Cultural bias Flashcards
What is Cultural bias?
It refers to a tendency to ignore cultural differences and
interpret all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of one’s own culture.
What is Ethnocentrism?
It is judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture, the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures.
What is Cultural relativism?
It is the idea that norms, values, ethics and moral standards can only be understood within specific and social contexts.
What is Imposed etic?
It is imposing one’s own cultural beliefs upon the rest of the world (what researchers tend to do).
What are Etic constructs?
They are analyses of behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempt to describe those behaviours as universal (what researchers tend to do)
What are Emic constructs?
They are functions from within or inside certain culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture (what researchers should do)
What is the problem with American researchers?
In 1992, 64% of the world’s 56,000 researchers were American. This suggests that, as well as being a male dominated discipline, psychology is mainly the study of white American males. Many psychologists claim to have discovered facts about human behaviour that are universal
What is an example of Ethnocentrism?
Richard Breslin= Intelligence in some cultures is seen to be how quick you can think against the clock vs Baganda people of Uganda see intelligence as slow and thought-out decision making
What is an example of culturally relative research?
Sternberg (1985): The only
way we can understand
intelligence is by taking the
cultural context in to
account. E.g. motor skills are valued in tribes (shooting bow and arrow) as showing intelligence, but not as valued in a more developed country.
Should we assume that research undergone on one culture in universal?
P: It should not be assumed that all Psychology is culturally relative and that there is no such thing as universal human behaviour.
E: Ekman (1989) suggests that the basic facial expressions for
happiness and disgust are the same all over the world.
C: Therefore, this suggests that a full understanding of human behaviour requires the study of both universal and variations among individuals and group.
What is a limitation with conducting research in different cultures?
A limitation with conducting research in different cultures is that the variables under review may not be experienced in the same way in all cultures.
E: E.g. In China, it is normal for people to evade your personal space, whereas in the West, it could be seen as threatening or
confrontational.
C: Issues like these could affect the relationships between the
researcher and the participants in cross cultural studies.
What is a benefit to conducting cross cultural research?
A great benefit to conducting cross cultural research is that it may help us to challenge our typically Western ways of thinking.
E: E.g. being able to see that some of the knowledge and concepts that we take for granted are not shared by other people around the world may promote a greater sensitivity to cultural relativism.
C: This will also mean theories have more validity if they include
recognition of the role of culture in bringing the behaviours about.
