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The Center for Cross-Cultural Research

The Center for Cross-Cultural Research (CCCR) is a community of learning and practice. We are WWU students, faculty, and staff who are committed to learning and professional growth as we conduct cultural research. Our goals are to learn from each other, collaborate on projects, and advance cultural research in equitable ways.

The CCCR is housed in the Department of Psychology at Western Washington University. 

As core values, we are:

Culturally-oriented

We are committed to understanding the relationship between culture and psychological processes. Although the term “cross-cultural” implies a comparative focus, we examine culture’s varied and universal influence as a system that reflects shared meaning and understanding of the world. We value work that centers the voices and experiences of minoritized and underrepresented cultures, groups, or identities.

Research-focused

As a research community, we hope to contribute to the understanding of cultural processes through systematic observation. We recognize and encourage the many different methodological practices that foster greater understanding of culture and acknowledge that effective cultural research is relational and reciprocal. We value research that leads to social action, systems-level change, and improved quality of life for vulnerable or marginalized populations.

Psychologically-grounded

We maintain our commitment to the CCCR’s founding goals by examining cultural processes principally within the disciplinary lens of psychology. We focus on the various mental processes that occur within and between people’s understanding of themselves and others. We value psychological research that supports underrepresented researchers, collaborators, and populations who have been historically marginalized or ignored in the field.

Respectful and Inclusive

We are a research community where diverse participants can learn, network, and enjoy the company of colleagues in an environment of mutual human respect. We recognize a shared responsibility to create and hold that environment for the benefit of all. We encourage each other to engage in innovative, ethical research and education that centers anti-oppression efforts and works toward creating a more socially just world.

Contact Us

Please contact Dr. Anna Ciao (ciaoa@wwu.edu), Director of the Center for Cross-Cultural Research, with any questions or feedback.

The Center for Cross-Cultural Research (CCCR) at Western Washington University provides a space for students, faculty, and staff who are interested, and engaged, in culturally-focused psychological research to learn from each other, collaborate on projects, and to apply for and receive financial support for such work.

The CCCR seeks to provide a space in which diverse participants may learn, network, and enjoy the company of colleagues in an environment of mutual human respect. We recognize a shared responsibility to create and hold that environment for the benefit of all. Therefore, we provide the following expectations for our treatment of one another at Center-related events:

  • To refrain from harassment or intimidation based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, age, appearance, religion, social class, or other group status.
  • To refrain from sexual harassment or intimidation, including unwelcome sexual attention, stalking (physical or virtual), or unsolicited physical contact.
  • To refrain from sustained disruption or threatening of anyone speaking at a Center event (verbally or physically).
  • To frame discussions, questions, and comments as openly and inclusively as possible and to be aware of how language or images may be perceived by others. Alcohol is available at some CCCR-sponsored events and may be consumed by those of legal age. Alcohol at CCCR events will be distributed following local and state statutes. Because excessive alcohol leads to impaired decision-making, CCCR discourages excessive drinking during these events.

    This policy has adopted language from various sources, including: Association for Research in Personality Code of Conduct and SIPS Code of Conduct