Cultural Bias Flashcards
What is Culture Bias in Psychology?
-Much traditional psychology = Western Bias, most psychologists trained in West, most participants from West.
-1992, 64% of 56,000 leading psychologists were American.
-In Baron + Byrne’s textbook on social psychology, 94% studies conducted in North America.
-Psychologists routinely claim to have discovered ‘facts’ about human behaviour that are universal.
What is Universality?
Ultimate aim of psychology is to produce theories and research that can be applied to all groups, in this case all cultural groups around the world.
What is Alpha Bias?
Research tends to emphasise or over-exaggerate differences between culture, to suggest one cultural is superior to others.
What is an example of Alpha Bias?
Conformity Research:
-Commonly assumed in social psychology that there a huge differences between individualist and collectivist cultures, often that individualist are less conformities than collectivist as less orientated towards group norms and more concerned with self-satisfaction.
-Takano + Osaka (1999) reviewed 15 studies comparing USA + Japan, surprisingly 14/15 studies did not support common view of differences in conformity. Findings suggested dimension may not be a real distinction and that it is exaggerated.
What is Beta Bias?
Research tends to minimise or ignore differences between cultures, any theory based on just with one culture and presented as theory for all human behaviour.
What is an example of Beta Bias?
Intelligence Testing:
-Psychologists use IQ tests devised by West to study intelligence in many cultures, assuming their view on intelligence applies equally to all.
-When used on non-western people, may appear less intelligent- imposed etic - methods or test developed by one group imposed on other groups.
-Ignores or minimises cultural differences by assuming all cultures are the same and reasonable to use same methods.
What is Ethnocentrism?
The use of own ethnic or cultural group as a basis for judgements about other groups.
Tendency to view beliefs and behaviours of our own group as ‘normal’ and even superior, and others as ‘strange’ or deviant.
This usually communicates through a view that any behaviours that do not conform to (usually Western) model are deficient or underdeveloped.
What is an example of Ethnocentrism?
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1970):
-only reflects norms and values of American culture - identified 3 key variables of attachment styles as the child’s experience of anxiety on separation.
-suggested ideal or secure attachment was characterised by the infant showing moderate amounts of distress when left by mother figure.
-led to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries where seen to deviate from American ‘norm’ - German mothers seen as cold and rejecting rather than encouraging independence.
Revealed as inappropriate measure of attachment type for non-US-children.
What is Cultural Relativism?
Opposite of ethnocentrism - idea that all cultures are worthy of respect and in studying other cultures we need to try understand the way a particular culture sees world, 2 types:
-Etic Approach = behaviour looked at from outside given culture and attempts to describe behaviours that are universal.
-Emic Approach = functions within or inside certain cultures and identifies behaviours specific to that culture.
-Should be mindful of cultural relativism of their research - may only make sense from perspective of culture within which they were discovered - recognising this avoids cultural bias.
What are 3 limitations with Cultural Bias in Psychology?
Problems in research process + sampling:
-most studies use sample from one culture, e.g. 1998 Smith + Bond surveyed research in 1 European textbook on Social Psychology and found:
-66% studies American, 32% studies European, 2% studies from rest of world.
-Sears reported 67% participants were American Psychology students, suggested a randomly selected American student 4,000 times more likely to be a participant in a psychology study than a random non-Westerner.
Suggests a considerable amount of psychology is based on middle class academic young adults. Not only unrepresentative on a global scale but also within western culture.
Negative implications - scientific racism:
-findings can have long lasting and often damaging effect on cultural groups, providing scientific evidence for culturally stereotyped views.
-US Army IQ test before WW1 showed European immigrants fell below white Americans, with African Americans at bottom of scale with lowest mental age - profound effect on attitudes of America towards other cultures.
Demonstrates damage culturally-bound research can have on cultural + ethnic groups. Society more likely to take not of ‘scientific’ evidence demonstrating a usually negative stereotype.
Problems with using individualism/collectivism when studying ‘culture’:
-Individualist culture is associated with West who are thought to value personal freedom and independence.
-Collectivist such as India and China said to place more emphasis on interdependence and needs of the group. Critics however suggest in this age of global communication and increased interconnectedness, a simplistic distinction between cultures no longer applies.
-Takano + Osaka (1999) found 14/15 studies comparing USA and Japan found no evidence of traditional distinction.
Could perhaps suggest cultural bias is less of an issues than it once was.
What is a solution to countering cultural bias?
Indigenous Psychologies:
-the development of research conducted by cultural groups within their own cultures.
-e.g. Afrocentrism - all black people have their roots in Africa and that psychological theories concerning such people must therefore be African centred and express African values.
-Afrocentrism disputes the view that European values are universally appropriate descriptions of human behaviour that apply equally to Europeans and non-European people, suggests the values of Europeans at worst devalue non-European people and at best are irrelevant to life and culture of African descent.
Conducting research in this manner with sensitivity and understanding of cultural differences should increase validity of research findings and remove cultural bias
