Cross-Cultural Psychology, Concept Definitions & Measurement with Jennifer Inauen

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In this much‑requested episode, we talk with Prof. Jennifer Inauen (University of Bern) about how culture shapes psychological constructs—and why translation and standard psychometrics are necessary but not sufficient when moving measures to new contexts. We start by asking whether key constructs are universal or context‑bound, considering theory boundary conditions and how this relates to different philosophical stances (e.g., realist vs constructivist). Jennifer shares why starting with local understanding and close collaboration with in‑country partners is essential to work out the right context. She explains how think‑aloud interviews can surface item misunderstandings—like reverse‑worded items—before large‑scale validation. She also walks us through a pragmatic 4‑step adaptation workflow, from checking whether a construct exists locally to cognitive testing and scale‑ and item‑level validation. We discuss when a shorter route may be defensible if strong prior evidence exists that the construct applies in your target population and why taking time for these foundational steps ultimately makes for better, more usable science.

Further resources:

The 4-step procedure: Ambuehl, B., & Inauen, J. (2022). Contextualized Measurement Scale Adaptation: A 4-Step Tutorial for Health Psychology Research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(19), 12775. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912775

PROMIS guide for culturally adapting questionnaires: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11136-018-1874-8

The results of their study in Nepal: Ambuehl B, Tomberge VMJ, Kunwar BM, Schertenleib A, Marks SJ, Inauen J. The Role of Psychological Ownership in Safe Water Management: A Mixed-Methods Study in Nepal. Water. 2021; 13(5):589. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050589

Repository of cross-culturally adopted measures (currently only accessible upon request): https://osf.io/r4b75/overview

Episode 3, where we cover time as one context of measurement: https://cfm.opens.science/define-and-conquer-podcast/s1e3.html

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