Chap 13 Flashcards
define cross-cultural psychology
Psychological research and theorizing that attempts to
account for the psychological differences between and within
different cultural groups.
What are two reasons culture is important to personality psychology?
- Individuals may differ from each other to some extent because they belong to different cultural groups
- Members of some groups may
differ from each other (of the same cultural group) in distinctive ways
Define Enculturation
Differences between cultural groups develop as a child learns the culture into which she is born
Define Acculturation
as a person who moves from one
country to another gradually picks up the culture of her new home
a) Who did Freud base most of his own introspections and experience on?
b) What limit does this create in terms of Cultural Psychology?
a) theories were largely based on his treating upper-middle-class women in Vienna.
b) This creates a limit on GENERALIZABILITY, based on WEIRD.
a) define WEIRD
b) Give an example of a methodology that contributes to this issue on a wider scale?
a) Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic
b) Convenience sampling of students by professors/researchers
Explanation for b, if confused:
Explanation: (educated, in university) (most psych research done in West, so Western) (Most students able to afford school, Rich) (USA is industrial & ‘Democratic’)
Why is Cultural Psychology Relevant to Personality? (3)
- Cross-Cultural Understanding
- Generalizability of Research & Theory
- Varieties of Human Experience
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If you don’t understand answers, here are examples:
a. ex. Danish moms leave babies outside for naps in cold air as it is considered healthy for them (wrapped up), in USA this could be seen as child abuse.
b. ex. Personality and Expressions are expressed differently in different cultural contexts, ex. Americans have a very aggressive business style, where Japanese contexts are personal and people-informed before business transpires.
c. ex. an American might look at a house and never notice which way its door points. To a Chinese person raised in the tradition of feng shui, this
would be one of the first things noticed and would lead to some
immediate conclusions concerning the dangers and possibilities that
might exist within the house
Define Etics
The universal components of an idea
For example, all cultures have some conception of duty
Define Emics
The particular components of an idea
For example, different cultures impose
their own ideas about what the duty actually is.
Give an example of a concept that is Emic and NOT able to be compared cross-culturally
There are multiple answers, all the following are correct:
renqing (relationship reciprocity) in Taiwan
yuan (predestined relationship) in Taiwan
chemyon (social face) in Korea
Amae (indulgent dependency for parental-child bonding) in Japan
Is ‘Tough and Easy’ Etic or Emic?
Etic
Define Tough on the ‘Tough and Easy’ scale in cross-cultural context
Only a few goals are viewed as valuable and few ways are available to achieve them.
Define Easy on the ‘Tough and Easy’ scale in cross-cultural context
Individuals can pursue many different goals and at least some of them are relatively simple to attain
Is ‘Achievement and Affiliation’ Etic or Emic?
Etic
Define ‘Achievement’ on the Achievement and Affiliation Cultural scale.
a central aspect of any culture
is the degree to which it emphasizes the need to achieve
Define ‘Affiliation’ on the Achievement and Affiliation Cultural scale.
A culture that
reflects needs for love and community
What was the outcome of cultures that scored high for Achievement, according to McClelland?
What two pieces of evidence did he use to measure this, cross culturally?
a) They expanded industrially more rapidly.
b) He used CHILDREN STORIES to rate whether they were affiliation or achievement focused, then measured ELECTRICITY OUTPUT to measure industrial growth.
Do cultures vary on Complexity?
A: They may, but we can not measure it reliably. (sorry, trick question!)
though WEIRD psychology may assume industrialized cultures are more complex, there may be further complexities we do not recognize within hunter-gatherer or monastery cultures.
Tightness vs. Looseness: define Looseness in Cultural Psychology context
cultures that tolerate large deviation from proper behavior
Tightness vs. Looseness: define Tightness in Cultural Psychology context
cultures that tolerate very little deviation from proper behavior
What kind of cultures tend to be ‘tighter’ of the tightness-looseness scale?
Ethnically homogeneous and densely populated societies tend to be culturally tighter.
Give one cultural example of a tight culture
Hong kong
Why do tight cultures enforce norms strictly? (2)
1) people must be similar enough to agree on those norms
2) because strict norms of behavior are more necessary when people must live close together.
What kind of cultures tend to be ‘Loose’ of the tightness-looseness scale?
historically a diverse and geographically spread out societies
What best determines looseness in a culture, between the two identified mitigating variables in the textbook?
What is a culture that seems to be an exception to this rule?
a) DIVERSITY may override DENSITY in determining tightness and looseness
b) Singapore (densely populated, highly diverse, VERY tight culture - think of spray painting incident)
Give one example of a loose culture
USA is the prime example within the textbook.
What was the Singapore spray painting an example of?
a) Tightness-looseness
explanation: USA teenager spray paints in Singapore. In USA, this would be a fine, In Singapore, it meant physical punishment, jail time, and a fine.
What does “strengths of the heart” refer to on the Heart Vs. Head scale?
fairness, mercy, gratitude, hope, love, and religiosity
What does “strengths of the head” refer to on the Heart Vs. Head scale?
artistic excellence, creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, and learning
(good job learning, I believe in you!)
What attributes did a state have if they had a ‘head’ focus on the Heart vs. Head scale?
What way did these states tend to vote?
(USA comparing states study)
a) tended to have better job growth,
lower unemployment, and diverse immigration patterns
b) Democratic
According to Rentfrew, why do cities vary on Heart vs Head focus? (3)
- selective migration
(ex. diff ppl choose diff cities, actors choose Hollywood and developers choose Silicon Valley) - Social influence can affect a person’s values.
(ex. If everyone around you either supports or opposes human rights, you may change your stance to match) - ecological factors may influence cultural differences
(ex. little sun = higher depression rate)
Define Collectivistic cultures in the context of Collectivism vs. Individualism
Give one example.
a) the needs of the group (the “collective”) are more important
than the rights of individuals.
b) Japan, China, India
Define Individualistic cultures in the context of Collectivism vs. Individualism
Give one example.
a) the single person is
more important than the collective. People are viewed as separate from each other.
b) USA, Canada, UK
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease” is indicative of what kind of culture?
why?
a) Individualistic
b) being separate is important to get what you want, ‘squeaking’ above others is rewarded as an individual.
“The nail that stands out gets pounded down” is indicative of what kind of culture?
why?
a) Collectivistic
b) Those who stand out are punished, it is better to remain part of the group, i.e. the collective.
What kind of poor outcomes are people in Individualistic cultures prone to?
Because the philosophy of
individualism isolates people from each other, members of individualist
cultures may be particularly vulnerable to problems such as loneliness
and depression
Who has more Trait words, English or Chinese?
What is this an indication of?
a) English.
English: 2,800 trait words
Chinese: 557 trait words
b) some psychologists to suspect that personality in the Western sense is less meaningful in Eastern contexts, personality may have little or no meaning in more collectivistic cultures.
More autobiographies (vs. Group histories) are written in
what kind of cultures?
Individualistic
More histories of the group (vs. autbiographies) are written in What kind of cultures?
Collectivistic
satisfaction with life is based on the harmony of one’s relationships with
others (vs. self-esteem) is more important in what cultural context?
Collectivistic
Self Esteems (vs. satisfaction with life is based on the harmony of one’s relationships with
others) is more important in what cultural context?
Individualistic
People in what kind of cultures are less attentive to differences in
status?
Give one example.
a) Individualistic
b) in USA, many students call profs by their first name
People in what kind of cultures are more attentive to differences in
status?
Give one example.
a) Collectivistic
b) in India, if someone is older than you by even one day, you are expected to give respect to them.
