross-cultural comparisons of indigenous psychologies in an attempt to reveal psychological universals.

Keywords: etics, emics, cross-cultural comparison, indigenous psychology, universal psychology

JEL Classification: Z10, Z19

Suggested Citation

Sonnicksen, Eric, Etics and Emics Awry: Contesting Matsumoto and Juang's Interpretation (October 14, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3085025 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3085025

Eric Sonnicksen (Contact Author)

Western New Mexico University, Students ( email )

Silver City, NM
United States

Missouri State University ( email )

901 South National Avenue
Springfield, MO 65897
United States

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