Psychology

Associate Professor
Cross-Cultural Psychology, Psycholinguistics
Blair Hall 216
(937) 327-7486
lcrane@wittenberg.edu

Dr. Crane is an Associate Professor of Psychology and the former Director of Wittenberg’s interdisciplinary East Asian Studies Program. As a cultural psychologist, her work focuses on the question of how cross-cultural differences emerge and are maintained over time. She and her research students investigate the socializing effects of language use and religious engagement in the United States, Japan, and India, where she was a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Scholar. Her courses address how culture and language reflect and support human psychological functioning, including Psychology & Culture, Psychology of Language, and Cultural Research in Psychology. Off-campus, she provides cross-cultural training seminars to U.S. Air Force personnel and their spouses, as well as international business professionals. Dr. Crane has taught courses at Stanford University, Williams College, Kenyon College, and Nagasaki Junior College in Japan and has lectured at Banaras Hindu University in India. Additionally, she has carried out social science research & development work in a corporate setting at Sociometrics Corporation. She earned her B.A. from Yale University and her Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Sample Publications:

• Crane, L. S., & Mishra, R. C. (2018). Studying schooling in northern India: Calibrating fieldwork to cultural realities in a non-Western country. SAGE Research Methods Cases.
• Crane, L. S., & Fernald, A. (2017). Cultivating American- and Japanese-style relatedness through mother-child conversation. Discourse Processes.
• Crane, L. S., Bruce, J. L. (’10), Salmon, P. Y. (’10), Eich, R. A. (’10), & Brandewie, E. N. (’10). (2012). Blending Buddhism, Shinto, and the secular: Interview findings regarding Japanese conceptualizations of The Divine. Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.
• Mukaida, K., Azuma, H., Crane, L. S., & Crystal, D. S. (2010). Cultural scripts in narratives about future life: A comparison between Japan, China and the U.S. Japanese Journal of Personality.
• Crane, L. S., Burns, E. (’08), Johnson, H. E. (’09), Brown, B. (’09), Ufholz, K. E. (’09), & Riehle, J. L. (’09). (2009). Conceptualizing human nature and The Divine: Qualitative interviews with Christians and Buddhists from a mixed-methods study. Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.
• Shapiro [Crane], L. J., & Azuma, H. (2004). Intellectual, attitudinal, and interpersonal aspects of competence in the United States and Japan. In R. J. Sternberg & E. L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Culture and competence: Contexts of life success. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Sample Presentations:

• George, L. E. (’18) & Crane, L. S. (2017). Historical thought and textbooks: Comparing the United States and India. Poster presentation, Ohio Council for the Social Studies, Cincinnati, OH.
• Crane, L. S., Bano, S., Bedard, K. M. (’16), Bond, C. M. (’16), Fierros, G. (’17), Fuss, D. (’16), & Harting, J. K. (’16). (2016). Religious fundamentalism predicts attitudes about Muslim acculturation in the U.S. and India. Paper presentation, International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, Japan.
• Crane, L. S., & Bano, S. (2016). Sacredness and the Divine: Comparing adherents of Abrahamic and Dharmic religions in the U.S. and India. Paper presentation, International Congress of Psychology, Japan.
• Crane, L. S. (2013). Linking self-concept to conceptualization of The Divine across cultures. Paper presention, Indian National Academy of Psychology, India.
• Crane, L. S., & Barille, C. M. (’11). (2011). Conceptualizing Divinity: Themes of integration & distinction among American Buddhists and Christians. Poster presentation, Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.
• Crane, L. S., Salmon, P. Y. (’10), Bruce, J. L. (’10), Eich, R. A. (’10), Brandewie, E. N. (’10), Maurath, J. P. (’10) & Takemoto, T. L. (2010). Sexual permissiveness in the United States and Japan: stereotypes and realities. Poster presentation, Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.