Culture Flashcards
Culture
Unique meaning and information system, shared by a group and transmitted across generations
- Allows group to meet basic needs of survival, pursue happiness/well-being, and derive meaning from life
How did different cultures stem from the universal needs?
Universal needs:
- Bio needs and functions
- Social motives
Groups needed to adapt to certain contexts to meet universal needs:
- Ecology of certain groups might be diff
- Resources of regions
- Interactions w/ ppl may be diff to meet everyone’s needs
Contents of culture:
- Objective vs Subjective
Objective contents: Explicit elements that are physical + will survive w/out ppl
Subjective contents: Parts of culture that do not survive humans as physical artifacts (Values, beliefs, attitudes)
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (6)
- Problem
(Contents of culture)
Power distance: Acceptance of unequal distributions of power
Uncertainty avoidance: Threatened by unknown or ambiguous situations
Masculinity vs Femininity: Importance of success/money vs Caring for others
Long- vs Short-term orientation: Delayed gratification of material, social, and emotional needs vs Getting what you want in the moment
Indulgence vs Restraint: Pursuit of happiness vs Control through social norms
Individualism vs Collectivism: Focus on self/immediate family vs members of larger in-group
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Assumes ppl fit in certain categories and that these don’t change w/ situations
Schwartz’s cultural values (7)
(Contents of culture)
Egalitarianism: Social justice, equality
Intellectual autonomy: Individual pursuit of ideas
Affective autonomy: Individual pursuit of positive exps
Mastery/Competency: Independence, ambition
Hierarchy: Modesty, self-control
Embeddedness/Conservation: Respect for tradition, social order, obedience
Harmony: Unity w/ nature, world peace
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Values across each other opposites (Listed in counter-clockwise manner)
Beliefs
Norms (Rituals, Tightness vs Looseness)
Attitudes
Worldviews
Beliefs: Propositions regarded as true (but doesn’t have to be)
Norms: Generally accepted standards if behavs (explicit or implicit)
- Rituals: Culturally prescribed conduct or established procedure/routine
- Tightness vs Looseness: Explicit rules/Consequences vs Implicit conventions/Can violate expectations
Attitudes: Evaluations of ppl, objects or concepts
Worldviews: Culturally specific belief systems about the world (Contain values, beliefs, attitudes about world)
- Can be internalized as children thru parents’ views
What did David Satcher address about culture in research?
- Why is this important?
Culture matters for etiology, effects and treatment of educational and psych problems + include intersectionality (we are defined by more than one aspect of culture)
- Important bcuz diff cultures have diff psych expression and responses to treatments
Perspectives on culture:
- Genetically deficient perspective
- Culturally deficit perspective
- Culturally different perspective (Culturally plausible vs relativistic explanations)
Some races are superior/inferior due to bio
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Identifies the enviro, nutritional, linguistic and interpersonal factors that explain physical and psych anomalies in certain groups
- Diff values and customs = Deficient culture
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Each culture has own unique strengths
- Pluralistic: We live in societies w/ multiple cultural groups that have overlapping values but have unique aspects
- Relativistic: We don’t develop in vacuum so important to take own cultural exps and interactions w/ other cultures into consideration
What types of research can help reduce effects of researcher bias on culture studies? (3)
Cross-cultural research: Across cultural groups in diff nations
Multicultural research: Across cultural groups within a diverse nation
Mixed methods research:
- W/ qualitative design: e.g. studying ppl’s devel of particular strengths
- W/ quantitative design: e.g. study assoc between strengths and outcomes across cultures
Equivalence
Conceptual equivalence
Methodological equivalence (Procedural vs Sampling equivalence)
Measurement equivalence
Interpretational equivalence
Any source of non-equivalence introduces ____, reducing ___ and ___
Equivalence: State of similarity in conceptual meaning and empirical method between cultures that allow comparisons to be meaningful
Conceptual: Must be equivalent across cultures in meaning of theoretical frameworks (e.g. definition of happiness)
Methodological: Understanding of all aspects of research method must be similar across culture
- Procedural: Procedures used to collect data in diff cultures must be equivalent (e.g. interview format)
- Sampling: Samples are representative and equivalent on non-cultural demographics
Measurement: Extent to which measures used to collect data in diff cultures are equally valid and reliable (concept, psychometrics, language, etc)
Interpretational: Extent to which inferences made reflect actual diffs across cultures (high power, avoiding bias, etc)
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Measurement error, reliability and validity
What are the 4 steps to unpackage culture research
1) Ensure equivalence, demonstrate cultural diffs are present
2) Isolate what cultural construct is that explains diff
3) Establish cultures really differ on theoretical construct
4) Empirically demonstrate that diff found is because of construct
5 factors of multicultural personality questionnaire
Cultural empathy: Understand/Feel emotions of someone in other group
Open-mindedness: Embracing worldview of others
Emotional stability: Being less prone to responding w/ negative emotion
Initiative: Being able to drive things you do
Flexibility: Being able to switch between diff worldviews and adapt
