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Cross-Cultural Encounter as an Opportunity for Personal Growth

California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103amontuori{at}ciis.edu

Urusa Fahim

California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, St. Mary’sCollege of California in Moraga, and the Center for Clinical Psychology inLahore, Pakistan.

Cross-cultural encounters can provide an excellent opportunity forpersonal growth by placing us in situations where ourunderstanding of self and world, and of how we believe things "are" or "shouldbe," is severely challenged. In this article, the authors argue that inthe United States, the cultural dimension is often overlooked in ourunderstanding of personal growth because U.S. individualismobscures the role of culture in the constitution of the self and thatunderstanding this dimension makes a vital contribution toselfunderstanding. They also view cross-cultural encounters aspotentially creative and draw on the psychology of creativity to explorethe implications of this view. The authors conclude by arguing thatto have the greatest effect, humanistic psychology must both returnto its roots in existential-phenomenological psychology andphilosophy and tackle its own understanding of the self as a culturallysituated phenomenon.

Key Words: cross-cultural encounter • creativity • personal growth • existentialism • culture shock • transformation

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