Interestingly, I don’t think my expectations of having an extreme change in thinking and behavior during this course was met. That is not necessarily a bad thing because I did learn how to be more tactful, and to always consider cultural differences whenever I interact with people. However, the main course objective for this class has change the way how I view cultural impacts on psychological theory and research. I never realized how much of behavioral theories are greatly impacted by culture, and how said theories are not necessarily accurate or explanatory for every human being, let alone most people who are not WEIRDOS.
Yet, I will say I view Cross-Cultural Psychology completely different in terms of purpose. Granted, I have no regrets and would not change a single thing if I were to retake this class, however, I would have a different purpose if I were to take this class. I always thought the purpose of this class was to teach tolerance, and change attitudes about cultural differences which to a degree this class does. However, I feel that this class is extremely important for future researchers to understand how their cultural biases can impact their research and influence their theories.
More importantly, this course has significantly strengthened my writing as a student. Before this course, I was a ‘block quote queen’, meaning, I always had at least five references, and at least half a page of direct quotes. This course threw me for a loop when I was challenged to not directly quote and come up with my own ideas. Thankfully, I took the challenge, and applied this to the rest of my courses which has produced some of my best writing in my college career.
Even more, the assigned readings opened my eyes to the challenge of conducting psychology research that is not accidentally unethical— using ethnic gloss, not being translatable, using culture specific terminology and language that has no significance in another culture—, and not using peer-reviewed journals that are dated and have no currency in cross-cultural issues. Knowing what I know now, when I eventually conduct research in the next two years as a part of my master’s, I will be diligent in making sure my research is ethical thanks to this class.