Cultural Bias Flashcards
What is cultural bias
Refers to a tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture, leads to any cultural differences in behaviour that deviate from this standard inevitably being seen as abnormal or inferior
Example of cultural bias
Applying findings from studies conducted in individualistic cultures to all over the world
What is ethnocentrism
Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture, in its extreme is the belief of superiority of one’s own culture which may lead to prejudice
What is cultural relativism
The idea that norms, values and ethics can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts
What is an etic approach
Research that aims to identify universal behaviours/concepts by studying multiple cultures using the same tools/frameworks
What is an emic approach
Research that focuses on understanding behaviour/concepts from within a specific culture, using that cultures own perspective and meanings
Who identified emic and etic approach
Berry
Is ainsworth etic or emic and why
Imposed etic
-criticised as reflecting only the norms and values of American culture, identified key defining variable of attachment type as the child’s experience of anxiety on separation and suggested secure attachment was characterised by infant showing moderate amounts of distress when left alone
-however this led to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries which were seen to deviate from American norm eg German mothers seen as cold and rejecting rather than encouraging independence in their children
-SS revealed as an inappropriate measure of attachment type for non-US children
What is imposed etic
When a researcher applies their own cultural ideas/tools to study another culture without adapting to that cultures unique context
Outline issue of cultural bias
Psychology is mainly the study of white American males and despite having restricted their enquiries to particular parts of the world many psychologists routinely claim to have discovered universal behaviours
Expand on issue that separating cultures based on merely whether they are individualistic or collectivist is simplistic
-individualistic culture is associated with countries eg US which are thought to value personal freedom and independence and collectivist cultures eg China are said to place more emphasis on interdependence and needs of the group
-however critics have suggested in this age of global communication and increased interconnectedness that such a simplistic distinction between cultures no longer applies
-Osaka found that 14/15 studies that compared the US and Japan found no evidence of the traditional distinction between individualism and collectivism
-could suggest cultural bias in research is less of an issue than it once was
Expand on limitation that it is important to recognise universal behaviours if they do occur
-Ekman conducted etic research in a variety of cultures and asked ppts to identify a facial expression in response to a story and found 6 universal facial expressions including disgust
-suggests there are some universal behaviours and to study psychology as a whole both culturally specific behaviours and universal ones should be studied
Expand on implication that there is unfamiliarity with research tradition in non-western cultures
-conducting and taking part in research is normalised in western cultures and ppts familiarity with the general aims and objectives of scientific enquiry is assumed
-however the same knowledge and faith in scientific testing may not extend to cultures that do not have the same historical experience of research
-for this reason demand characteristics(due to language barrier, may not understand what you want them to do) may be exaggerated when working with members of the local population which may reduce validity of research
Expand on implication that there are benefits to challenging implicit assumptions
-one benefit of conducting cross cultural research is that it may challenge our typically individualist ways of thinking and viewing the world
-being able to see that some knowledge and concepts we take for granted are not shared by other people around the world may promote a greater sensitivity to individuals difs and cultural relativism in future
-counters the charge of scientific racism that has been made against some theories in the past
-also means conclusions psychologists draw are likely to have more validity if they include recognition of the role of culture in bringing them about
How to overcome cultural bias
-reflexive practices (recognises effect of their own cultural bias and assumptions have on the nature of their work, accept these as a crucial and critical element of the research process to create greater awareness of the role of cultural biases in shaping research in future)
-research team (include member of specific culture within research team, will be able to educate researcher about cultural practices and provide sense of reassurance to cultural group being studied, overcome language barriers and prevent issue of cultural bias eg ethnocentrism on part of the researcher whereby they use their own values in interpreting behavioural difs)
