Cultural Psychology
Cultural psychologists explore the general relationship between thought processes, behaviors, and cultures. These psychologists investigate how cultural influences affect the mind, and how the mind helps create cultural influences. According to cultural psychologists, it is a cyclic process, in which the mind contributes to cultural behaviors, traditions, beliefs, and those influences affect the mind. Cultural psychology is the study of identity, child development, emotions, social behavior/interactions, friendships/romantic relationships, and family dynamics. Cultural psychologists believe that psychological disorders and behavioral tendencies originate, and are influenced by cultural factors.
The most significant difference between cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology is the specificity of detail in both branches of psychology. In other words, cultural psychology takes a more general approach to culture, the mind, and the body. Cultural psychologists study patterns in behaviors, and how culture, in general, influences those behaviors, while cross-cultural psychologists study the patterns (i.e. similarities and differences) amongst various cultural groups, and how those patterns affect behaviors.