Dr Susan Cross

Relationship Process in Honour-Oriented Cultural Contexts

In this Visiting Fellowship, I will engage with Prof Ayse Uskul, Prof Viv Vignoles, other faculty in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex, and other research groups to develop new lines of research on cross cultural variation in interpersonal behaviour.

The research focuses on attitudes and practices about keeping secrets, apologizing for wrongdoing, and forgiving others. Guided by theory and on-going research on cultural values and norms, we will investigate these processes among British South Asians in the UK and Latin Americans in the US. These groups have been described as sharing cultural values emphasizing positive reputation and the maintenance of one’s honour. The initial studies will use mixed qualitative-quantitative methods and will form the foundation for a collaborative grant proposal to investigate cultural variations in these and other relationship processes and their impact on immigrants’ well-being and cultural adjustment.