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The Cultural Psychology of Suffering: The Many Meanings of Health in Orissa, India (and Elsewhere)
Author(s) -
Shweder Richard A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
ethos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1548-1352
pISSN - 0091-2131
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1352.2008.00004.x
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , cultural psychology , psychology , honor , sociology of health and illness , hinduism , sociology , social science , scale (ratio) , social psychology , health care , linguistics , psychotherapist , geography , law , philosophy , computer science , political science , operating system , cartography
In this article, I honor Jerome Bruner's meaning‐centered and person‐centered approach to the study of cultural psychology by describing aspects of the cultural psychology of suffering in and around a Hindu temple town in Orissa, India. I also outline the “big three” explanations of illness (biomedical, interpersonal, and moral) on a worldwide scale and recount some of the many meanings associated with the word health , as in the English language survey question “How would you rate your overall health?” [cultural psychology; explanations of illness; meanings of health; Orissa, India]