A long-term challenge in studying personality has been to strike a balance between seeking the universality of structure and describing the rich changes in personality due to cultural and background differences. In recent decades, personality research has been dominated by Western- (Euro-American-) based theories, and self-construction has been dominantly emphasized. However, because of the neglect of the cultural particularity of personality (e.g., interpersonal relatedness), Western-based theories have been challenged in theory and practice when used in non-western contexts. Accordingly, beyond those traditional Western-etic studies, non-Western-emic personality research focusing on the indigenously addressing personality in non-Western contexts started in the 1970s.
There are two basic types of indigenous research in non-Western personality. If we regard the imported-etic research on the personality of mainstream Western psychology in non-Western contexts as a manifestation of globalization, then understanding the construct of Western-based personality with non-Western thinking can be regarded as glocalization in indigenous research of personality. The other type of indigenous personality research is, beyond those Western-based personality constructs, to explore and construct the personality embedded in specific non-Western cultural contexts (e.g., Chinese culture).
Over the past five decades, a substantial amount of indigenous research has been devoted to addressing personality in non-Western, for example, Chinese and South African communities, and specifically investigating how Western-based personality constructs, or indigenous personality constructs in explaining ones' behaviors in specific non-Western settings. Furthermore, with the worldwide interactions among various cultures (e.g., between Eastern and Western cultures), some indigenous personality constructs proposed in non-Western backgrounds have also been paid attention to in Western backgrounds. This may be considered to be the glocalization from non-West to West in indigenous personality research.
However, neither the abovementioned two types of indigenous personality research nor the glocalization research of non-Western personality in Western contexts has been adequately represented in the mainstream international personality research community.
This Research Topic aims to provide a showcase for recent advances in indigenous research of personality from perspectives of globalization and glocalization. The main goals are as follows: (1) To clarify/examine those Western-highlighted personality constructs in a non-western context; (2) beyond the contribution of Western-highlighted personality constructs, to examine the incremental validity of those non-Western-highlighted personality constructs in a specific context; (3) to examine the construct validity of those non-Western highlighted personality constructs; and (4) to examine the cross-cultural validity of non-Western highlighted personality constructs in a specific context.
The sub-fields/topics include but are not limited to the following:
(1) Theoretical discussions of indigenous personality constructs from perspectives of globalization and glocalization.
(2) Research on Western-highlighted personality constructs in non-Western contexts.
(3) Research on non-Western-highlighted personality constructs in non-Western contexts (e.g., interpersonal relatedness in a Chinese context).
(4) Research non-Western-highlighted personality constructs in Western contexts (e.g., interpersonal relatedness in a US context).
(5) Cross-culturally comparative research of those Western-highlighted/ non-Western-highlighted personality constructs.
A long-term challenge in studying personality has been to strike a balance between seeking the universality of structure and describing the rich changes in personality due to cultural and background differences. In recent decades, personality research has been dominated by Western- (Euro-American-) based theories, and self-construction has been dominantly emphasized. However, because of the neglect of the cultural particularity of personality (e.g., interpersonal relatedness), Western-based theories have been challenged in theory and practice when used in non-western contexts. Accordingly, beyond those traditional Western-etic studies, non-Western-emic personality research focusing on the indigenously addressing personality in non-Western contexts started in the 1970s.
There are two basic types of indigenous research in non-Western personality. If we regard the imported-etic research on the personality of mainstream Western psychology in non-Western contexts as a manifestation of globalization, then understanding the construct of Western-based personality with non-Western thinking can be regarded as glocalization in indigenous research of personality. The other type of indigenous personality research is, beyond those Western-based personality constructs, to explore and construct the personality embedded in specific non-Western cultural contexts (e.g., Chinese culture).
Over the past five decades, a substantial amount of indigenous research has been devoted to addressing personality in non-Western, for example, Chinese and South African communities, and specifically investigating how Western-based personality constructs, or indigenous personality constructs in explaining ones' behaviors in specific non-Western settings. Furthermore, with the worldwide interactions among various cultures (e.g., between Eastern and Western cultures), some indigenous personality constructs proposed in non-Western backgrounds have also been paid attention to in Western backgrounds. This may be considered to be the glocalization from non-West to West in indigenous personality research.
However, neither the abovementioned two types of indigenous personality research nor the glocalization research of non-Western personality in Western contexts has been adequately represented in the mainstream international personality research community.
This Research Topic aims to provide a showcase for recent advances in indigenous research of personality from perspectives of globalization and glocalization. The main goals are as follows: (1) To clarify/examine those Western-highlighted personality constructs in a non-western context; (2) beyond the contribution of Western-highlighted personality constructs, to examine the incremental validity of those non-Western-highlighted personality constructs in a specific context; (3) to examine the construct validity of those non-Western highlighted personality constructs; and (4) to examine the cross-cultural validity of non-Western highlighted personality constructs in a specific context.
The sub-fields/topics include but are not limited to the following:
(1) Theoretical discussions of indigenous personality constructs from perspectives of globalization and glocalization.
(2) Research on Western-highlighted personality constructs in non-Western contexts.
(3) Research on non-Western-highlighted personality constructs in non-Western contexts (e.g., interpersonal relatedness in a Chinese context).
(4) Research non-Western-highlighted personality constructs in Western contexts (e.g., interpersonal relatedness in a US context).
(5) Cross-culturally comparative research of those Western-highlighted/ non-Western-highlighted personality constructs.
