culture bias Flashcards
ethnocentrism
form of cultural bias, belief in superiority of one’s own cultural group
= can be communicated through view that any behaviours which do not conform to usual model are somehow deficient, unsophisticated/underdeveloped
cultural relativism
idea that norms and values, plus ethics/moral standards = only meaningful and understood within specific social/cultural contexts
example of ethnocentrism
ainsworth’s strange situation = criticised for reflecting only norms/values of American culture - misinterpret of other rearing practices
when applied Japan (Takahashi study), Japanese infants more likely to be classed as insecurely attached - showed considerable distress on separation
= likely due to fact Japanese babies rarely separated from mothers
example of cultural relativism
ainsworth’s strange situation is an example of imposed etic
= studied behaviour inside american culture and assumed ideal attachment type could be applied universally
also applicable to definitions of abnormality
emic construct/approach
emic construct = applied only to one cultural group, so they vary from place to place
emic approach = investigation of a culture from within the culture itself, e.g., research of European society from a European perspective
why is emic approach more likely to have ecological validity
findings less likely to be distorted/caused by mismatch between cultures of researchers and culture being investigated
etic construct and imposed etic
etic construct = assumed to apply in all cultural groups, considered universal to all people and are factors that hold across all cultures
imposed etic = where construct from one culture applied inappropriately to another
e.g., although basic human emotional facial expressions are universal = can be subtle cultural variations
eval; limitation of culture bias
most influential studies in psych = culturally-biased
e.g., asch/milgram conducted studies exclusively with US pps, were white, middle-class
- replications in other countries = rather diff results
individualist vs collectivist
eval; strength of culture bias
emergence of cultural psych
= study of how ppl shape/shaped by cultural experience
- strive to avoid ethnocentric assumptions by taking emic approach, often alongside local researchers
= suggests modern psychologists are mindful of dangers of cultural bias and taking steps to avoid
eval; further limitation of culture bias
lead to prejudice against groups of ppl
first intelligence tests led to eugenic social policies in US
many items on test = ethnocentric,
e.g., assuming everyone would know names of US presidents
poor performance of certain groups ( SE european, and AAs) = used to inform racial discourse about genetic inferiority of particular culture/ethnic group
= illustrates how CB can be used to justify prejudice/discrimination towards certain cultural/ethnic groups
Cultural bias
= tendency to interpret all phenomena through ‘lens’ of one’s own culture, ignore effects cultural differences may have on behaviour
