Culture bias !! Flashcards
Culture bias
The tendancy to judge all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions. This distorts or biases your judgement.
Alpha bias
Refers to theories that assume there are real and enduring differences between cultural differences.
Alpha bias example (individualist and collectivists)
The assumption that people from individualistic cultures are less likely to conform. This was disproved by Takano and Osaka’s meta analysis.
Beta bias
Theories that minimize differences between culture, assuming all are the same.
Beta bias example (Intelligence testing)
Psychologists used IQ tests devised in western cultures to determine the intelligence of other cultures. This is described as an imposed etic.
Ethnocentrism
The use of ones own ethic or cultural group as a basis for the judgement of other groups. Tendancy to view our own views as ‘normal’ and others as ‘strange’.
Alpha bias (ethnocentrism) Example?
Ones own culture is considered better, thus devaluing other cultures.
Example- Individualistic cultures view on attachment in comparison to collectivists.
Beta bias (ethnocentrism)
Psychologists believing their world view is the only world view.
Example- using american IQ tests for the rest of the worlds intelligence.
Cultural relativism
The idea that behavior cannot be properly judged unless it is viewed in the culture it originates in.
Alpha bias (cultural relativism)
The assumption of real differences leads the psychologists to overlook universals.
Example- Mead, Papa New Guinea study, forgot the universals that men in all cultures are more aggressive than women.
Beta bias (cultural relativism)
Can be described via statistical infrequency as an explanation for abnormality, in some cultures behavior may b e more infrequent than in another where it may be frequent. e.g Schizophrenics hearing voices, however it is more common to hear voices in other cultures.
