Culture Bias Flashcards
define cultural bias
the tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture
what is ethnocentrism
when one culture is studied but applies its findings to other cultures
what is cultural relativism
believes there is no right or wrong behaviour and we need to consider a persons behaviour as part of their culture before making a judgement
whats the issue with ethnocentrism
a researcher assumes their own culture is natural or right and any other cultures are to be regarded in a negative light
how can culture bias be reduced
by not attempting to extrapolate theories to cultures that are not represented in the research
being sensitive to cultural norms when designing and completing research.
what are examples of cultural bias in psychology
hint: Sz and Gender topics
SCHIZOPHRENIA:
Harrison et al:
stated that Sz was reported as
46.7 per 100,000 for afro-caribbean groups
5.7 per 100,000 for white groups
copeland have 134 US and 194 british psychologists a description of a patient
69% of US diagnosed them with Sz
2% of UK diagnosed them with Sz
GENDER:
mead investigated gender roles in different cultures. looking at different tribes.
He found that Arapesh men and women are more gentle
Mundugumor men and women were violent.
Tchambuli women were more dominant
In conclusion there are many different aspects to gender depending on culture.
what can we conclude from culturally biased SZ and Gender
SZ:
Harrison and Copelands shows that there are distinct cultural differences in our interpretation of what a mental illness is. E.g DSM (US) vs ICD-11 (UK)
GENDER:
Mead’s findings show that there are some distinct differences between cultures in our gendered behaviour based on culture
evaluation of culture bias to do with stereotypes
P: Culturally biased research can have significant real-world effects by, for example amplifying and validating damaging stereotypes
E: The US Army used an IQ test before WW1 which was culturally biased toward the dominant white majority. Unsurprisingly, the test showed that African-Americans were at the bottom of the IQ scale.
L: This matters because this had a negative effect on the attitudes of American’s toward this group of people, which highlights the negative impact that culturally biased research can have
how is cultural bias not as big of an issue in psych
P: internet has meant there’s been increase communication between different researchers
E: which has meant ‘big science’ (large scale facilities) e.g unis communicate globally
E: allowing to compare results.
L: This therefore reduces ethnocentrism in psych, as this enables understanding of cultural relativism
