Author Description

"The term multicultural psychology has become commonplace in our field during the past decade; nevertheless, it is essential that I start with a discussion of what multicultural means in this handbook. In the United States, multicultural psychology has referred to both international and domestic multiculturalism, with the former usually labeled as cross-cultural psychology and cultural psychology and the latter as racial and ethnic minority psychology. In an article seeking to integrate cross-cultural psychology research methods into ethnic minority psychology, Leong, Leung, and Cheung (2010) proposed that advances in both fields would be facilitated if there was greater cross-fertilization, especially in methodological approaches, because proponents in both fields are interested in studying and understanding the role and impact of culture on human behavior. Leong et al. noted that two separate and distinct disciplines underlie the field of multicultural psychology. Cross-cultural psychology and cultural psychology have been influenced much more by anthropology and cross-national studies of human behavior, with a heavy emphasis on social-psychological analyses. Racial and ethnic minority psychology has been influenced much more by sociology and concerns with social stratification and social opportunities for national subgroups. Within the APA, the latter is represented by Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues), whereas the former is represented by Division 52 (International Psychology). Each has a separate history, separate associations, and separate scientific journals (i.e., Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology and the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology) and conventions, and each subscribes to different philosophical orientations. Cross-cultural psychology has had a longer interest in methodological and measurement challenges, whereas racial and ethnic minority psychology is more oriented toward political advocac