Shinobu Kitayama
Originally from Japan, Shinobu Kitayama received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, where he is currently the Robert B. Zajonc Collegiate Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Center for Culture, Mind, and the Brain. He also directs the Culture and Cognition Program.
His research focuses on cultural variations in self, cognition, emotion, and motivation. His article with Hazel Markus on culture and the self, published in Psychological Review (1991), is one of the most widely cited in social and behavioral sciences. Over the last two decades he has used a variety of experimental methods to document a wide array of East-West differences in psychological processes. His more recent work has explored regional, social class, as well as age differences and similarities in psychological tendencies to understand their socio-cultural underpinnings. He has also pioneered the use of neuroscience measures such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalogram (EEG) in the investigation of the dynamic, recursive interaction between culture and the brain, thereby contributing to the emerging field of cultural neuroscience. His most recent work has focused on how certain dopamine-related genes might modulate cultural acquisition.
Before Michigan, he taught at the University of Oregon, Kyoto University, the University of Chicago, and Stanford University. He was a Fellow, twice, at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA (1995-1996, 2007-2008). A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010, he has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012). He served as Editor-in-chief of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin between 2007 and 2012.
Primary Interests:
- Culture and Ethnicity
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Evolution and Genetics
- Health Psychology
- Life Satisfaction, Well-Being
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
- Person Perception
- Self and Identity
- Social Cognition
Research Group or Laboratory:
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Video Gallery
Cultural Insights: Exploring Beyond East and West
Description
Keynote address at the 2024 Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (Bali, Indonesia)
Select video to watch
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Cultural Insights: Exploring Beyond East and West
Keynote address at the 2024 Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (Bali, Indonesia)
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2:07:46 Cultural Neuroscience: Connecting Culture, Brain, and Genes
A dialogue among scientists and contemplative scholars-practitioners, including the 14th Dalai Lama
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50:18 Mutual Constitution of Culture and the Self: Insights From Cultural Neuroscience
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1:00:43 America’s Fatal Failure: Why Have We Done So Poorly in Coping With COVID-19?
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30:54 Culture and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multiple Processes and Policy Implications
2021 webinar keynote address, International Academy for Intercultural Research
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9:21 Responding to Five Questions About the World After COVID-19
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2:15 On the East/West Difference
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1:34:53 Cultural Neuroscience: Linking Context and the Brain (Part 1)
From the 2018 McGill Social and Cultural Neuroscience Workshop
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59:33 Cultural Neuroscience: Linking Context and the Brain (Part 2)
From the 2018 McGill Social and Cultural Neuroscience Workshop
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43:8 Cultural Neuroscience of the Self: Understanding the Social Grounding of the Brain
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28:11 Culture, Self, and Brain: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation
Other Files
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Murata, Moser, & Kitayama (2012). SCAN
- Linked publication: Murata, A., Moser, J. S., & Kitayama, S. (in press). Culture shapes electrocortical responses during emotion suppression. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
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Varnum & Kitayama (2011). Name
- Linked publication: Varnum, M. E. W., & Kitayama, S. (2011). What's in a name? Popular names are less common in frontiers. Psychological Science, 22, 176-183.
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Grossmann et al. (2010). PNAS
- Linked publication: Grossmann I, Na J, Varnum MEW, Park D. C., Kitayama S, Nisbett RE. (2010). Reasoning about social conflicts improves into old age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
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Kitayama et al. (2010). Am Psy
- Linked publication: Kitayama, S., Conway, L. G., Pietromonaco, P., Park, H., & Plaut, V. (2010). Ethos of independence across regions of the U.S.: The production-adoption model of cultural change. American Psychologist, 65, 559-574.
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Fiske et al. (2007)
- Linked publication: Fiske, A. R., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., & Nisbett, R. E. (1998). The social matrix of social psychology. In D. Gilbert et al. (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology. NY: McGraw Hill. (pp. 915-981)
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Heine et al. (1999). Psych Rev
- Linked publication: Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, 766-794.
- Kitayama et al. (2003). FLT
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Kitayama et al. 2009. JPSP
- Linked publication: Kitayama, S., Park, H., Servincer, A. T., Karasawa, M., & Uskul, A. K. (2009). A cultural task analysis of implicit independence: Comparing North America, West Europe, and East Asia. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 236-255
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Kitayama, Varnum, & Sevincer in press Frontier
- Linked publication: Kitayama, S., Varnum, M. E. W., & Sevincer, A. T. (in press). The frontier: Voluntary settlement and cultural change. In A. Cohen (Ed.), New directions in the psychology of culture. American Psychological Association.
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Na & Kitayama 2011 Psych Sci spontaneous trait inference
- Linked publication: Na, J., & Kitayama, S. (2011). Spontaneous trait inference is culture specific: Behavioral and neural evidence. Psychological Science, 22(8), 1025-1032.
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Uskul et al. 2008 PNAS
- Linked publication: Uskul, A. K., Kitayama, S., & Nisbett, R. E. (2008). Eco-cultural basis of cognition: Farmers and fishermen are more holistic than herders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 105, 8552-8556.
Books:
- Kirmayer, L. J., Worthman, C. M., Kitayama, S., Lemelson, R., & Cummings, C. A. (Eds.). (2020). Culture, mind, and brain: Emerging concepts, models, and applications. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Kitayama, S., & Cohen, D. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of cultural psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
- Kitayama, S., & Markus, H. R. (Eds.). (1994). Emotion and culture: Empirical investigations of mutual influences. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
- Niedenthal, P., & Kitayama, S. (Eds.). (1994). The heart's eye: Emotional influences in perception and attention. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Journal Articles:
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Grossmann I, Na J, Varnum MEW, Park D. C., Kitayama S, Nisbett RE. (2010). Reasoning about social conflicts improves into old age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
- Linked file: Grossmann et al. (2010). PNAS
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Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, 766-794.
- Linked file: Heine et al. (1999). Psych Rev
- Kitayama, S. (2002). Cultural and basic psychological processes--Toward a system view of culture: Comment on Oyserman et al. (2002). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 189-196.
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Kitayama, S., Conway, L. G., Pietromonaco, P., Park, H., & Plaut, V. (2010). Ethos of independence across regions of the U.S.: The production-adoption model of cultural change. American Psychologist, 65, 559-574.
- Linked file: Kitayama et al. (2010). Am Psy
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Kitayama, S., Duffy, S., Kawamura, T., & Larsen, J. T. (2003). Perceiving an object and its context in different cultures: A cultural look at New Look. Psychological Science, 14, 201-206.
- Linked file: Kitayama et al. (2003). FLT
- Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Matsumoto, H., & Norasakkunkit, V. (1997). Individual and collective processes in the construction of the self: Self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1245-1267.
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Kitayama, S., Park, H., Servincer, A. T., Karasawa, M., & Uskul, A. K. (2009). A cultural task analysis of implicit independence: Comparing North America, West Europe, and East Asia. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 236-255
- Linked file: Kitayama et al. 2009. JPSP
- Kitayama, S., Snibbe, A. C., Markus, H. R., & Suzuki, T. (2004). Is there any “free” choice? Self and dissonance in two cultures. Psychological Science, 14, 527-533.
- Kitayama, S., & Uskul, A. K. (2011). Culture, mind, and the brain: Current evidence and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 419-449.
- Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224-253.
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Murata, A., Moser, J. S., & Kitayama, S. (in press). Culture shapes electrocortical responses during emotion suppression. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
- Linked file: Murata, Moser, & Kitayama (2012). SCAN
- Na, J., & Kitayama, S. (2011). Spontaneous trait inference is culture specific: Behavioral and neural evidence. Psychological Science, 22(8), 1025-1032.
-
Uskul, A. K., Kitayama, S., & Nisbett, R. E. (2008). Eco-cultural basis of cognition: Farmers and fishermen are more holistic than herders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 105, 8552-8556.
- Linked file: Uskul et al. 2008 PNAS
-
Varnum, M. E. W., & Kitayama, S. (2011). What's in a name? Popular names are less common in frontiers. Psychological Science, 22, 176-183.
- Linked file: Varnum & Kitayama (2011). Name
Other Publications:
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Fiske, A. R., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., & Nisbett, R. E. (1998). The social matrix of social psychology. In D. Gilbert et al. (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology. NY: McGraw Hill. (pp. 915-981)
- Linked file: Fiske et al. (2007)
- Kitayama, S., Duffy, S., & Uchida, Y. (2006). Self as mode of being. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.). Handbook of cultural psychology (pp. 136-174). New York: Guilford Press.
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Kitayama, S., Varnum, M. E. W., & Sevincer, A. T. (in press). The frontier: Voluntary settlement and cultural change. In A. Cohen (Ed.), New directions in the psychology of culture. American Psychological Association.
- Linked file: Kitayama, Varnum, & Sevincer in press Frontier
Courses Taught:
- Cultural Evolution
- Cultural Neuroscience
- Cultural Psychology
- Culture and Health
- Global Psychology
- Social Psychology
Shinobu Kitayama
Research Center for Group Dynamics
University of Michigan
426 Thompson Street, 6114 ISR
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1248
United States of America
- Phone: (734) 764-4112 (734)647-6786
- Fax: (734) 647-3652