cultural bias

Question 1

what is a culture?

Answer 1

system of beliefs, values, attitudes and practices shared by a group of people

Question 2

what is subculture?

Answer 2

groups that differ to the dominant culture in their country with their own beliefs and values etc

Question 3

what is universality?

Answer 3

discover ‘facts’ about human nature and draw conclusions that can be applied to everyone, anywhere, regardless of time, gender or culture

Question 4

what is culture usually simplified down into?

Answer 4

• individualist cultures (more tied to urbanisation + industrialisation) - personal success, goals, achievements, desires
• collectivist cultures (tied to collectivism rural + non-industrialised) - group and family values, collective achievement + interdependence

Question 5

who are most likely to be studied for psychological research?

Answer 5

• henrich 2010 = 68% of worlds psych researchers american
  with 96% industrialised nations
• coined term WEIRD to explain those most likely to be studied
• western educated from industrialised rich democracies

Question 6

what is cultural bias?

Answer 6

• tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through lens of one’s own culture
• wrongly assume universality

Question 7

what is cultural relativism?

Answer 7

research is only applicable to the culture it was conducted in

Question 8

what are the two approaches?

Answer 8

berry 1969
- etic
- emic

Question 9

what is an emic construct?

Answer 9

• applies to only one cultural group
• focus - uniqueness of the culture + culturally specific phenomena
• study from within the culture (immersion) so findings specific to that culture

Question 10

what is an etic construct?

Answer 10

• theoretical idea assumed to apply in all cultural groups
• involves applying studies from outside the culture + producing universal claims
• cultural bias can occur if researcher assumes that emic construct = etic

Question 11

what is imposed etic?

Answer 11

• assumes culture does not effect results - research applicable to all cultures
• refutes cult relativism
• berry argues psych guilty of imposed etic - theories, models, concepts etc = universal when research conducted emic construct in specific culture

Question 12

what is the impact of imposed etic?

Answer 12

ethnocentrism

Question 13

what is ethnocentrism?

Answer 13

• researcher takes the views/behaviour of own culture as ‘normal’
• if other cultures differ from this - views them as abnormal/deviant/ some sense deficient

Question 14

evaluate cultural bias

Answer 14

-

Question 15

how can imposed etic be problematic?

Answer 15

• strange situation
• behaviour in one culture + then assumed ideal attachment type could be applied universally (secure attachment)
  misinterpretation of child rearing practices in other countries - seen to deviate from american norm
• japanese babies ex.

Question 16

how was cultural bias led to prejudice against groups?

Answer 16

• gould 1981
• first intelligence tests led to eugenic social policies US
• ww1 used to pilot first IQ tests to -25m recruits
• many terms = ethnocentric
• result = SE europe + AA scored lowest
• fuel to racial + cultural inferiority - justifying discrimination
• ‘mentally unfit’ - denial of educational + pro opportunities

Question 17

what is ethnography and how has it improved cultural bias?

Answer 17

• immersing yourself in another culture for research
• mead 1928 lived in samoa - understand way of living and found more open to sexuality, sex, masturbation etc
• demonstrated gender + sex due to social norms
• raised awareness white cultures + changed social norms - feeding where children be fed regardless of environment around

Question 18

how is practical applications of increasing awareness of cultural bias a strength?

Answer 18

• identifying possible issues of it = have increased understanding of impact of culture, cultural diffs + specific behaviours
• one benefit = diagnosis of MD - cultural specific behaviours often mis-diagnosed as abnormal
• recent issues of manuals ex. DSM - list of cultural specific behaviours
• less discrimination + accurate diagnosis