This paper aims to contribute to the debate about the value of internationalization by placing it into a broader theoretical framework. Drawing on developmental psychology as our source of examples, we first examine different paradigms, or world views, to show how ideas about internationalization vary depending on whether scholars' ideas fit within a neo-positivist or non-positivist paradigm. Their different ontological and epistemological positions strongly influence the manner in which internationalizing is done (the methods of thinking about and conducting research). Given that neo-positivist approaches are currently dominant in developmental psychology, we provide examples of ways in which non-positivist approaches can be used (a) to conduct research in different cultures and (b) to encourage the cross-fertilization of ideas across societies.
internationalization; globalization; culture; cross-cultural research; publishing