Chapter 4: How Does Globalization Influence Behavior? HL Flashcards
Globalization
The movement toward a unifying, global culture and set of values based on individualism, free market economics, and democracy.
Values include freedom of choice, individual rights, openness to change and tolerance of differences.
Aspects of globalization
- Increased travel
- Transnational companies with labor standards
- International marketing and access to goods
- Flow of information - the Internet
Local vs global culture
Local culture is the culture that I am enculturated into. For example, I am born and raised in Danish culture.
The global culture is the culture of trade, diplomacy, and the Internet. I am acculturated into the global culture.
Effects of globalization
[Change in:]
- Gender roles
- Attitudes toward marriage and sexuality
- Rise in secularism
- Attitudes toward privacy
- Increased consumerism
- Change in diet – the West now eats sushi! The increase in veganism
Identity confusion (effect of globalization)
The difficulty to integrate oneself into a single “identity” as one tries to determine one’s values and place in society.
Delocalization (effect of globalization)
when one has a strong global identity but fails to identify with their local culture. E.g. A strong international school identity but resenting or not identifying with one’s own culture.
Etiology
the investigation of factors or causes that give rise to disorders.
The rise of Japanese individualism and its effects on happiness [see PowerPoint]
- Globalisation = Westernization?
- Leading to other cultures becoming increasingly individualistic as well.
- Primarily through the media.
- Individualism has been measured through statistics: divorce rate, family size, three-generation households.
- People from individualistic cultures ”are taught from a young age how to be competitive and develop friendships” -> reducing negative effects of individualism.
- Japan adopts the value, but not the strategy to combat the effects -> isolation and loneliness
Ogichara and Uchida (2014)
Aim: to investigate how a change in values might be influencing the subjective well-being of young Japanese students.
Method: correlational study, questionnaire (individualism, close friends, subjective well-being, life satisfaction, physical and psychological-emotional states). 114 students from either Kyoto or Wisconsin.
Results: a negative correlation between individualism in Japan and subjective wellbeing. The number of close friends was a mediating variable. Did not find the same correlation in American students.
Conclusion: the spread of Western values could have negative effects on people in collectivist cultures.
Note: cross-cultural study, therefore etic approach.
Hikikomori
a social isolation syndrome where young Japanese people lock themselves in their rooms and refuse to come out for years.
Herbivores
Japanese men who have no interest in getting married or having a girlfriend. Due to globalization giving rise to individualism; marriages used to be arranged by families.
Norasakkunkit & Uchida (2014)
applied Berry and Sam’s acculturation model to explain the origins of hikikomori. They hypothesized that Japanese youth may not see the benefit of conformity and social harmony which is characteristic of Japanese society and yet do not feel that they are part of the globalized community and its values. This leads to identity confusion and marginalization.
To test their hypothesis (getting access to people who suffer from hikikomori is very difficult) the researchers used a sample of Japanese university students. The participants were given a standardized test to see whether they were at high risk or low risk for hikikomori.
The researchers then gave the participants a test to measure their attitudes about social harmony and social conformity. The test looked at three levels:
- perception of their current self,
- their ideal self
- and general Japanese society.
They also were asked to take a test to measure their sense of local identity (high on social harmony and collectivism) and global identity (high on individualism and achievement).
Results: both groups agreed that social harmony and conformity were highly valued by Japanese society.
However, when assessing their current self and ideal self, the students at high-risk for hikikomori ranked social harmony values much lower than the low-risk students.
In addition, high-risk students scored lower than low-risk students on both local identity and global identity.
It appears that the local culture may alienate many Japanese youths who may then decide not to conform to the cultural norms, but do not identify with or know how to access the globalized culture, and so they withdraw from society.
E: Example of how the conflict between local and global culture may affect behavior. Critical thinking in terms of the sample – don’t actually have the disorder.
Becker et al (2002)
investigated the effects the media has on body dissatisfaction on young girls in Fiji (remote island?). Researchers found an increase in body dissatisfaction after exposure to the TV.
Calado and Lamerias (2011)
investigated the effects of the media on body dissatisfaction on young Spanish girls. Found no correlation.
Chen et al. (2008)
Investigated the Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) on psychological adjustment. They gathered three bicultural groups with different backgrounds for their sample: Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong, Filipino sojourners in Hong Kong, and Bilingual college students in China and HK. The groups received questionnaires, measuring the participants’ well-being, cultural identification, depression and loneliness, and acculturation stress. The researchers found that BII was connected with higher psychological adjustment: great local identification was correlated with less identity stress. Strength: one cultural context. Limitations: correlational, limited to HK, not longitudinal. No serious ethical considerations.
