 32. Culture and Personality  687
In this chapter, we review recent theory 
and research addressing cultural differences 
in levels and processes of various personal -
ity constructs (e.g., traits, self-  concept, emo -
tion, motivation). Given the growing concern 
with understanding globalization and multi -
culturalism processes, we also review new 
studies examining the links between per -
sonality and these culture-  related processes 
(how personality dispositions influence and 
are influenced by cross-  cultural transitions, 
multicultural identity, etc.). The recent po -
litical events in multiple Western countries 
against multiculturalism make this research 
particularly important. Note, however, that 
a discussion of the conceptual and meth -
odological issues personality researchers 
need to consider when conducting cultural 
research is beyond the scope of this chap -
ter (for reviews, see Benet-Martínez, 2007; 
Cohen, 2007). A secondary goal of this re -
view is to persuade personality researchers 
that cultural research offers exciting and 
interesting benefits and opportunities. Cul -
tural personality studies help elucidate how 
macrocontextual factors mediate and mod -
erate personality outcomes (e.g., Bleidorn 
et al., 2016; Schimmack, Radhakrishnan, 
Oishi, Dzokoto, & Ahadi, 2002), help dispel 
shaky cultural stereotypes (e.g., Terracciano 
et al., 2005), and test the generalizability of 
well-known theories and findings (e.g., Blei -
dorn et al., 2015). Furthermore, the cultural 
perspective, in fact, may make us better at 
“seeing” personality. By understanding the 
cultural backdrop of a particular construct, 
behavior, or script, culturally informed per -
sonality researchers may correctly see indi -
vidual differences and patterns of personal -
ity consistency and coherence where other 
researchers would see only extraneous or 
random variability (Friedman & Schustack, 
2009).
A Brief Historical Analysis
Because of the serious methodological, 
theoretical, and ethical limitations of some 
of the studies on culture and personality 
conducted in the first half of the 20th cen -
tury (e.g., “national character” studies), the 
study of culture in psychology was dormant 
for the better part of the 20th century (see Benet-Martínez & Oishi, 2008, for review). 
Cultural studies in personality, however, re -
surged in the 1990s. Today, many person -
ality psychologists agree that the systematic 
study of how culture influences personality, 
both intra- and interpersonally, should be 
an essential part of our discipline. Church 
(2001) notes some of the factors that led to 
this comeback: (1) refinement of the concept 
of personality and its ability to predict be -
havior across situations; (2) acceptance of 
the five-  factor model (FFM) as an adequate 
taxonomy to organize personality differ -
ences; (3) emergence of individualism and 
collectivism (I-C) as dimension that may 
link ecology, culture, and personality; (4) 
the multicultural movement in the United 
States; (5) refinement of statistical method -
ology to address cross-  cultural conceptual, 
linguistic, and measurement equivalence is -
sues; and (6) internationalization of scientif -
ic activity, which makes cross-  cultural col -
laboration easier. In addition, the Internet 
has made it much easier to conduct large-
scale cross- national studies.
Currently, the study of culture and person -
ality is prosperous and is being approached 
from a variety of theoretical perspectives. A 
Google Scholar search for academic work 
published since 2001 with titles that include 
either the words “culture” and “personal -
ity,” or “cultural” and “personality” yields 
805 and 771 hits, respectively. Obviously, 
this is a very conservative count, since many 
studies dealing with cultural issues in per -
sonality use narrower terms (e.g., “ethnic -
ity,” “self-  esteem,” “goals”). In addition, ac -
cording to PsycINFO, only four articles on 
“culture” appeared in Journal of Research 
in Personality during the 1980s, and only 
five articles during the 1990s. In contrast, 
33 articles appeared during the 2000s, and 
20 more between 2010 and 2016.
Current Theoretical  Models
Broadly speaking, current research exam -
ining issues at the interface of culture and 
personality/social processes can be seen as 
falling within either the cultural or cross- 
cultural approach. These two approaches 
have relatively distinct conceptual, meth -
odological, and historical elements (Green -