Transitional Context

The concept of transitional context can be viewed as a layer that is situated between short-lived situations and the stable long-lasting cultural context (Bar-Tal & Sharvit, 2008). Proposing a distinction between cultural contexts and short-lived situations, Ashmore, Deaux, and McLaughlin-Volpe (2004) defined situation as “a particular concrete physical and social setting in which a person is embedded in any one point in time.” Conversely, they defined cultural context as a “general and continuing multilayered and interwoven set of material realities, social structures, and shared belief system that surround any situation” (p. 103). A cultural context is constructed through years, shaped by the cumulative experiences of each society. It includes tangible and nontangible products such as symbols, scripts, habits, rules, narratives, concepts, and knowledge relating to one's group and other social categories. One critical aspect of the cultural context of social groups is shared societal beliefs, which represent the shared psychological repertoire that provides meaning and rules of practice to society members. In contrast, transitional context is based on the premise that social contexts are dynamic and changing, even when the broad structural and cultural characteristics of a society remain relatively stable over a long period of time.