Cultural issues in psychological research Flashcards
What is cultural bias?
(include what two factors cause research to be culturally biased)
when psychological research offers a view that doesn’t represent all cultures because cultural differences have been ignored and findings have been interpreted through the lens of ones own culture
What element of research is threatened by cultural bias?
Define this term
the universality of research
this aims to develop theories that apply to everyone
Define what is meant by ethnocentrism?
What may it lead to in extreme cases?
its a type of cultural bias , its the belief that ones own cultural group is superior
-may lead to prejudice or discrimination towards other cultures
Define what is meant by cultural relativism?
make one further point from this
appreciating that behaviour varies between cultures
-its essential that research considers the cultural context when examining behaviour in a particular culture
Describe what evidence there is from attachment and psychopathology to support the view that research is culturally biased
Ainsworth’s Strange situation-was devised in the US and viewed secure attachment as the ideal , Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg found variation in attachment type across cultures and assumed that high % of IA infants in Germany was due to German mothers being rejecting
Definitions of abnormality-personal autonomy seen as the ideal but this is based on the western view that values independence , social norms are cultural dependent and adequate functioning is also culture dependent
Describe what evidence there is from aggression , gender and schizophrenia to support the view that research is culturally biased
(for schizophrenia there is a researcher)
Evolutionary relationships-they assume aggression is innate and is therefore shown across all cultures but analysis shows differences in aggression across cultures
Meads work-studied gender in 3 different social groups in Papau New Guinea , her findings were interpreted using western vies of masculinity and femininity
Validity of diagnosis-Keith et al 1991 found 2.1% of African Americans are diagnosed compared to 1% of white population , often behaviours of other cultures are misinterpreted as symptoms of schizophrenia
Give two points that contradict the view that research is culturally biased
(second point involves researchers)
-not all human behaviour is culturally relative
the stages of Kohlberg’s theory of gender development have been demonstrated in a wide variety of cultures , this means that a full understanding of behaviour requires universal and cross cultural research
-issue may be outdated
Takano and Osaka 1999 showed that no traditional differences between the USA and Japan exist , this could be due to increased global communication meaning cultural bias may be less of an issue now
Give 3 concluding statements about cultural issues in psychological research
-caution must be taken when generalising research findings and theories
-however , researchers have become more aware of the importance of cultural relativism
-strategies such as including a member of local population in research teams enable us to conduct valuable cross-cultural research that challenges typical western view of behaviour
