Gender & culture : Cultural bias

Question 1

What is cultural bias?

Answer 1

• A tendency to interpret all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of ones own culture, ignoring the effects that cultural differences might have on behaviour
• this undermines psychology’s claims of universality

Question 2

What did Henrich et al (2010) do and find?

Answer 2

• reviewed hundreds of studies in leading psychology journals & found that 68% of research p’s came from the USA & 96% from industrialised nations
  > what we know about human behaviour has strong cultural bias
• coined the term WEIRD to describe the group of people most likely to be studied by psychologists - westernised, educated people from industrialised democracies

Question 3

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 3

• example of cultural bias where other cultures are judged by the standards and values of ones own culture > this culture is seen a superior which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures

Question 4

What example in psychology is there of ethnocentrism?

Answer 4

• Ainsworth & Bell strange situation
• conducted research on attachment type & suggested that ‘ideal’ attachment was characterised by the babies showing moderate amounts of distress when left alone with their mother figure (secure)
• has led to a misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries > as they’re seen to deviate from the American norm
• e.g. Takahashi study found that infants were likely to be classed as insecurely attached > showed considerable distress on separation > findings because Japanese infants are rarely separated from their mother

Question 5

What is cultural relativism?

Answer 5

• The idea that behaviour can only be properly understood and be meaningful in the context of the norms, values, ethics & moral standards of the society or culture in which it occurs

Question 6

What does Berry (1969) draw a distinction between and what are these?

Answer 6

• etic and emic approaches in the study of human behaviour
• etic approach looks at behaviour outside a culture and attempts to describe these behaviours as universal e.g. research on memory
• an emic approach functions from inside a culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture

Question 7

What is one example of imposed etic in psychology?

Answer 7

• Ainsworth and Bell - they studied behaviour inside one culture (America) and then assumed their ideal attachment type & methods for assessing it could be applied universally

Question 8

What is another example of imposed etic in psychology psychopathology?

Answer 8

• in relation to how we define abnormality
• European/ American ideas about what it means to be healthy & mentally ‘normal’ - not necessarily shared by the rest of the world
• e.g. they see autonomy, self- actualisation, internal LOC as indicators of good MH
• demonstrating otherwise seen as less healthy

Question 9

How can psychologists avoid cultural bias in research?

Answer 9

(don’t need to know all)
- selecting different cultural groups to study
- conducting cross cultural research
- use researchers local/ native to culture being studied
- take a reflexive approach (constantly reflecting on own biases)
- do not attempt to extrapolate findings to cultures not represented in research sample

Question 10

What is a limitation of cultural bias?

Answer 10

• most influential studies in psych are culturally biased
• e.g. Asch & Milgram studies conducted exclusively with US p’s (most white m/c)
• replications in different countries = different results
• e.g. Asch type experiments in collectivist cultures > higher rates of conformity than in original study in US (individualistic culture) - Smith & Bond
• suggesting our understanding of topics such as SI should only be applied to individualistic cultures

Question 11

What is another limitation of cultural bias?

Answer 11

• cultural bias in psych has led to prejudice against groups of people
• Gould > first intelligence tests led to eugenic social policies in the US > psychologists used opportunity of WWI to pilot IQ test on army recruits
• many items on test were ethnocentric e.g. name of the US presidents > meant recruits from south-eastern Europe & African Americans received lowest scores
• this was used to inform racist discourse about the generic inferiority of ethnic groups e.g. ethnic minorities deemed ‘mentally unfit’ & ‘feeble-minded’ in comparison to the white majority
• they were denied educational & professional opportunities as a result > demonstrates how cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice & discrimination

Question 12

What is a strength of cultural bias? discussion point

Answer 12

• conducting cross-cultural research may challenge long-standing ways of thinking and viewing the world
• e.g. Being able to see that some knowledge & concepts are not hardwired (i.e. social rather than biological) may provide a better understanding of human nature
• This not only counters the charge of ethnocentrism that has been made by some psychological theories in the past > but also means the conclusions psychologists draw are likely to have more validity if they include recognition of the role of culture in bringing them about

Question 13

What is a counterpoint to the strength of cultural bias?

Answer 13

• However, it should not be assumed that all psychology is culturally relative and that there is no such thing as universal human behaviour
• Research (e.g. Ekman) suggests that basic facial expressions for emotions (such as happiness or disgust) are the same all over the human & animal world
• Criticisms of attachment research should also not obscure the fact that some features of human attachment (such as imitation & interactional synchrony) are universal
• suggests a full understanding of human behaviour requires both, but for too long the universal view dominated