Controversies (Cultural Bias) Flashcards
1
Q
What is culture?
A
- culture is defined as the rules, customs, morals and ways of interacting that bind together members of a society or some other collection of people.
- culture can constrain the way we see, feel and think.
2
Q
What is cultural bias?
A
- cultural bias occurs when people of one culture make assumptions about the behaviour of people from another culture based on their own cultural norms and practices.
- much of traditional psychology is rooted in western ideas, which is hardly surprising because a high percentage of the world’s researcher’s and participants in psychological research are from western cultures.
3
Q
What are cross cultural studies?
A
- psychologists conduct cross cultural studies to see whether cultural practices affect behaviour.
- they are a kind of natural experiment where the independent variable is, e.g. child rearing techniques in different cultures and dependant variable is a behaviour, such as aggression. this enables researchers to see if variations in levels of aggression are due to different culturally determined child rearing techniques.
4
Q
advantages of cross cultural studies?
A
- such studies enable us to consider whether behaviours are innate - if a behaviour is the same in all cultures, it suggests that it must be part of our genetic make up.
- David buss (1989) looked at relationships in 36 countries and found the same mate preferences - that men look for youth and good looks, whereas women look for resources, ambition and industriousness.
5
Q
disadvantages of cross cultural studies?
A
- one issue is that western researchers conducting research in a different culture may fail to understand local practices and meanings and thus misrepresent participants understanding.
- a second problem for cross cultural research is that it may use tests or procedures that have been developed in the US and are not valid in other cultures. the use of psychological tests or techniques developed in one cultures and in another is called and imposed etic.
- a further problem is that the group of participants may not be representative of that culture and yet we make generalisations about the whole culture.
- furthermore, there are problems of observer bias, where the observer’s expectations alter what they see, as well as problems of investigator effects, where the participants try to guess what answers the researcher would like an provide those answers
6
Q
difference or bias?
A
- it is easy to confuse difference with bias. many studies have found differences between human and cultural groups, e.g. david myers and ed deiner (1995) noted that more people in individualist cultures report subjective well being (SWB) than in collectivist cultures - in an individualist culture people are more concerned with their individual needs whereas in collectivist cultures people focus on the needs of the group.
- such differences are a fact. cultural bias is not concerned with these differences; it is concerned with the distorted view that psychologists have because of their own cultural affiliations and how this bias affects their theories and studies.
- however finding a difference in SWB may be due to cultural bias. for example, if SWB is measured using a questionnaire designed by western researchers (an imposed etic) then the questions are probably based on western (individualist) assumptions of what constitutes SWB. the result is that people from collectivist cultures may appear different. the two cultures may not be different in terms of SWB, but the methods used to test or observe them are biased so some cultural groups appear different
7
Q
What is ethnocentrism
A
- ethnocentrism refers to the use of our own ethnic or cultural group as a basis for judgements about other groups. whilst this is a human natural tendency, it is something that needs to be minimised when conducting objective research.
- Rachael Hare Mustin and jeanne Maracek (1988) suggest that there are two different ways theories can be based; alpha bias and beta bias
8
Q
Ethnocentrism (What is Alpha Bias?)
A
- refers the assumption that there are real and enduring differences between cultural groups. in terms of ethnocentrism this is the belief that one’s own culture is considered to be different and better, and the consequence of this is that other cultures and their practices are devalued.
9
Q
Ethnocentrism (What is Beta Bias)
A
- refers to theories that ignore cultural differences. ethnocentrism may lead to a beta bias if tests are assumed to have the same meaning in all cultures.
10
Q
What is Cultural Relativism?
A
- the opposite of ethnocentrism is cultural relativism, the idea that all cultures are equally worthy of respect and that in stidying another culture we need to try to understand the way that a particular culture sees the world.
11
Q
How can cultural relativism result in bias? (alpha Bias)
A
- cultural relativism can also lead to an alpha bias where the assumption of real differences leads to psychologists to overlook universals
12
Q
How can cultural relativism result in bias? (beta bias)
A
- cultural relativism is often discussed in the context of of defining mental disorder. e.g. hearing voices is regarded as an unusual behaviour in the western world and taken as a symptom of schizophrenia. however in some cultures, hearing voices is quite normal and then people who report such symptoms may be misdiagnosed by western psychiatrists as schizophrenic. in this case the assumption of no difference causes a problem.
13
Q
historical and social context of culture?
A
- The concept of culture does not just apply to people living in different geographical locations, sub cultures (such as student populations or delinquents or nurses) do not have a particular geographical identity ut do have a common set of customs, beliefs etc)
- a particular issue in psychological research is the use of students as participants students are a unique subculture
