Description:
Despite diverse, rich cultural traditions and abundant economic opportunity, there has been a paucity of research on psychology in Southeast Asia. This book aims to fill that gap, with a series of well-written theoretical and empirical chapters by contributors from around the globe.
Review Quotes:
'Some 650 million persons reside in Southeast Asia. This pioneering volume discusses innovative psychological research conducted in 9 ASEAN countries and helps us to understand better what culturally varied lives these people lead. There is no other book like it.' - Uwe P. Gielen, Ph.D., Past President, Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR); Past President International Council of Psychologists (ICP); Past President American Psychological Association, International Division; Professor Emeritus, St. Francis College
'For many years, cross-cultural psychologists have pointed to the Eurocentric bias in Psychology. Henrich, Heine and Norenzayan provided strong empirical evidence of this bias when they demonstrated that much of psychological science is based primarily on samples from Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democracies (WEIRD). In this pioneering volume on Psychology in Southeast Asia, Rich, Jaafar and Barron have provided a significant contribution to counter this WEIRD science. In this timely book, the authors cover the significant psychological theories and research from 9 of the 10 ASEAN countries. It provides an enlightening overview of the people of Southeast Asia beyond the stereotypes engendered by the Vietnam war or the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia. I highly recommend it to scholars and individuals interested in understanding Southeast-Asian psychology from indigenous perspectives.' - Frederick Leong, PhD, Director of the Consortium for Multicultural Psychology Research, Michigan State University; Past President, Asian American Psychological Association; Past President, APA's Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues), Founding Editor APA's Asian American Journal of Psychology
'Having worked very closely with refugees from Southeast Asia for more than 10 years, and witnessed how they started with nothing and became established as business people or professionals in Canada in 20 years, I know that they have much to teach people in the West about the cultural source of their resilience and success. That is why I believe that Psychology in Southeast Asia fills a major gap in the literature regarding the vital role of culture-specific beliefs, values, rituals and social structures for clinical psychology, health psychology and positive psychology. I highly recommend this book for both researchers and practitioners.' - Paul T. P. Wong, President of the International Network on Personal Meaning (www.meaning.ca), Professor Emeritus, Trent University