Psychology And Internationalization

ocuments contrived for specific cultural audiences might not be suitable for different audiences, unless we make appropriate alterations to contextualize the material for the new audience. This process, otherwise known as the internationalization, is a very difficult task because symbolism and meaning vary significantly across cultures. Changing the wording or a symbol can be extremely difficult, as meaning is not always transferrable. This is true in many fields however, I want to focus on the impact of internationalization in the field of psychology, and how history and location can influence its materials. In recent years, psychology has seen an increase in international authors and collaborators, which has initiated a move towards a more …show more content…
Brock (2013), Brock explains how an emphasis on American practices in psychology have disregarded Canadian’s significant contributions to the field and its history. He supports this argument by providing examples of psychologists who have edited or created material for the field while based in Canada. These examples include previous presidents of the American Psychology Association (APA) Division 26 (History of Psychology), as well as another organization called Cheiron, which deals with materials including information on the history of psychology (p. 87). Brock explains Cheiron’s connection with The Journal of the History of Behavioral Sciences, and how scholars based out of Canada influence it and other …show more content…
Although they may vary in their positions on how successful the field of psychology is in internationalizing its materials, they all agree that internationalization is necessary to meet the needs of a more globalized world. One of the main suggestions for increasing internationalization in the U.S. is hiring international contributors to author, edit, and collaborate on U.S. psychology journals. It is easy when translating theories across cultures, for information to be incorrectly translated or misinterpreted. Having international collaboration reduces the risk of misinterpretation or culturally biased theories, and contributes to creating a more universally applicable discipline. Other suggestions include adjusting some of the current assumptions in Western psychology theories, which assume the audience’s values align with a low-context, individualistic cultures. Internationalization is a crucial step in adapting the field of psychology to meet the needs of a universal