culture and the self

Question 1

culture

Answer 1

system of ideas, practices, and social institutions that tell us how to behave/be normal

Question 2

individualistic vs collectivistic cultures

Answer 2

individualistic: common in western countries
- attending to the self, self assertion, uniqueness, personal identity, self interest, personal happiness

collectivistic:
common in east asian countries
- group harmony, fitting in, collective identity (social roles and relationships), social happiness, suspension of self interest

Question 3

self concept and culture

Answer 3

individualistic: independent self concept

collectivistic: interdependent self concept

Question 4

tasks in culture

Answer 4

individualistic: prioritize tasks that focus on personal preferences, emotions, and goals

collectivistic: prioritize tasks that focus on fitting in and being subordinate to others

Question 5

parenting in individualistic cultures

Answer 5

• infants spend a lot of time with mothers and not other adults
• infants learn to spend time on their own/not depend on others
• babies sleep alone after 3 months
• emotional self expression is encourages

Question 6

parenting in collectivistic cultures

Answer 6

• infants spend time with other kids and multiple caregivers
• obedience and respect emphasized
• cosleeping
• directive/instructional conversations
• emotional self expression criticized
• anticipatory parenting

Question 7

subsistence theory

Answer 7

the way people in a culture historically made a living influences culture

farming cultures = more interdependent - many people work together on a field, have to share a harvest
(eastern)

herding and fishing = more independent - consisent food means less negotiation, less working with others, more free to move (western)

Question 8

cognition in individualistic cultures

Answer 8

analytic thinking:
- focus on objects
- objects are independent of context
-attributes
- rules and categories used to explain behaviour and make predictions

Question 9

cognition in collectivistic cultures

Answer 9

holistic thinking:
- focus on context as a whole and associations
- relationships among objects/among objects and context
- relationships are used to explain behaviour and make predictions

Question 10

field dependence/independence

Answer 10

dependent: more affected by context/environment - east asians more field dependent

independent: less affected by context/environment

Question 11

causal attributions

Answer 11

reasons we give for why something happened

Question 12

cultural differences in causal attributions

Answer 12

study: analyzes attribution of responsibility in rogue trader scandals in american vs japanese newspapaers

american newspapers were more likely to attribute responsibility to individuals (disposition) while japanese newspapers were more likely to attribute responsibility to organizations (situation)

Question 13

value of expressing emotions across cultures

Answer 13

western: suppressing emotions is distressing and can lead to negative mental and physical health outcomes

east asian: suppressing emotions doesn’t lead to as many mental physical health outcomes

Question 14

socially disengaging emotions

Answer 14

emotions that focus on self and distinctiveness - pride, superiority, frustration, self esteem

important for happiness in western cultures

Question 15

socially engaging emotions

Answer 15

emotions related to fitting in and connecting with others
- feeling close, respect, guilt, shame

important for happiness in eastern cultures

Question 16

positive and negative experiences

Answer 16

western: maximize positive, minimize negative

eastern: balance between positive and negative