2. culture bias Flashcards
what is culture bias
1992 - 64% of the world psychology researchers were american and 94% of the studies were conducted in north america.
one researcher coined the term WEIRD to describe the group of people most likely to be studied by psychologists - westernised, educated people from industrialised, rich democracies. if the norm or standard for a particular behaviour is set by WEIRD people then the behaviur of people from non western, less eduacted, agricultural and poorer cultures is inevitably seen as abnormal, inferior or unusual.
what is culture alpha bias
tends to over exaggerate differences between cultures.
some research highlighted cultural differences in order to argue some are superior to others. perhaps even for genetic reasons (some are born better than others) = socially sensitive issue.
what is culture beta bias
tends to minimise or ignore differences between cultures.
any theory that is based on research conducted on one cultural group that is then presented as a theory of all human behaviour is beta biased.
what is ethnocentrism
belief in superiority of ones own cultural group - judging other cultures by the standards and values of ones own culture. this can lead to prejudice and discrimination against other cultures.
in psychological research this may be communicated through a view that any behaviours which do not conform to the model (usually western) are somehow deficient, unsophisticated or underdeveloped.
what is cultural relativism
the idea that norms and values as well as ethics and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts.
research has drawn a distinction between etic and emic approaches in the study of human behaviour:
etic approach = looks at behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal.
emic approach = functions from within or inside certain cultures and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture.
berry argues that psychology has often been guilty of imposing an etic approach - arguing that theories, models and concepts are universal when they actually came about through emic research within a single culture = suggests psychologists should be more mindful of the cultural relativism of their research.
what is an example of of imposed etic
ainsworths research - studied behaviour within a single culture (america) and then assumed their ideal attachment type could be applied universally.
this technique is not appropriate for assessing children from non US or UK populations as it is based on western childrearing ideals.
what is the chitling test (1968)
was designed to demonstrate differences in understanding and culture between races (specifically between african american and white).
in determining how streetwise someone is, the chitling test may have validity but there have been no studies demonstrating this.
furthermore the chitling test has only been proved valid as far as face validity is concerned - no evidence has been brought to light on the chitling predicting performance.
how is the most influential studies in psychology being culturally biased a limitation?
cultural bias is a feature of many classic studies of social influence.
milgram and asch original studies were conducted exclusively with US participants. replications of these studies in different countries produced different results (asch - collectivist cultures found significantly higher rates of conformity). therefore research suggests our understanding of topics such as social influence should only be applied to individualistic cultures.
counter - in an age of increased media globalisation it is argued that the individualist collectivist distinction no longer applies. traditional argument = individualist countries (US) value individuals and independence whilst collectivist cultures (india and china) value society and the needs of the group. however research found that 14/15 studies that compared the US and japan and found no evidence of individualism or collectivism = cultural bias in research may be less of an issue in more recent research.
what is the limitation about how cultural bias has led to prejudice against groups of people
research explained how the first intelligence tests led to eugenic social policies in the US. psychologists used the opportunity of WW1 to pilot their first IQ tests on nearly two million army recruits. many items on the test were ethnocentric (assuming everyone would know the names of the US presidents).
found that recruits from south eastern europe and african american received the lowest scores - used to inform racist discourse about the genetic inferiority of particular cultural and ethnic groups. ethnic minorities were deemed mentally unfit and feeble minded, and were denied educational and professional opportunities as a result = illustrates how cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice and discrimination towards certain cultural and ethnic groups.
what is a strength about avoiding cultural bias
some researchers have attempted to address the problem of cultural bias by extending their work from the west into other cultures. greater use should be made of research conducted from within each culture by members of that culture.
cross cultural research should be encouraged - study a range of different cultures to find out about the variability of human behaviour.
transcultural psychology should be encouraged - study a range of different cultures to find out about the universal features of human behaviour.
what is a strength about relativism verses universality
benefit of conducting cross cultural research = may challenge dominant individualist ways of thinking and viewing the world. being able to see that some of the knowledge and concepts we take for granted are not hardwired (social rather than biological may provide a better understanding of human nature).
however it should not be assumed that all psychology is culturally relative and that there is no such thing as universal human behaviour. research suggests that basic facial expressions for emotions (happiness or disgust) are all the same all over the human and animal world. critcisms of attachment research should not obscure the fact that some features of human attachment (such as imitation and interactional synchrony) are universal.
