The word “WEIRD” is an acronym that stands for Western, Educated, Industrial, Prosperous, and Democratic, and was introduced in 2010 by Joseph Henrich, Stephen J. Heine, and Ara Norenzayan, and is an important part of psychological research. emphasized the fact that this is being done. It targets a very specific subset of the world’s population, primarily those from North America, Western Europe, and other developed democracies. Their aim is to demonstrate that although these groups (often university students) are not representative of humanity as a whole, their behaviors and psychological traits are often shared by all humans. It was to show.
The use of the acronym “WEIRD” in the psychology literature has reached a stage where it is almost a parody of itself, with many researchers overusing the term to categorize and simplify diverse populations. I am. “WEIRD” initially served as a reminder of the biases against certain demographics that dominate psychological research. But its constant invocation has turned it into a reductive tool that oversimplifies the global diversity of human behavior. The tendency to label research outside of North America or Western Europe as “non-queer” does little justice to the depth and diversity of human experience and the contexts in which it occurs. Instead of using such binary distinctions, it is useful to be specific about the populations and regions under study. Researchers should be aware of the cultural, social, and economic conditions of the regions that form their sample populations and aim to specify where and how research is conducted. Fortunately, each population, region, or country has a name by which it can be identified.
A phrase that often comes up is, “The strength of this paper is that it utilizes a sample from a non-WEIRD (Henrich et al., 2010) population.” This is intended to show that research has moved beyond the traditional Western, educated, industrialized, wealthy and democratic population, but repeated use of such statements It can become a hollow indicator of diversity rather than a meaningful engagement with the complexities of different cultures. the study. Furthermore, dividing the world into WEIRD and non-WEIRD regions creates an artificial dichotomy that reinforces stereotypes, with “WEIRD” becoming synonymous with modernity and progress, while the rest of the world lacks specificity and individuality. It is framed as a collective “other” that lacks. To make progress, psychology as a field needs to move away completely from WEIRD/non-WEIRD binaries and acronyms, and instead adopt practices that designate populations and regions of study.
So, forget about “WEIRD” and research!
