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This introduction provides an overview of the major constructs that are the focus of this Special Issue. Individualism and collectivism have been the cornerstones of theoretical work on cultural values in psychological science, and conformity is an important component of theories related to motivational values. Individualism, collectivism and conformity values are reviewed in relation to parenting (warmth, knowledge solicitation, rules/limit-setting, parents' expectations regarding children's family obligations) and children's adjustment (internalising and externalising behaviours). Background on the Parenting Across Cultures project, a study of children, mothers and fathers, in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and the United States) is provided as a prelude to the country-specific papers from each of these countries that follow in the rest of the Special Issue before a final concluding paper that focuses on between-country versus within-country variation in cultural values, parenting and children's adjustment., (© 2024 International Union of Psychological Science.)

This study examined associations between maternal and paternal cultural values (individualism, collectivism and conformity) and parenting dimensions (warmth, psychological control, autonomy granting, rule setting, knowledge solicitation and family obligations) and children's adjustment (internalising and externalising behaviours) in 113 families with children (M age  = 10.8 years) recruited from Zarqa, Jordan. Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to examine study question. Results revealed that mothers' individualism was positively correlated with more maternal warmth, more rules/limit-setting and fathers' and children's perceptions regarding children's greater family obligations. Fathers' individualism was not significantly correlated with any parenting or child adjustment variables. Mothers' and fathers' higher collectivism was correlated with more maternal and paternal warmth, respectively; however, mothers' and fathers' higher conformity values were not significantly correlated with any parenting or child adjustment variables. Mothers' collectivism was not associated with any parenting or child adjustment variables after taking into account the other cultural values, child gender and mothers' education; however, fathers' higher collectivism was associated with more paternal warmth, fathers' higher expectations for children's family obligations and less child internalising behaviour. The findings have implications for understanding how cultural values are related to parenting and children's adjustment in Jordan., (© 2024 International Union of Psychological Science.)

Mental disorders or altered psychological states are prevalent in all populations, regardless of race or ethnic origin, while at the same time, culture also shapes the conceptions of mental disorders. Religion is deeply rooted in the daily life of the Muslim-majority countries, while Arab countries are affected by an ongoing modernization. Thus, how does the traditional religious conception of mental disorders interact with Western psychological conceptions in contemporary Arab-Muslim society? This study explores the conceptions of mental disorders and their causes among Muslims in contemporary Jordan. By employing cognitive anthropological method (free listing), forty participants were asked to provide three lists of (a) typical names of mental disorders, (b) causes of mental disorders and (c) determining features of mental disorders. Collected qualitative data have been quantitatively analysed and interpreted in the context of relevant ethnographic and interview data. While Western terms of mental disorders are well known among young and educated Jordanians, the study demonstrates that Jordanians employ cultural and religious notions alongside. This co-existence of different conceptions confirms an importance of Islamic notion in the modern rendering of mental health. As a result, despite rapid modernization, mental health is still highly stigmatized., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)