News & Events >  

 

Susan Cross

Susan Cross, psychology

NEWS RELEASE
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Iowa State University
www.las.iastate.edu

9-21-09

Contacts:
Susan Cross, Psychology, (515) 294-3224 (scross@iastate.edu)
Steve Jones, Liberal Arts & Sciences Communications, (515) 294-0461  (jones@iastate.edu)

Cultural Psychologist examines differences in U.S., Turkish concepts of honor

AMES, Iowa – The concept of honor varies greatly from a Mediterranean culture to the United States.

Just ask Susan Cross, an Iowa State University cultural psychologist who is studying how honor shapes the behavior of Turkish and American citizens.
           
Cross, an associate professor of psychology, and Ayse Uskul, a Turkish researcher at Britain’s University of Essex, are studying how U.S. Midwesterners and Turkish people respond differently to honor-relevant situations.
           
The work is providing empirical evidence of the differences in the nature of honor, which could help people better understand and accept differences in other cultures. Their research is funded in part by the National Science Foundation.
           
“Social scientists have discovered the psychological importance of honor in many different regions of the world,” Cross said. She added, however, honor is viewed quite differently across those regions and the responses evoked when one’s honor is attacked vary considerably.
           
Cross said Turkey is an interesting nation in which to conduct cultural psychology research. The nation sits astride both Europe and Asia, and has a secular government, but its citizens are almost exclusively Muslim.

“I had long thought that we as psychologists need to concentrate more on the Middle East and Turkey,” Cross said. “There is not a lot of social psychology coming out of that part of the world.”

Through survey research, Cross found that Turkish participants took offense more often and to a greater degree than Americans in situations in which their honor was attacked. The situations also shed light on the Turkish viewpoint of honor, which comes from a collective perception. Midwesterners, meanwhile, view honor from a more individualistic stance.

“Honor for Turkish people is much broader, more relational,” Cross said. “Honor means being a good person and having good character, but it also means having a positive reputation.”

She explained when a person’s family member gains honor, that person also is honored. “The entire family gains stature,” she added.

Likewise, if one’s honor is damaged in Turkey, the entire family can lose out socially and economically, especially in smaller communities. The prospects for jobs and even whom one marries can diminish.

“If you insult a person in Turkey, you insult everyone in the family,” Cross added. “In the United States, it’s not as big a deal. It’s not as relational and it’s more contained. It doesn’t affect others as much.”

The researchers also learned that attacks on one’s honor were more distressing to the Turkish participants than the Midwesterners. As a result, responses by the Turkish participants were more vigorous.

“In America, withdrawal, such as walking away from a situation in which your honor has been damaged, is often acceptable, but not in  Turkey,” Cross explained.

She said responses to damaged honor can go to extremes in certain areas and result in “honor crimes,” such as murder or suicide. In several nations women have been murdered by family members because the women have been accused of acting in a way that dishonored the family.

Cross said her results might seem obvious to those familiar with the Turkish culture, but her research now provides actual data.
           
“If we understand the concept of honor, we’ll have a better understanding of the types of reactions that seem extreme to us,” Cross said. “If we understand why people do something, it’s easier to accept it or deal with it, or in some instances work to change it if the outcome is negative, such as in honor crimes.”

-30-