Marta Fulop
WHEN YOU UNEXPECTEDLY FIND YOURSELF TO BE “ALMOST” A CLOSE RELATIVE OF MICHELE
In 2002 the Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology organized its conference in Yogjakarta, Indonesia. This was my second IACCP conference. Michele was treasurer. There was a reception and Michele came up to me and said: “Hi, you really remind me of my grandmother. Maybe we are distant relatives.” She was shining, she was smiling, she was full of energy, she was highly intelligent and very responsive. I was really happy to consider myself similar to her grandmother, to be somebody who could be a distant relative. We decided to take a picture. Debbie Best, who was the president of IACCP at that time joined the group. We really enjoyed being together.
Since that time, almost 20 years have gone by. Michele has been a highly respected and very much loved colleague to me and I was keen to participate in any of her big comparative researches. This was, in fact, a real privilege. The work on cultural tightness and looseness really provides a significant contribution to understanding the different societal and citizen responses to the pandemic. Michele is an exemplary person combining cheerfulness, warmth and strength with exceptional intelligence.
I wish her a lot of success in her new endeavor in California and send a big grandmother’s hug.
Prof. Márta Fülöp
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Budapest, Hungary