Advancing a dynamic approach to cultural psychology beyond stable dichotomies

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s44159-026-00550-5

Cultural psychology has relied heavily on the framework of individualism and collectivism to make sense of cultural variability. However, the predominant focus on two-way comparisons between samples from countries that vary on the individualism–collectivism dimension has encouraged conceptions of culture as bounded, monolithic and stable and has implied an unwarranted dichotomy of cultural differences in psychological processes. In this Review, we summarize theoretical developments in cultural psychology that go beyond the cultural dichotomy of individualism and collectivism and that consider cultures as internally diverse and dynamic. To that end, we describe insights from research conducted outside the usual east–west comparisons that explore a wider range of cultural variety in psychological tendencies, literature on within-culture variation, and conceptual as well as empirical advances regarding the cultural dynamics of psychological phenomena at the individual level (psychological acculturation) and group level (cultural change). We conclude by outlining future steps for the field of cultural psychology and highlighting its relevance in an increasingly multicultural world.