Morris, M. W., Chiu, C.-Y., & Liu, Z. (2015). Polycultural psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 631-659. DOI:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015001

The authors examine the limits of the standard paradigm for cultural research. They propose polyculturalism as an alternative framework. Polyculturalism maintains that people’s relationships to cultures aren’t categorical, but rather partial and plural. They argue that cultural traditions aren’t distinct, self-contained lineages, but rather interacting systems. Individuals absorb effects from a variety of cultures. They become conduits through which cultures can affect each other.

The authors assert that a polyculturalist framework helps better understand the impact of several cultural identities and cultural knowledge legacies. Similarly, the notion clarifies how cultures are influenced by intercultural contact, allowing for more comprehensive psychological theories of intercultural influence. Polyculturalism’s underlying policy of interculturalism is a good addition to the standard policy frames of multiculturalism and colorblindness, which are already in use.

Morris, M. W., Chiu, C.-Y., & Liu, Z. (2015). Polycultural psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 631-659. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015001