Ype H. Poortinga is emeritus professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, and at the University of Leuven in Belgium. His most consistent interest has been in the conditions under which data obtained in different cultural populations can be meaningfully compared. He has also written on theoretical issues in cross-cultural psychology. His empirical research has dealt with a variety of topics in culture-comparative research, including information transmission, basic personality variables, emotions, and social psychological variables. His experience in applied fields includes program evaluation, development of psychometric tests and intercultural training. He has worked in societies as far apart as South Africa, India, Indonesia and Mexico.