culture affecting prejudice

Question 1

individualistic cultures P1, A01

Answer 1

culture can be described as the specific customs and behaviours of a group of people
an individualistic culture is one where people value personal autonomy and self-reliance
individualistic cultures tend to be from places such as the USA and Northern Europe and they may be less obedient because they value self-determination and independence highly

Question 2

A03 - supporting evidence for A01

Answer 2

this could be supported by Katz and Brady’s research on American students about stereotypes
the students were asked to pick from a lost of 84 words which 5 words best suited certain minority groups such as black and Jewish people
the students selected words fitting with national stereotypes, for example, the students decided to describe black people as superstitious and lazy, and Jewish people as sneaky and cunning
this research suggests that nations or cultures may share prejudiced views of outgroups which may help to explain events such as the holocaust

Question 3

counter argument to A03 - weakeness lacking validity

Answer 3

the research by Katz and Brady may lack validity as the students may have been displaying social desirability bias and responding in a way that they think the questions should be answered

Question 4

collectivistic cultures - P2, A01

Answer 4

collectivist cultures tend to value loyalty to the group, interdependence and cooperation in pursuit of group goals
collectivistic cultures tend to be found more in places such as Japan and Brazil and more obedient because they feel and obligation and sense of duty which may override their desire to rebel

Question 5

point 2 - strength - tajfel and turner A03

Answer 5

Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory may help to explain influences of prejudice
their research suggested that the mere presence of another group can lead to prejudice and conflict
this is due to the members of the groups associating their personal identity and self esteem with the social identity of the group
this may help to explain prejudice between difference cultures because the existence of another culture can lead to a culture feeling as though their social identity is being threatened which leads to negative outgroup bias and ingroup favouritism, especially if that culture legitimises prejudicial practices

Question 6

counter argument to point 2 - A03

Answer 6

Sherif’s research may suggest that culture has less of an influence over prejudice than it is thought to have
During the Sherif’s robbers cave experiment in 1954, the participants included 22 white boys all of age 11, from similar protestant backgrounds and of similar capabilities
despite this, negative functional interdependence occurred and the boys who were all of a similar culture, showed signs of prejudice towards the outgroup (the Rattlers if they were in the Eagles, and the Eagles if they were in the Rattlers)
However, this research may not be generalised to adults or females because the research was only carried out on 11 year old boys, so it may not be able to show how prejudice other people are to one another

Question 7

situation alternative explanation - P3, A01

Answer 7

However, situation is more likely to cause prejudice than culture
In Sherif’s study, all of the boys were from the USA and similar cultures
The prejudice in Sherif’s study was caused by the situation of introducing competition between the two groups which caused friction and caused the groups to become severely aggressive towards one another
Therefore, this means that there is study evidence to show that when individuals are put in a situation of increasing conflict,
competiition, this can cause prejudice even if all boys are from the same culture so prejduice is more likely to be caused by what situation someone is put in, not cultural differences