1 Pathways to pathologising: Does the concept of abnormality differ cross-culturally?

How do people distinguish normal from abnormal behaviour? Research in social psychology proposes that people possess “folk theories ” through which information relevant to abnormality is intuitively filtered. Current research indicates that the “cognitive scaffolding ” provided by these theories can assume different forms, giving rise to different demarcations between normal and abnormal. Drawing on empirical research from four social psychological experiments this paper asks: to what extent does the concept of abnormality differ among cultural groups? And if the concept differs, on what basis does it differ? Before answering this question it is first necessary to address the definition of a concept. Cognitive science suggests that the human mind forms categories and concepts based on its theories about the world. Whereas the classical model of categorisation drew a sharp distinction between concepts and theories- stating that the concept is the criterion used to identify the domain that subsequent theories try to explain- the theory-based view (e.g.