Cross-Cultural Flashcards
What is the anthropological definition of culture?
the man-made part of the human environment; physical artefacts and social systems
What is the psychological definition of culture?
collective programming of the mind to distinguish social groups
What is a social system?
the behaviour of multiple individuals within a culturally-organized population, including their patterns of interaction and networks of social relationships (Rohner, 1984)
What are the 4 dimensions found in Hofstede’s study?
power distance
uncertainty avoidance
individualism vs. collectivism
masculinity vs. femininity
What is power distance?
the extend to which people believe power is distributed unequally
perception of superordinates style (e.g. paternalistic vs. democratic)
preference for superordinates style (e.g. autocratic vs. consultative)
What is uncertainty avoidance?
the degree to which people feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity
should company rules be broken if it is in the best interest of the company?
intention to remain in current job for the next 5 years
What is individualism?
preference for a loosely knit social framework in which people take care of themselves and immediate family
spending time alone, freedom, challenge
What is collectivism?
preference for a tightly knit social framework where individuals can rely on anyone in the group
training, good physical conditions, use of skills
What is masculinity?
a preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and marital success
earning, recognition, advancement, challenge
What is femininity?
a preference for relationships, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life
cooperation, desirable living area
What is an ecological fallacy?
falsely extrapolating group-level findings to an individual level of explanation
What is a reverse ecological fallacy?
wrongly attributing properties of individuals to cultures
What is an acquiescence bias?
the tendency to agree with all items on a scale, this bias can vary among different nations
What is a cultural syndrome?
shared attitudes, beliefs, categorisations, norms, roles and values organised around a central theme
What is the theory of self-construals?
Markus & Kitayama (1991)
Asian and Western cultures differ in the prevalence of independent and interdependent self-construals
a self-construal is a self-identity based on the relationships we share with others
What are the implications of self-construals for cognition?
Asian cultures tend to show more;
interpersonal knowledge
context-specific knowledge
attention to interpersonal context
What are the implications of self-construals for emotion?
Westerners show more ego-focused emotions; anger, frustration, pride
Asians show more other-focused emotions; sympathy, interpersonal communication and shame
What are the implications of self-construals for motivation?
self-expression vs. self-restraint
bases of achievement
self-enhancement vs. modesty
What evidence is there for the theory of self-construals?
Matsumoto (1999)
national culture influence self-construals which influences cognition, emotion and motivation
How does self-construal influence embarrassability?
Asian-Americans reported more susceptibility to embarrassment and interdependent self-construals than Euro-Asians
self-construal is a significant predictor of embarrass ability through mediation
What is the implicit model of self-hood?
Kitayama (2009) 7 factor model with a dichotomous view of cultural differences 1. defining the self 2. experiencing the self 3. making decisions 4. looking after oneself 5. moving between contexts 6. communicating with others 7. dealing with conflicting interests
What are other-construals?
people in Western cultures attribute ambiguous behaviours to dispositions rather than situations
bias is reduced or absent in Asian cultures (Miller, 1984)
How does the type of thinking influence other-construals?
Nisbett (2001)
east asians; holistic thinking, attending to entire field of information
westerners; analytic thinking attending to the primary object and the categories which it belongs to
What have frame switching studies shown about culture and inferences?
western primes cause dispositional inferences
asian primes cause situational inferences
culture has some flexibility
behaviour depends on accessibility of cultural knowledge rather than availability
How do communication styles differ across cultures?
individualistic - low context communication
clarity, self-expression, being direct
collectivistic - high context elaboration
interpersonal harmony, being indirect, reading between the lines
How can display rules differ across cultures?
Friesen (1972)
individualism-collectivism accounts for 30% of variance in display rules
Japanese people will show disgust when alone but when in a group they will not to avoid disrupting the harmony
How does judgements of others emotions differ culturally?
Matsumoto et al. (2002)
US participants judge high intensity expressions as indicating a less intense experience than the expression suggests
Japanese participants judge low intensity expressions as indicating a more intense experience than the expression suggests
What are the benefits of arranged marriages?
preserving social harmony
political and economic links between families
rational rather than emotion chocie
How does marriage differ across cultures?
individualistic cultures are more likely to say they wouldn’t marry without love
collectivistic cultures more likely to consider arranged marriages
What are some correlates with marriage for love?
higher affluence
lower fertility
What are the factors of desirability?
Shackelford et al. (2005) love vs. status stability vs. fitness intelligence vs. home life sociability vs. religion
How do definitions of love differ across cultures?
Rothbaum & Tsang (1998)
comparison of western and asian pop songs
US; positive qualities of loved ones and happiness
Asia; suffering and creation of love
What are the colours of love?
Lee (1973) mania; possessive/dependent eros; romantic/passionate agape; selfless storge; friendship pragma; practical ludus; game playing
What are the types of family dynamic?
nuclear; parents and children (western)
extended; parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins (asian)
How does parental control differ across cultures?
collectivistic; higher power distance, obedience, economic value of children
greater control = more warmth
individualistic; lower power distance, autonomy, psychological value of children
greater control = less warmth
How can children acquire their cultural orientation?
socialisation; caregiver actively raises child in accordance with cultural values
enculturation; passive acquisition of cultural values due to exposure
How can the ecological context influence subjective wellbeing?
higher GDP; subjective wellbeing is greatest at hot or cold temperatures
lower GDP; subjective wellbeing is greatest at cool or warm temperatures
How does the socio-political context influence subjective wellbeing?
Georgas (2004)
affluence is associated with greater individualism, life satisfaction and lower power distance
How does national wealth moderate life satisfaction across cultures?
richer countries; home life is more important
poorer countries; financial satisfaction is more important
How does pace of life influence life satisfaction?
Levin & Norenzayan (1999)
higher pace of life correlates with better economy, individualism and colder climates
also predicts subjective wellbeing, rate of smoking and prevalence of CHD
What is acculturation?
groups of individuals with different cultures coming into first hand contact with each other creating changes in the original culture patterns - generally one group changes more than the other
What are the dimensions of cultural adaptation?
affective; psychological wellbeing/distress
behavioural; learning effective communication and social skills
cognitive; beliefs, values and cultural identity
What are the acculturation strategies of the minority group?
integration
assimilation
separation
marginalisation
What is integration?
relationships are formed with the dominant group and both cultures are maintained
What is assimilation?
relationships are formed but the minority does not maintain its cultural identity
What is separation?
no relationships are formed but the minority does maintain its cultural identity
What is marginalisation?
no relationships are formed and the minority does not maintain its cultural identity
What is the most adaptive minority acculturation strategy?
integration
Berry (1990’s) minorities prefer integration
Benet-Martinez et al. (2002) predicts wellbeing
minorities show the best adaptation and least stress
What is the least adaptive minority acculturation strategy?
marginalisation
What are the acculturation strategies of the majority group?
multiculturalism
melting-pot
segregation
exclusion
What is multiculturalism?
integration strategy monitored by policy and values
What is melting-pot?
majority expect assimilation of minority however if this does not happen this can lead to rejection and separation
What is segregation?
separation and rejection of minority group
What is exclusion?
no support for minority and marginalisation of cultural values
What is the most adaptive majority acculturation strategy?
Multiculturalism
Georgas et al. (1996) Greek values are maintained more in multicultural societies e.g. Canada
What is a settler society?
a society which was developed through colonialism
e.g. USA, Australia, Canada
integration predicts better outcomes
What is a non-settler society?
a society which has been in existence as far as history can go back
e.g. UK, France, Germany
separation predicts better psychological outcomes
What is Marx’s concept of ideology as a superstructure?
superstructure is a society’s culture, power structures, roles
What is modernisation?
Ingelhart & Baker (2000)
changes in ego-cultural framework
cultural beliefs become more secular and rational
culture is expected to adapt to context
What is post-modernisation?
Ingelhart & Baker (2000)
shift from manufacturing to service economy
beliefs and values become post-materialistic
less focus on survival
more focus on self-expression
What did the world values survey test?
traditional vs. secular-rational views
- religion, authority, obedience, pro-life
survival vs. self-expression
- economic/physical security, homophobia, distrust
What did the results of the world values survey show?
there is a general trend towards more secular-rational and self-expressive views
Ingelhart & Baker (2000)
cultures develop along parallel lines but don’t converge
What is the concept of globalisation?
culture could end up global
evidence; Japanisation in business practises
results; loss of identity and anti-globalisation
What evidence is there for the universality of emotions?
Ekman (1972); same basic 6 emotions observed universally
- happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, anger, disgust
Matsumoto & Willingham (2009); these emotions are also observed in people without language or sight
How does emotional experience differ across cultures?
Kitayama et al. (2000)
Americans report more positive than negative emotions
Japanese report equal frequencies of positive and negative emotions
Park et al. (2013)
higher class people are more likely to express anger in Japan but less likely in America
How does emotional experience differ within cultures?
Gallo & Mathews (2003) lower-class people experience more negative emotions than upper-class people
Why do emotions differ culturally?
different emotion concepts
accessibility of emotions
ideal affect
How do emotion concepts differ across cultures?
different languages have different words to express certain emotions that may not exist in other cultures
- e.g. gezellig; feeling cosy in the presence of others
How does the accessibility of emotions differ across cultures?
can be a function of the ability to describe ones emotion using language
- e.g. Chinese have 113 different words for shame (Li et al., 2014)
How does ideal affect differ across cultures?
Tsai (2007)
East Asians prefer low arousal positive emotions
- calm, peaceful
Americans prefer high arousal positive emotions
- excited, enthusiastic
What evidence is there for a difference in ideal affect across cultures?
Moon et al. (2011) Facebook profile pictures
- Eastern cultures show more closed mouth smiles
- Western cultures show more open mouth smiles
How are emotions expressed differently in different cultures?
Jack et al. (2012)
East Asian cultures are more likely to use the eyes to express emotional intensity
What evidence is there for the difference in eastern and western emotional expression?
Jack et al. (2013; Park et al. (2013)
emoticon use e.g. for expressing happiness
Asians - (^_^)
Americans - :-)
How does emotion interpretation differ across cultures?
Yuki et al. (2007)
westerners tend to rate emotional experience based on the mouth
easterners tend to rate emotional expression on the eyes
Americans rated individuals with a happy mouth and sad eyes as more happy and Japanese rated it as more sad
How is aggression experienced across cultures?
Adam et al. (2010)
Europeans are more likely to give into someone expressing anger, Asians are less likely to give in
How are insults experience differently within cultures?
Cohen & Nisbett
comparison of northern and southern Americans reaction t physical and verbal aggression
northerners more likely to move out of an aggressors way whether insulted or not
southerns more likely to move out of an aggressors way if not insults but show more aggression themselves and will not move out of the way if insulted
