5 Bringing National Culture to the Table: Making a Difference with Cross‐cultural Differences and Perspectives
探讨跨文化研究的根本价值，认为其核心不在于揭示差异，而在于提供多元视角以推动理论创新，并结合社会心理学与组织行为学案例说明。
Cross‐cultural research has achieved a front‐and‐center role in management and social psychology. In this chapter, we attempt to address the fundamental issue of what makes cross‐cultural research valuable. In doing so, we first summarize major methodological and conceptual themes across recent reviews. We then raise the question about the criticality of cross‐cultural differences, i.e., whether cross‐cultural differences are required for research in this domain to matter. Most efforts exerted by cross‐cultural researchers have been directed toward uncovering and explaining cross‐cultural differences, or finding better ways to do so. However, differences per se do not necessarily make an important difference in advancing knowledge. Instead, we argue that a more fundamental value of cross‐cultural research is the diverse perspectives it offers for theoretical innovation. Using Wagner and Berger’s (1985) typology, we examine how the inclusion of “other cultural” perspectives has contributed to knowledge growth in social psychology and organizational behavior. We conclude with suggestions for how the field can further realize the inherent benefits of diverse cultural perspectives in future research.