The social and cultural psychology of honour: What have we learned from researching honour in Turkey?
Abstract
A growing literature in social and cultural psychology has examined cultures of honour primarily focusing on southern states in the United States and on Mediterranean countries of southern Europe. In this article, we review a programme of research that has extended theories of cultures of honour to an under-researched context: Turkey. We first describe research that assessed lay reports of the situations that enhance or attack a person’s honour and lay prototypes of honour. Next, we review research that built on this foundation and examined emotional implications, actual retaliatory responses, and preferences for different types of actions (e.g., attack vs. withdrawal) in the face of honour threats. We then briefly comment on our current research focused on the ways that honour threats can impede goal pursuit, on the distinction between different types of honour threats, and on acculturation processes in immigrant groups from cultures of honour. We conclude by highlighting the contributions of this programme of research to the literature on cultures of honour and discuss future directions.
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In honor culture contexts, expectations are intensified, as even subtle masculinity threats are seen as warranting defensive or aggressive action.
“In honor culture contexts, these expectations are intensified, as even subtle masculinity threats are seen as warranting defensive or aggressive action (Öztemür & Toplu-Demirtaş, 2024; Uskul & Cross, 2019).”
From Psychological Intimate Partner Violence Across Identities: Preliminary Psychometrics of the Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse-Short Form Among Heterosexual, Lesbian, and Bisexual Samples in Türkiye (2026) · cites this paper as Uskul & Cross, 2019
Cites
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Contingencies of Self-Worth in College Students: Theory and Measurement.
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Öztemür, G., & Toplu-Demirtaş, E. (2024) · Sexuality & Culture · doi:10.1007/s12119-023-10109-8 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Demirtaş, E. T., & Zurnacı, B. (2026) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-026-03422-4
“In sociocultural contexts shaped by strong honor norms, including Türkiye, jealousy is often socially sanctioned and even interpreted as an expression of love, potentially legitimizing harmful behavioral expressions of jealousy (Karakoçoğlu & Hasdağ, 2025; Toplu-Demirtaş, 2017).”
Influential
- Authors
- Uskul, A. K., & Cross, S. E.
- Affiliations
- School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- Iowa State University (US)
- ORCID
- Cross, Susan E.
- Venue
- European Review of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-11-15
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 39-73
- ISSN
- 1046-3283 (ISSN-L)
- 1479-277X
- OpenAlex
- W2900538185
- Cited by
- 77
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 5.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- European Review of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS/OF357)
- National Science Foundation (#1451540)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Keywords
- honor, goal pursuit, acculturation, immigrant communities, Turkey
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