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TYPE General Commentary
PUBLISHED 18 September 2024
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1260468
OPEN ACCESS
EDITED BY
Fanli Jia,
Seton Hall University, United States
REVIEWED BY
Michael Basseches,
Suolk University, United States
*CORRESPONDENCE
Christopher Kam
ckam@adams.edu
RECEIVED 17 July 2023
ACCEPTED 02 September 2024
PUBLISHED 18 September 2024
CITATION
Kam C (2024) Commentary: Accelerating the
science and practice of psychology beyond
WEIRD biases: enriching the landscape
through Asian psychology.
Front. Psychol. 15:1260468.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1260468
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©2024 Kam. This is an open-access article
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which does not comply with these terms.
Commentary: Accelerating the
science and practice of
psychology beyond WEIRD
biases: enriching the landscape
through Asian psychology
Christopher Kam*
Psychology Department, Adams State University, Alamosa, CO, United States
KEYWORDS
Asian philosophy, dialectics, WEIRD and non-WEIRD societies, ego development,
multiculturalism
A Commentary on
Accelerating the science and practice of psychology beyond WEIRD
biases: enriching the landscape through Asian psychology
by Wong, P. T. P., and Cowden, R. G. (2022). Front. Psychol. 13:1054519.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1054519
Introduction
Wong and Cowden (2022) write an insightful article outlining how Asian psychology
(i.e., non-duality/dialectical interaction, Wu-Wei, and Zhong Yong) can broaden
traditional psychology’s bias toward a WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich,
and Democratic) orientation. They offer both theoretical and concrete examples for this.
They write that WEIRD and non-WEIRD scholars should “consider forming collaborative
partnerships with well-established international researchers who could provide expertise in
developing and implementing systematic programs of research (Cowden et al., 2023)” (p.
5). They also write that these efforts can be helped by “integrative models that synthesize
disparate theoretical orientations” (p. 5).
In this paper, I will give an opinion on how this international collaboration could
begin with WEIRD and non-WEIRD scholars with an example of this cross-cultural
conceptualization the way that Wong and Cowden (2022) propose. Here, I will show how
scholars from the West who adopt a post-conventional mindset on adult development can
collaborate with Asian scholars who work with assumptions of non-duality and dialectical
interaction. I will then make the case for how Asian philosophy can, in turn, benefit from
Western empirical research on the distinction and mutual interaction between conscious
and unconscious processes.
Example of WEIRD and non-WEIRD integration and
collaboration
Certain subfields of adult developmental psychology conceptualize pre-conventional,
conventional, and post-conventional levels of adult ego development (Cook-Greuter,
1999;Kohlberg, 1984). In the pre-conventional phase, people are predominantly
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Kam 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1260468
living by premises that are self-serving. In the conventional
phase, individuals adopt societal norms for life outlooks and on
human nature. In the post-conventional phase, however, people
transcend their society’s cliches and norms for conceptualizing
themselves, others, and society. This post-conventional outlook
adopts assumptions of human nature that are no longer rigid,
static, and unidimensional (Cook-Greuter, 2004;Loevinger, 1976).
Post-conventional outlooks on life become open to paradox and
the tension of holding opposites simultaneously. Here, there is
no longer an obsession with rationally solving their coherence.
Paradox with simultaneous opposites is accepted as a way of life
along with comfort for ambiguity (Hy and Loevinger, 1996;Kam
and Bellehumeur, 2020;Vincent et al., 2015). When this happens, a
person is able to transcend the system of their society’s thinking
and flexibly adopt other systems of thinking interchangeably
and/or simultaneously (Kegan, 1979;Kegan et al., 1998). By its
very nature, post-conventional thinking in adult developmental
psychology transcends WEIRD assumptions that emphasize linear
coherence and structural consistency. This allows fertile mental
soil for Asian non-duality and dialectical thinking. Wong and
Cowden (2022) note that “Non-duality looks at everything in
terms of wholeness based on Yin-Yang integration of independent
but interactive opposing dimensions” (p. 2). This type of non-
duality is more in line with “naïve dialectics” where everything is
connected as a whole, as opposed to Western/scientific dialectics
where the emphasis is rationally grasping how a paradox does not
defy the law of non-contradiction (Peng and Nisbett, 1999). This
is consistent with Loevinger (1976)’s conception of how higher
stages of adult maturation, which Cook-Greuter (1999) sees as
postconventional, transcend either-or thinking and is comfortable
with the paradoxical tension of opposites mutually coexisting (Hy
and Loevinger, 1996;Kam, 2023;Kam and Bellehumeur, 2021).
By transcending their own WEIRD conventions, post-conventional
adult maturity researchers in the spirit of Loevinger (1976),Cook-
Greuter (1999), and Kegan et al. (1998), are conceptually open
to theorizing about human nature and development in line with
“helping people become aware of Yin-Yang dialectics and figure
out more adaptive ways to embrace and transcend opposite forces
(Wong, 2016)” (p. 2).
One possible hypothesis is that although both
Western/scientific dialectics and naïve dialects may be
accessible to both WEIRD and non-WEIRD populations when
reaching the post-conventional stages of ego development,
both populations may have general inclinations for one
and not the other. For example, WEIRD post-conventional
individuals may be more inclined to use Western/scientific
dialectics to address issues involving the physical world
(e.g., merging insights of Newtonian physics and quantum
mechanics to solve cutting edge physics problems). In contrast,
non-WEIRD post-conventional individuals may be more
inclined to use naïve dialectics to address relational issues
involving the self’s connection with others (e.g., how to remain
humble and authoritative at the same time, or how to be
emotionally mature and have childlike wonder at the same
time). These hypotheses invite multicultural methodologies
for exploration.
Cultivating conscious and
unconscious non-duality
As there is basis for differentiating between conscious and
unconscious complexity in mental life (Kam and Bellehumeur,
2021,2022). In terms of tackling both conscious and unconscious
dimensions of Western/scientific dialectics as well as naïve
dialectics, methodological cross pollination is invited. For example,
while post-conventional Western scholars can benefit from Asian
conceptualizations of human nature such as non-duality, Asian
scholars, in turn, can also benefit from WEIRD’s established
empirical framework of conscious and unconscious processes.
There have been decades of accumulated quantitative research on
how conscious and unconscious processes are distinct yet mutually
interacting (Barbosa et al., 2017;Baumeister et al., 2017;Bettiga
et al., 2017;Kam, 2022;Kiefer and Martens, 2010). For some
time, researchers have noted how both conscious and unconscious
processes solve complex problems better in collaboration than
alone (Kam, 2023). Conscious mental activity is smaller in
capacity but better at sequential reasoning while unconscious
mental activity has more breadth, is more intuitive, and gravitates
toward divergence and creativity (Dijksterhuis and Nordgren, 2006;
Lewicki et al., 1992;Nordgren, 2011;Vieira et al., 2017). This
cross pollination between WEIRD and non-WEIRD frameworks
can happen at both the research and clinical level, expanding the
conversation on cultivating both conscious and unconscious layers
of non-duality, since doing so is beneficial to mature happiness
(Wong and Bowers, 2018).
For the research level, both quantitative and qualitative
research designs can explore how conscious and unconscious
dimensions of dialectical complexity can reinforce each other (or
get in the way of doing so). Experimental designs can contrast
the pre-post results of different forms of dialectical complexity
in conscious and unconscious ways with instruments that
measure both (Kam, 2023) in experimental groups who undergo
therapy with Asian philosophy compared to control groups. In
tandem with this, qualitative studies can do semi-structured
interviews with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith
et al., 2009) to explore how Western/scientific as well as naïve
dialectics are experienced both consciously and unconsciously
in individuals who have been experientially immersed in it
for decades.
On the clinical level, the content of Asian dialectics can be
explored both with interventions that focus on more conscious
processes like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as well as interventions
that focus more on the unconscious like Jungian Psychoanalysis.
For example, clients may experience that a wound from childhood
trauma can lock an individual in either-or thinking (e.g., “I’m either
strong or I’m weak”). Non-duality in this context may help the
client explore the multidimensionality of one’s humanness that has
many sides in the diamond of one’s personality. This can include
formidable strengths in certain dimensions of oneself coexisting
with the vulnerable side of the soul that’s tender and hurtable,
which ends up affirming one’s humanness rather than denying it.
This is in contrast to a 2-dimensional either-or rigid dualism that
fails to transcend these seemingly opposite traits. More cognitive
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Kam 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1260468
based therapies that focus on conscious processing can focus on
psychoeducation and verbal processing of this 3-dimensionalizing
content through talk therapy. More psychoanalytic therapies
that focus on unconscious processing, such as dreamwork,
can focus on more artistic, non-linear, and non-verbal
means of processing the paradox and tension of opposites
mysteriously coexisting.
Since research shows that ego development can transform from
conventional to post-conventional levels through accommodative
processing (Lilgendahl et al., 2013), there is opportunity to research
how this can occur differently in WEIRD compared to non-WEIRD
Asian contexts. Vincent et al. (2015) write:
“In order to promote the transition from conventional
to post-conventional consciousness, developmental programs
would presumably need to include experiences that expose
participants to the fundamental paradoxes in human nature,
confront them with ambiguous challenges and invite them
to face their discomfort with this, as well as focusing their
attention on their own mental habits and biases” (p. 241).
Since studies show that ego development toward post-
conventional levels is facilitated by processing one’s journey in a
supportive community (Daniels et al., 2018;Kam and Bellehumeur,
2022), researchers can study how the transition from conventional
to post-conventional dialectics can differ when confronting
“fundamental paradoxes” and “ambiguous challenges” in WEIRD
and non-WEIRD environments and discover advantages and
shortcomings from each context.
Discussion
This article explored a proposal by Wong and Cowden
(2022) for WEIRD and non-WEIRD scholars to collaborate
in a more concrete manner. An example was given to their
proposal to conceptualize human nature and its flourishing
in a more internationally rich manner. Specifically, post-
conventional scholars on adult development and maturity have
much opportunity to learn from Asian scholars on areas such
as non-duality. In turn, Asian scholars can benefit from WEIRD
research on conscious and unconscious processes and their mutual
interaction. The result would be international enrichment on both
research and clinical platforms, as transnational collaboration in
human nature seems like a promising trend to tackle ongoing
problems for humanity (Bellehumeur et al., 2022). This is not the
only way to do this nonetheless. The hope is for attempts like these
at concretizing WEIRD and non-WEIRD collaboration to excite
the imagination of more scholars to dream and brainstorm ways
Asian philosophy and Western understandings of human nature
can multidimensionalize our understanding of maturation in a
transcultural manner.
Author contributions
CK: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Funding
The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the
absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be
construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated
organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the
reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or
claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or
endorsed by the publisher.
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