Culture Flashcards
What is culture?
The values, ideas, customs and behavioural norms of a particular
group or society
What is the culture essay plan? (5 points)
Individualism-collectivism
+ Al-Zahrani and Kaplowitz
+ Adorno F scale
Multiculturalism - Takano et al
Ethnocentricism - Heston and Luhrmann
Etic:
+ Becker
+ Nobles
+ Cultural norms
Emic:
+ Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil
+ Hayne
Nomothetic: WMM
Idiographic: Case studies
How does Al-Zahrani and Kaplowitz support culture affecting human behaviour? (4 points)
Individualism - promotes independence and autonomy, typically of Western origin
Collectivism - promotes group harmony and social hierarchy, typically of Eastern origin
Al-Zahrani and Kaplowitz (1993):
Found Saudis, a collectivist culture, tended to self-report more negative out-group bias than individualistic Americans
Prejudice may develop because of different types of culture
How does Adorno challenge culture affecting human behaviour?
Adorno et al.’s (1950) concept of authoritarian personality claims that
specific characteristics may result in hostility to people of a different race, social group, age, sexuality, or other minority groups - prejudice may be a personality difference and not
due to culture
How does multiculturalism refute culture affecting human behaviour? (4 points)
Multiculturalism - where the diversity of all cultures is accepted within society and one group is not considered to be superior
Takano et al:
Found that in 14 out of 15 studies that
compared American (individualist) and Japanese people (collectivist), there is no evidence of a clear distinction
It has been argued with increased globalisation and shared media that
the distinction between individualism and collectivism is decreasing
Culture has become less of a confounding variable impacting psychological research
What is ‘ethnocentrism’? (2 points)
Research is centred on one particular culture or group of people - usually on Western ideologies and European perspectives
Can be imposed on other cultures as a standard
What are 2 studies with cultural issues involving ethnocentricism? (5 points)
Heston:
Sz diagnosis:
Experimental group (adopted pps with Sz biological mother): 10.6%
Control group: 0%
All pps were in Oregon State psychiatric hospitals - not representative of other cultures as perceptions and acceptance of Sz as a clinical disorder vary across the world
Luhrmann et al (2015):
Compared 20 people from different cultural backgrounds with serious psychotic disorders including Sz
Hearing voices:
California: ‘intrusive unreal thoughts’,
South Indian: ‘useful guidance’
West African: ‘morally good and causally powerful’
Overall, psychological research into Sz cannot be concluded as universal as may be diagnosed differently in other countries, therefore culture severely impacts psychological conclusions
What is ‘etic’ and ‘emic’ research? (2 points)
Etic research aims to discover what all humans have in common - leads to an ‘imposed etic’ as observations are generalised from one culture to another with cultural variations not considered
Emic research (cultural relativism) aims to examine culture-specific phenomena by studying behaviour through the lens of a member of that culture
How does Becker (2002) support etic research being a cultural issue? (3 points)
Becker’s study can be considered an Etic approach, as Fijian eating attitudes and behaviours were viewed from a Western, outsider’s point-of-view
Although the participants spoke English, there was unknown vocabulary used such as ‘binge’ and purge’ that required a translator - language barriers may have a negative impact on psychological research
Could be also seen as using an Emic approach - included semi-structured interviews, which can limit imposed etic in research and allow for cultural variants to be described in research
How does Nobles support etic research being a cultural issue? (3 points)
Nobles (1976):
Argues that Western psychology has been a tool of oppression and dominance
evidence
IQ tests developed in the West contain embedded assumptions about intelligence, but what counts as ‘intelligent’ behaviour varies from culture to culture
Non-Westerners may be disadvantaged by such tests and then viewed as ‘inferior’ as a result - IQ tests may not be a valid measurement of the intelligence of
people from other continents
How do cultural norms support etic research being a cultural issue? (3 points)
The West perceives the invasion of personal space as rude whereas in
China/Japan, it is normal
Interactions between people in observation research may be coded
as ‘rude behaviour’ when the intention to be rude wasn’t there- can lead to invalid
conclusions from the researcher
Psychology has often been guilty of imposing an etic approach - arguing that theories and concepts are universal when they came about from ethnocentric research
Which 2 studies relate to cultural bias in psychology? (3 points)
Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil (2012):
Used an emic approach to find out that Spanish-speaking populations had lower average digit spans
Hayne (2000):
Found that Maori people could recall memories from approximately one year earlier (at 2 years old) than populations from Western cultures
Culture is seen to impact psychological research - memory models may be dependent on native language and social norms
How is whether a behaviour is universal or unique the most important issue? (2 points)
If a characteristic or behaviour is found in all cultures or shared within a gender, it can be called universal - there may be some genetics underpinning the generalisation (nomothetic)
When characteristics vary between cultures and within genders then it can be deemed as unique (idiographic)
How have the nomothetic and idiographic approaches been used in
psychology? (3 points)
Cognitive psychology memory models are largely based on studies which have taken nomothetic approaches, investigating memory recall among large groups
Uses theories like the WMM that state that short-term memory is split into the visual-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop and central executive
Supported by Baddeley & Hitch’s dual-task research:
+ Pps struggled to complete two visual tasks at the same time
+ Could easily complete them separately - they used the limited capacity of the VSS
Idiographic case studies which
add validity to these models have also been carried out in Western cultures, such as that of Clive Wearing and HM, which were from the UK and the US, respectively
What is the conclusion of your culture essay? (2 points)
Regardless if research is nomothetic or idiographic, the emic or etic nature of the
research is the most insightful consideration which highlights that psychological research is impacted by culture
The researcher is designing studies and interpreting behaviour through the lens of their own set of norms and values which stem from their socialisation
