CHAPTER 5
Cross-Cultural Perspectives
on Personality and Aging
Exotic people and faraway lands have always held fear and fascination.
To the imagination of the Middle Ages, the unknown regions of theworld were peopled by strange monsters (see Figure 3). When, in theAge of Exploration, the inhabitants of the New World were actually en-countered, they were regarded as savages, not quite fully human. In theEnlightenment, particularly in the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau,this evaluation was reversed and preliterate people were idealized as no-ble savages, living as nature intended, without the defilement of corruptcivilization. It is well to bear this bit of history in mind, because it is re -
peated in some respects in scientists’ perceptions of personality across
cultures.
Today people are interested in the manners, customs, and beliefs of
other groups of people for two main reasons. First, as ever, there is anintrinsic fascination in the topic. So many ideas and values that are sec -
ond nature to us are challenged by the ideas and values of other cul -
tures; for those who are open to experience, these challenges provide a
basis for rethinking our own ways. Second, progressive thought in thesecond half of the 20th century has increasingly emphasized the basichuman equality of all peoples and affirmed the responsibility of eachperson to become informed about and sensitive to cultural differences.Multiculturalists (Gergen, Gulerce, Lock, & Misra, 1996) argue thatbroadening one’s perspectives beyond the culture of one’s birth is bothmorally and scientifically required of psychologists. If we aspire to uni -
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