Cultural bias

Question 1

Cultural bias

Answer 1

• the tendency to ignore cultural differences

- interpret situations through ‘lens’ of own culture

Question 2

Universality

Answer 2

-any underlying characteristic of a human being that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing/ regardless of time or culture

Question 3

Ethnocentrism

Answer 3

• judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture
• in extreme form: belief own culture is superior →prejudice and discrimination

Question 4

Ethnocentrism

Example

Answer 4

-Ainsworth (1970) – Strange Situation
└measuring infant attachment type
└based on values of American culture
-child rearing practices different in other cultures
└e.g. German mothers seen as cold and rejecting
(imposed etic)

Question 5

Etic and emic approaches to studying behaviour

Person

Answer 5

John Berry (1969)

Question 6

Etic approach to studying behaviour

Answer 6

• looks at behaviour from OUTSIDE a given culture

- and attempts to describe behaviours that are UNIVERSAL

Question 7

Emic approach to studying behaviour

Answer 7

• looks at behaviour from INSIDE a given culture

- and attempts to describe behaviours that are SPECIFIC to that culture

Question 8

Imposed etic

Answer 8

• studying behaviour INSIDE a culture

- and assuming those behaviours are UNIVERSAL

Question 9

Cultural relativism

Answer 9

-the idea that standards and values are only meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts

Question 10

Cultural bias

Strengths

Answer 10

Challenging implicit assumptions
└cross cultural research challenges our Western ways of thinking
??

Question 11

Cultural bias
Limitations
Summary

Answer 11

Individualism and collectivism
Cultural relativism vs universality
Unfamiliarity with research tradition - Bond and Smith (1996)
Operationalization of variables

Question 12

Cultural bias
Strengths
Individualism and collectivism

Answer 12

-when past psychologists referenced to culture they meant individualist or collectivist
-individualist: western cultures e.g. USA, value personal freedom and independence
-collectivist: e.g. China, interdependence and needs of group
└critics say this simplistic distinction no longer applies
-Takano and Osaka (1999)
└14/15 studies that compared USA to Japan found no evidence of the traditional distinction between individualist or collectivist
└suggests cultural bias less of an issue in research now

Question 13

Cultural bias
Limitations
Cultural relativism vs universality

Answer 13

-Ekman (1989)
└suggests basic facial expressions for emotions are universal
-Ainsworth’s strange situation
└some features are universal
└e.g. imitation and interactional synchrony

Question 14

Cultural bias
Limitations
Unfamiliarity with research tradition

Answer 14

-Bond and Smith (1996)
-other cultures may not be familiar with general aims of scientific enquiry
└=demand characteristics exaggerates when working with members of the local population
└=decreases validity

Question 15

Cultural bias
Limitations
Operationalization of variables

Answer 15

-variables that are being reviewed may not be the same for all participants
└behavioural expressions of different emotions may be different in different cultures
-e.g. invasion of personal space: normal in China, hostile in West
└effects interaction between participants and researchers