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Enriching Psychology by Zooming Out to General Mindsets and Practices in Natural Habitats

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Abstract

Psychology has been “zooming in” on individuals, dyads, and groups with a narrow lens to the exclusion of “zooming out,” which involves placing the targeted phenomena within more distal layers of influential context. Here, we plea for a paradigm shift. Specifically, we showcase largely hidden scientific benefits of zooming out by discussing worldwide evidence on inhabitants’ habitual adaptations to colder-than-temperate and hotter-than-temperate habitats. These exhibits reveal two different types of theories. Clement-climate perspectives emphasize that generic common properties of stresses from cold and hot temperatures elicit similar effects on personality traits and psychosocial functioning. Cold-versus-heat perspectives emphasize that specific unique properties of stresses from cold and hot habitats elicit different effects on phenomena, such as speech practices and intergroup discrimination. Both zooming-out perspectives are then integrated into a complementary framework that helps identify explanatory mechanisms and demonstrates the broader added value of embedding zooming-in approaches within zooming-out approaches. Indeed, zooming out enriches psychology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1198-1216
Number of pages19
JournalPerspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
Volume18
Issue number5
Early online date12 Jan 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  2. SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

  • cold and hot habitats
  • habits
  • intergroup discrimination
  • personality traits
  • psychosocial functioning
  • speech sonority
  • zooming in
  • zooming out

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