Beyond east and west : rethinking cultural psychology through Sub-Saharan Africa

In two recent publications-one in American Psychologist (Kitayama et al., 2022) and another in Annual Review of Psychology (Kitayama & Salvador, 2024)-my colleagues and I have argued that, outside of the Western world (e.g., Western Europe and North America), many cultures are deeply interdependent, meaning that members of these cultures define themselves through their commitment to their group and embeddedness within social relationships. However, the form of this interdependence varies widely, shaped by long-standing ecological and historical factors. One region that has been largely overlooked in cultural psychology is Sub-Saharan Africa. In this context, we identify a unique form of interdependence: self-promotive interdependence. Within this cultural system, within-group competition is not merely tolerated but embraced as a mechanism for skill development and group success. Individuals see their identification with the group and their competitive engagement as mutually reinforcing. Moreover, success is viewed as a shared social experience. As a result, people express both socially disengaging positive emotions (e.g., pride, self-esteem) and engaging emotions (e.g., connection, warmth) in response to both personal and ingroup success. This emerging evidence challenges existing frameworks of interdependence and opens new avenues for cultural psychology research. I will discuss these insights and explore their implications for future studies.