Culture Bias Flashcards
What is culture bias?
refers to the tendency to ignore culture differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture.
Cultural bias
Implications
This means that any cultural differences found during research may be viewed as inferior or abnormal.
mistakenly assumed findings derived from studies in the west can be directly applied to all over the
world.
When this knowledge base is applied to other members of other cultures it reflects a culture bias.
What is ethnocentrism?
In its extreme form:
Ethnocentrism is a type of culture bias which involves judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s
own culture.
In its extreme form it is the belief that one’s own group is central or superior which may lead to discrimination and
prejudice towards other cultures.
Example of ethnocentrism:
Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation is an example of ethnocentrism.
She is criticised as only reflecting the norms and values of American culture. Ainsworth identified the key defining variable in attachment as the child’s
experience of separation anxiety.
She suggested the ideal (or secure) attachment was attachment characterised by the infant showing moderate levels of distress when left alone. However this led to mis-interpretation of child rearing practices in other countries which were seen to deviate from the American norm. For example,
Japan (Takahashi)
Children seen as insecure resistant
Italy (Simonolia)
Children as insecure avoidant - but more mothers working and professional childcare.
Germany - independence (Grossman and grossman)
Eventually, the Strange Situation was seen as an inappropriate measure of
attachment for non-American children.
What is cultural relativism?
Cultural relativism is the idea that behaviour can only be meaningfully understood in the culture in which it originates.
Example of cultural relativism:
For example, hearing voices is seen as normal in some cultures, yet is a sign of mental illness in the UK. This is because the research findings that psychologists may discover may only make sense from the perspective of the culture in which they were discovered.
It has been argued that western psychological research has been based on an etic approach.
Ethnocentrism
Etic approach
Leads to:
Example
An etic approach studies one culture and then attempts to apply it universally. However, because it is only carried out in one culture, it is difficult to generalise the findings to all. If researchers use a test or theory devised in one culture to explain behaviour in another, this is an imposed etic.
Ainsworth’s research is an example of an imposed etic as she assumed the US based model of classifying attachment was the norm, she imposed her own cultural understanding on the rest of the world.
Cultural relativism
Emic approach
An emic approach studies cultures from within and attempts to identify behaviours that are specific to that culture. The findings are not generalised to other cultures so it avoids the issue of imposed etic.
Evaluation of Cultural bias
Mistake to assume that all psychology is culturally relative and that there is no such thing as universal behaviour.
Unfamiliarity with the research tradition
variables under review may not be experienced in the same way by all participants.
benefits of conducting cross cultural research is that it might challenge our typically western way of thinking.
Evaluating cultural bias
It is a mistake to assume that all psychology is culturally relative and that there is no such thing as universal behaviour.
Research suggests that basic facial expressions for emotions (such as happiness and disgust) are the same all over the world. Critics of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation should not obscure the fact that there are some features of muman attachment such as interactional synchrony that are the same throughout the world.
This suggests that a complete understanding of human behaviour requires the study of both universals and wariations amongst individuals and groups.
Evaluating cultural bias
Unfamiliarity with the research tradition
When conducting research in Western culture the participants’ familiarity with the general aims and objectives of Scientific enquiry is assumed. However, the same knowledge of scientific testing may not extend to other cultures
For this reason, demand characteristics may be exaggerated when working with the members of the local population and this may have an adverse effect on the validity of the research.
Evaluating cultural bias
One other issue when conducting research in different cultures is that the variables under review may not be experienced in the same way by all participants.
By seeing that some of the knowledge we take for granted isn’t shared by other people around the world may promote a greater sensitivity to individual difference and cultural relativism in the future.
This means that conclusions psychologists draw are likely to have more validity if they include recognition of the ro of culture in bringing them about.
