Towards the Challenges of Cross-Cultural Research: Experience on COVID-19 Project

Anthropologists and psychologists engaged in cross-cultural research face numerous methodological challenges. These studies aim to identify universal behavioral traits across all populations on Earth, as well as culturally specific features. This article attempts to describe and comprehend the main problems that researchers encounter while carrying out such projects, using specific examples from the author's field practice. The primary example is data from a large-scale cross-cultural project that studied anxious, aggressive, and empathic behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in 23 countries worldwide. Existing experience in cross-cultural research demonstrates how various terms and concepts transform under the influence of globalization processes. On the one hand, cultural bound-aries become less defined, while on the other hand, the desire for self-identity strengthens. Familiar biological and social constructs such as sex or marital status are modified and require new under-standing and analysis. Thanks to the methods of social anthropology and the anthropological approach to humans as biosocial beings, the data obtained can be interpreted, taking into account the cultural specifics and behavioral norms of each society.