Culture and The Self (Midterm #1) Flashcards
Culture
Culture is a loosely integrated system of ideas, practices, and social institutions that enable coordination of behaviour in a population.
Individualistic Cultures
Common in Western countries. Prioritizing the individual via self-interest and self-expression. Driver of behaviour is persons’ own internal state (own thoughts and feelings).
Collectivistic Cultures
Common in East Asian countries. Prioritizing the group and group harmony via suspension of self-interest. Drivers of behaviour are external factors (duties, norms, others’ expectations).
How do different cultures create different self-concepts
Individualistic Cultures: Fosters an independent self-concept. Distinguishing self from others by focusing on what makes one unique from others. Focus on personal identity (extroverted).
Collectivistic Cultures: Fosters an interdependent self-concept. Fitting self with others by focusing on aspects of identity that make one similar to close others and collective. Focus on social roles and the self in relation to others (daughter).
How Does Culture Shape the Individual
An important function of culture is to provide guidance for what is normal and how to be a person. We internalize this guidance and in doing so, this shapes our self-concept.
Parenting in Individualistic Culture
Mothers teach infants early on to spend time on their own. Babies are expected to start sleeping alone without parents staring at 3 months. Emotional self-expression is encouraged (babies encouraged to smile and to make positive vocalizations).
Parenting in Collectivistic Culture
Mothers teach infants early on that obedience and respect are important. Co-sleeping for the first couple years of life. Conversations with children are directive and instrumental and obedience is praised.
Subsistence theory
The way people in a culture historically made a living influences culture.
Farming cultures are more interdependent.
Herding and fishing cultures are more independent.
Cultural Differences in Cognition: Individualistic Cultures
Analytic thinking: Focus on individual components of a situation/object. Attention directed at specific details rather than context. Reasoning relies on categorization and logic.
Cultural Differences in Cognition: Collectivistic Cultures
Holistic thinking: Focus on the whole and the relationship between parts. Attention to broader patterns. Reasoning relies on experience and detecting patterns.
Field Dependence / Independence
Degree to which a person’s perception is affected by the context or surrounding environment (“field”).
Field dependent: More affected by context/environment.
Field independent: Less affected by context/environment.
Cultural Differences in Causal Attribution
Causal attribution: Why did this happen? Who (what) is responsible?
North Americans more likely to attribute responsibility to the individual.
East Asians should be more likely to attribute responsibility to the social collective and situation.
Cultural Differences in Causal Attribution Study
Study: Attribution of responsibility in newspapers. Analyzed articles about “rogue trader” scandals reported in American vs. Japanese newspapers. Counted # of references to individual (disposition) vs. organization (situation) as responsible for scandal. Results: American newspapers more likely to attribute responsibility to individuals (disposition). Japanese newspapers more likely to attribute responsibility to organizations (situation).
Cultural Differences in Emotion: Western Cultures
More emotionally expressive. Suppressing emotions is distressing and can lead to negative mental and physical health outcomes. Emphasis on socially disengaging emotions: emotions that focus on self and distinctiveness.
Cultural Differences in Emotion: Eastern Cultures
More emotionally restrained. Suppressing emotions may not lead to negative mental and physical health outcomes. Emphasis on socially engaging emotions.
Expressive Interdependence in Latino Culture
Latin America is considered to be collectivistic/interdependent. But, achieves this interdependence by being emotionally expressive, in contrast to East Asian interdependence achieved through emotional restraint.
Expressive Interdependence in Latino Culture
Salvador et al (2020). Investigated this idea by comparing European Americans, Colombians, and Japanese students on cognition, attributions, and emotional experience. Results: Columbians between Americans and Japanese on field dependence vs. interdependence. Colombians in between Americans and Japanese in making situational vs. dispositional attributions. Colombians more emotionally expressive than Japanese, and similar to Americans. BUT, express more socially engaging emotions than Americans, similar to Japanese.
Assertive Interdependence in Arab Culture
Arabs as cultural group are considered to be collectivistic/interdependent. BUT may promote interdependence through self-assertion (self-assertion as a way to sustain and protect in-group identity and welfare). In contrast to East Asian culture, where being self-effacing is more common and self-assertion is seen as hindering in-group harmony.
Assertive Interdependence in Arab Culture Study
San Martin et al (2018). Investigated this idea by comparing European Americans, Saudis, Lebanese, and Japanese students on cognition and self-assertion. Arabs showed holistic cognition similar to Japanese. Arabs show self-assertion similar to Americans.
Emotional Experience in USSA vs. Germany Study
Germany is an independent culture, but emotions experience is different from USA. Study: Examined differences in reaction to grief between European Americans and Germans. Participants imagined their reactions to a close acquaintance losing a loved one. Results: European Americans reported greater desire to avoid negative emotions. led to differences in how sympathy was expressed (European Americans more likely to send sympathy card that focuses on the positive, Germans more likely to send sympathy card focuses on negative).
Implications of Research in Latino and Arab Cultures
Independence vs. Interdependence looks different in different cultures. Emotion restraint and conformity to achieve interdependence in East Asia, Expressive interdependence in Latin America. Assertive interdependence in Arab culture.
Acculturation
Process of learning and cultural change that stems from balancing two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Evidence of acculturation on a psychological level
Individual Emotional Acculturation Study
Study showed that the longer amount of time immigrant women had spend in USA, the more they fit mainstream American emotion norms (more expressivity and less inhibition of emotions).
Generational Emotional Acculturation Study
How well does each immigrant generations’ emotional experience fit with characteristic majority culture pattern? Showed that more contact a generation has with Belgian culture, more emotional acculturation. Evidence of emotional acculturation from one generation to the next.
Cultural Frame Switching
Multicultural individuals’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioural reactions are context specific - depends on which cultural identity is activated by the situation.
Cultural Frame Switching in Emotion
Study suggests that multicultural individuals flexibly shift behaviour to fit culture that’s most salient in a situation.
Cultural Frame Switching in Self-Concept
Do multicultural individuals engage in cultural frame-switching in their self-descriptions? Study showed that even though multicultural individuals undergo acculturation, their heritage cultural identity and mainstream cultural identity can co-exist. We can flexibly shift between cultural selves depending on which is most salient.
Culture Integration
Participate in mainstream culture and hold onto heritage identity.
Culture Separation
Hold onto heritage identity, avoid mainstream culture.
Culture Assimilation
Participate in mainstream culture, give up heritage identity.
Culture Marginalization
Not participating in mainstream or heritage culture.
Which multicultural identity strategy a person adopts depends on
To what extent are they encouraged to hang on to heritage identity by larger society and/or family. How much exposure do they have to the mainstream culture. How similar is the heritage identity to the mainstream identity.
Which strategy is most common?
Integration strategy is most common. More common the longer a person lives in the mainstream / “new” culture.
Which strategy is best for well-being?
Integration associated with best psychological and sociocultural adaptation, marginalization associated with the worst adaptation. Separation associated with better psychological adjustment than assimilation.
A person’s social orientation will depend on
Their mix of cultures. What is salient in a given context.
