Meet Dr. Dzokoto
I have long identified primarily as a Psychologist. The idea that we can successfully understand, explain, predict, and modify aspects of behavior has never ceased to intrigue me. Yet, it irks me that the sources of data in mainstream Psychology lack optimal representation. What we know about human behavior to date comes from a small sliver of humanity, mostly Western culture. Cultural Psychology, a subfield working to change this lack of diversity, has so far mostly focused on East Asia. Because of my African identity, I am especially concerned that the “global” conversation in most basic psychological research has consistently excluded substantive representation from Africa and its diaspora. This group will account for 40% of the world’s population by 2050. As a result, the central focus of my research career is to understand, document, and explain the extent to which selected psychological experiences of Africans are culturally particular.
I study adult behavior and conduct international, interdisciplinary work that contributes to knowledge gaps in Culture and Emotion, Culture and Money, and Culture and Mental Health. I use multiple methods, including general reviews, language and discourse analysis, cultural product analysis, interviews, questionnaires, and experimentation to examine how African realities shape behavior, experiences and meaning-making in these areas. So far, I have published work using samples from Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and the United States. I am also collaborating on studies which draw collect data from different parts of the world.
For more information about Dr. Dzokoto, please view her faculty profile page.