Most researchers have used the terms emic and etic referring to culture-specific vs. culturegeneral
constructs. As has been remarked by Morris and Fu (2001), this usage omits the
essence of the distinction as it has been introduced by Pike (see Headland, Pike, & Harris,
1990). The terms emic and etic are derived from phonemic and phonetic approaches to
language1 and thus refer to the question whether cultures are described as being close to the
experience of culture-specific insiders-constructs or in terms of constructs that are distant
from the experience of insiders and may apply equally well to many cultures.
Helfrich (1999) and Segall et al. (1998) now refer to the imposed etic (or nomothetic)
approach that often entailed a naïve application of Euro-American theories and instruments
to research conducted in other settings, as one of the main methodological weaknesses in the
history of cross-cultural psychology. Cultural factors do not represent experimental
treatment factors, but rather organismic variables. Culture does also not represent an
unavoidable unidirectional influence, but rather a systemic framework circumscribing
possible courses of action (Valsiner, 1995). That is, the quality and extent of cultural
penetration varies significantly between individuals because each individual constructs
his/her personal culture. This is especially so as societies are becoming less and less