Musings about Metaphors and Models: the Need to Put Psychology Together Again

Abstract

Zagaria, Andò & Zennaro (2020) raise several issues for the study of the human condition, highlighting the precarious status of psychology on account of a core weakness: The absence of consensus about fundamental concepts. Using the metaphor of a giant, albeit one with feet of clay, the authors develop an argument about how evolutionary psychology is the best possible candidate to advance a unified paradigm on account of theoretical consistency. In this commentary we examine the metaphors and models invoked in the article and suggest alternative perspectives on the grounds that a grand singular solution and consistency in definitions are not urgent requirements for understanding the complexity, diversity, and nuances of the human condition. We argue that plurality and low consensus can be taken as productive and functional; precisely because psychological and cultural phenomena are always characterized by uncertainty in irreversible time. Cultural psychology is a valuable paradigm, inclusive of universal and individual processes in ways that provide more appropriate resolution for cultural pluralism. Every definition of psychological phenomena, however obscure and contested, has arisen from theoretical speculation arising from a specific perspective.

Human Development at the Intersection of Culture and Globalization: Towards a More Inclusive Future

“…Between unprecedented possibilities for engagements and escalating exclusions, developmental psychology offers reason and opportunity to foster enduring, strong, genuine, collaborative, and trusting international academic alliances (Chaudhary & Sriram, 2020b). The phenomenon of globalization has seen a recent, and perhaps temporary, decline in intensity and speed, yet it is the elements of globalization itself that can help to find a way out of the present crisis.…”

“…Thus, diversity and plurality are what is universal about the human condition (Menon & Cassaniti, 2017). The discipline of developmental psychology in its cultural situatedness can enhance the global commitment to similarity as well as difference, and the similarity of being different and the differences of being similar (Chaudhary & Sriram, 2020b). We see the possibilities of interpreting globalization in novel ways that can support rather than diminish cultural diversity by imagining psychology with context and culture, instead of a uniform, global phenomenon towards which everyone must aspire.…”

Cultural and idiographic approach to the microgenesis of visual metaphors

“…While Zagaria et al (2020) point out the lack of consensus on the fundamental concepts in the study of the human condition, Chaudhary and Sriram (2022), in the framework of cultural psychology, suggest that this lack of consensus responds to a higher level of understanding of psychological and cultural phenomena. It is not enough to witness “when the leaves fall”, each leaf falls differently and each leaf brings with it a different message.…”