Cross cultural and Indigenous psychology

Question 1

Culture is

Answer 1

different from race, nationality and ethnicity

Question 2

race has to do with

Answer 2

observable physical attributes (e.g. skin colour)

Question 3

nationality has to do with

Answer 3

citizenship (e.g. Australian citizen)

Question 4

ethnicity has to do with

Answer 4

an aspect of race, language, culture, religion, geography etc.

Question 5

culture is easier to describe; culture has been described as:

Answer 5

(i) a set of rules (e.g. the set of shared and unwritten rules that govern the behaviour of a group of people, something that everyone within the culture learns to abide by, rules that enable the members of a group to co-exist and survive, rules that reflect shared values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours distinguish or differentiate members of one group from another, and cultural rules are often not apparent to people from other cultures because they are implicit, (ii) something that shapes our identity (e.g. the use of artefacts, rituals, tradition and text develop/reinforces a shared sense of identity), (iii) something that shapes our understanding of the world and our place in it (e.g. it underpins our basic assumptions and beliefs, it shapes our awareness of the world around us, it is a filter through which we see and understand our current reality, it helps us organise and make sense of everyday life and it is shaped by historical influences, and (iv) it is relatively stable (e.g. it is handed down from generation to generation through tradition, it is mostly stable from one generation to the next but also evolves slowly over time)

Question 6

Culture is learned (either consciously or subconsciously); it is not innate; the process by which we learn, absorb and internalise the rules of the culture we live in is called

Answer 6

enculturation

Question 7

Cultural psychology studies the way in which

Answer 7

individual people are affected by the culture they live in;

Question 8

cross-cultural psychology studies

Answer 8

many different cultural groups with the aim of identifying the similarities and differences in mental states and human behaviour between them

Question 9

Indigenous people are the original inhabitants of a land or country that they now typically share with other people; they are found all over the world but tend to have in common the experience of oppression as a result of

Answer 9

colonisation

Question 10

the six principles for ethical research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) peoples are:

Answer 10

(i) reciprocity (i.e. ensuring any risks that could come to the people and communities involved in the research are balanced out by the benefits they gain from being part of the research), (ii) respect (i.e. affirming the right for people and groups to have different beliefs, customs and aspirations), (iii) equality (i.e. treating all people as equal), (iv) responsibility (i.e. working with people and communities to ensure that it does no harm to the people or their cultural beliefs), (v) survival and protection (i.e. reinforcing the cultural bonds of Indigenous people with their communities and cultural heritage) and (vi) spirit and integrity (an overarching value that binds the five other values over time)

Question 11

Six dimensions on which culture can vary are:

Answer 11

(i) time, (ii) emotion, (iii) interpersonal space, (iv) context, (v) heterogeneity and (vi) emphasis on the individual over the group

Question 12

Cultures can be

Answer 12

either monochronic or polychromic

Question 13

In monochronic cultures, time is divided into linear segments and is closely regulated

Answer 13

(e.g. attention is focused on one task at a time, time commitments are treated seriously and deadlines and appointments are always met, the schedule rules so activities and interactions with others are organised according to the clock, time is rigid, divisible and inflexible and time is future oriented – little times is spent dwelling in the past)

Question 14

In polychronic cultures, time is more fluid and less closely regulated

Answer 14

(e.g. multiple tasks can be carried out at the same time, time commitments are considered flexible and deadlines and appointments are not always met, activities and interactions with others rule and sticking to the clock is less important, time is fluid and can move in different cycles and the past and its legacy are viewed as important)

Question 15

Cultures have ‘display rules’ about what

Answer 15

they consider to be the appropriate expression of emotions in response to particular situations/social circumstances (e.g. Apollonian cultures value modest and stoic expression of emotion and Dionysian cultures value more extreme and hedonistic expressions of emotion)

Question 16

According to Hall (1966), there are three types of interpersonal spaces:

Answer 16

(i) intimate space (acceptable only with close friends, lovers and family), (ii) social or consultative space (the amount of space people feel comfortable when interacting socially acquaintances and strangers) and (iii) public space (the distance apart people feel it hard to interact with others, or perceive interactions as impersonal); cultures differ in the distances that constitute each of these spaces and these differences may be related to population density in the country of origin (e.g. high population density cities/countries may have smaller intimate and social spaces)

Question 17

High-context cultures

Answer 17

pay close attention to the context or circumstance that a person is in and explores whether this context accounts for their behaviour; because of the emphasis on the situation and because in high-context cultures there tends to be high value placed on interpersonal relationships, people in high-context cultures tend to rely on nonverbal cues (e.g. body language) and intuition to interpret and decode the real meaning behind someone’s words or actions

Question 18

Low-context cultures

Answer 18

do not pay close attention to the context of a person’s behaviour; because of the emphasis on the person and because in low-context cultures there tends to be less value placed on interpersonal relationships, people in low-context cultures tend to rely on verbal cues and fact and logic and literal interpretations, and there is an assumption that what people say and do what they mean to

Question 19

If a culture is homogenous (or ‘tight’),

Answer 19

the behaviours of people in that group are quite similar to each other because group members are expected to closely adhere to norms and expectations of that culture and any deviations from group norms are generally not tolerated;

Question 20

if a culture is heterogeneous (or ‘loose’),

Answer 20

the behaviours of the people in that group are quite different to each other either because cultural norms are unclear or deviance from the norm is more tolerated

Question 21

In individualism,

Answer 21

the individual is seen to be the basic unit of society, the concept of self is defined as separate and independent from the group, people define themselves in terms of individual attributes, the interests of the individual are given priority, the independence and autonomy of the individual are emphasised, the pursuit of fulfilment of individual goals are expected, behaviours are explained in terms of individual decisions and attributes, accumulation of individual wealth and possessions is the norm and self reliance, leadership, competitiveness, aggression and achievement are normal, rewarded and admired

Question 22

In collectivism,

Answer 22

the family group is seen to be the basic unit of society, the concept of self is defined only in relation to the group, people define themselves in terms of group attributes, the interests of the group are given priority, the interdependence and solidarity of people within the group are emphasised, the pursuit of group happiness and harmony are expected, behaviour is explained in terms of adherence to group norms, collective ownership of resources is the norm and group conformity, obligation, sense of duty, collective responsibility and group/community-orientated achievement are normal, rewarded and admired

Question 23

Multiculturalism occurs when

Answer 23

multiple cultures exist within one country and the number of inhabitants that represent those minority cultures is significant;

Question 24

pluralism refers

Answer 24

not just to the population size of different groups, but the acceptance of them and their right to retain their cultural heritage and coexist together

Question 25

Three types of experiences indicate adjustment to multiculturalism;

Answer 25

(i) culture shock, (ii) acculturation and (iii) ethnic identity

Question 26

Culture shock refers to the

Answer 26

feeling of disorientation and anxiety that people from one culture encounter while they are adapting to the practices, rules and expectations of another culture; it arises because people have to cope with differences in language, unwritten rules or norms of behaviour, different social structures, different political and legislative processes and other aspects of everyday life

Question 27

According to Eckermann et al (1994), there are four phases that people go through when they are experiencing culture shock:

Answer 27

(i) honeymoon (initial euphoria and excitement about the new place), (ii) disenchantment (disillusionment and even hostility towards the new culture as they become exposed to values and habits that conflict with their own), (iii) beginning resolution phase (recovery from shock as confidence and understanding of the new culture grows), and (iv) effective functioning stage (adjustment as the individual learns how to fit into the new cultural environment)

Question 28

According to LaFromboise et al (1993), there are five different ways in which people adjust to a new culture:

Answer 28

(i) assimilation (absorption into the dominant culture and abandonment of traditional culture), (ii) acculturation (competence in a second culture without complete acceptance of it), (iii) fusion (combining two cultures to form a new culture), (iv) alternation (bicultural competence or being able to slip between cultures) and (v) multiculturalism (maintaining distinct cultural identities within a single multicultural social structure)

Question 29

•According to Berry’s (1980) theory of acculturation,

Answer 29

people have conflicting needs for cultural preservation and cultural adaptation;

Question 30

marginalised

Answer 30

(low on both cultural preservation and cultural adaptation),

Question 31

withdrawal

Answer 31

(high on cultural preservation and low on cultural adaptation)

Question 32

assimilation

Answer 32

(high on cultural adaptation and low on cultural preservation)

Question 33

integration

Answer 33

(high on both cultural preservation and cultural adaptation)

Question 34

Ethnic identity refers to the

Answer 34

ethnic group that a person feels they belong to, identifies with, and takes pride in belonging to; because it is subjective, people can have multiple ethnic identities

Question 35

Prejudice + Power=

Answer 35

Racism

Question 36

Racial prejudice occurs

Answer 36

when a person relies on a negative stereotype about a racial group to pre-judge a person from that group simply based on their membership to that group

Question 37

Power refers to the

Answer 37

capacity to exert influence over others (e.g. social, economic or political); unlike prejudice and power that occurs in an individual’s psychology, power is based on group dynamics. Thus, power can lead to systematic and pervasive oppression, or unfair and differential treatment, based on an assumption of the inferiority of a group

Question 38

Discrimination refers to the

Answer 38

behavioural/observable output or manifestation of prejudicial attitudes

Question 39

Personality: According to Adorno et al (1950), people with an authoritarian personality –

Answer 39

the tendency to hate people who are different or downtrodden – tend to be racist; according to the psychodynamic perspective, this personality type develops in people who have a dominant, stern and sometimes sadistic father and a submissive mother, and their fear and hatred of their father becomes repressed for fear of punishment should they expose their true feelings. As adults, this rage is unconsciously projected or displaced onto other groups that are seen as ‘different’ (e.g. Hitler)

Question 40

Social influences: As prejudice is

Answer 40

learned from our social influences (i.e. is not innate), reward or reinforcement from parents and friends can increase prejudice and people can feel a sense of shared identity with others who have the same prejudices because it validates them; research has shown that lack of education and right wing political views all predict prejudice

Question 41

Emotions: Fear or hatred of anything foreign or unfamiliar is known as

Answer 41

xenophobia; people also put down others to increase their self esteem

Question 42

The APS (1998) argues that there are four levels on which anti-racist strategies should be implemented:

Answer 42

(i) macro (e.g. federal and state governments should form policy/legislation such as The Racial Discrimination Act, 1975, and provide funding at any program or policy aimed at reducing racism), (ii) institutional (e.g. any community or professional groups, organisations or institutions should review their anti-racism policies and provide training programs be conducted in institutions), (iii) psychology courses (university programs should include courses on cross-cultural issues), and (iv) individual (e.g. become active in groups that promote tolerance)

Question 43

Four strategies that may be effective in reducing racism are:

Answer 43

(i) the contact hypothesis (i.e. the more contact we have with people from different cultural groups, the more that contact will break down barriers and prejudices; there is some support for this hypothesis, but mere exposure to another group does not necessarily break down barriers and reduce racism), (ii) super-ordinate goals (i.e. increasing the amount of collaborative interaction between different groups so that they are working together on cooperative tasks with a common goal, is more effective than mere contact in breaking down barriers), (iii) redefining the boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’ to reduce group differentiation, and (iv) increasing cultural competency (i.e. being knowledgeable about other cultures, being sensitive to their right to be different, and being self-reflective so that people know how to apply their cultural knowledge in meaningful and informative ways and without stereotyping them; essentially, this is about reducing ethnocentrism)