Final Words: A Critical Look at the Different Approaches to Addressing Rural Areas

It is pleasant to write this text commenting on the chapters of this book, which I have read with interest. Undoubtedly, studies on rural areas have increased in psychology in recent years. Traditionally, psychology mostly focused on Western, urban populations with average educational levels, an approach that left large groups of people out of its scope. Indeed, when psychology began to formulate itself in terms of an autonomous scientific discipline, it was not very interested in considering the cultural context or the subject-culture relationship. In this sense, it is gratifying to see this renewed interest that psychology has today in rural contexts and the people who inhabit them, as it speaks to an approach and recognition of diversity that are important for our discipline.