Globalisation - ERQ

Question 1

Globalisation

Answer 1

A process by which cultures influence one another and become more alike through trade, immigration, and the exchange of information and ideas. (Arnett, 2002)

Question 2

How globalisation may influence behaviour

Answer 2

The rapid increase in communication and interdependence in today’s world may change people’s behaviour, making it more cosmopolitan.

However, there is an opposing hypothesis which suggest that globalisation will trigger reactionary movements and people will more rigorously protect their local interests.

This has a been tested in empirical research. It was demonstrated that globalisation includes people’s cosmopolitan attitudes by weakening their identification with their group of origin, and this influences people’s cosmopolitan attitudes by weakening their identification with their group of origin, and this influences cooperation strategies that people choose, making them more global and less local.

Question 3

Effects of the interaction of global and local influences on behaviour according to Berry

Answer 3

Berry (2008) argues that it is essential to distinguish globalisation as a process and outcomes of this process. The outcomes of globalisation, according to him, depend on the predominant acculturation strategy (integration, assimilation, separation or marginalisation). In its turn, the acculturation strategy is formed by an interaction of local and global influences.

Question 4

Dimensions of globalisation

Answer 4

The economic, the political, the sociocultural, the technological and the environmental. It has helped expand international production and trade, facilitated advances in technology and brought people of diverse societies into contact with each other.

Question 5

What are psychologists interested in globalisation?

Answer 5

While some commentators refer to globalisation as an economic process involving the opening and crossing of borders, psychologists are more interested in how social and cultural exchanges influence attitudes, identities and behaviour. In the 21st century, interacting with people from other cultures is no longer limited by time and place. Furthermore, digital technology has made it possible for people worldwide to contact each other instantaneously.

Question 6

Values of the global culture

Answer 6

Individualism 
Free market economics and democracy 
Freedom of choice and individual rights 
Transnational labour standards 
Openness to change and tolerate of differences

Question 7

Globalisation is bidirectional

Answer 7

Globalisation is not simply the spread of Western culture around the globe. Aspects of non-Western culture have also influenced Western culture.

Question 8

How has globalisation changed human behaviour?

Answer 8

Attitudes toward marriage and sexuality
Rise in secularism
Attitudes toward privacy
Increased consumerism

Question 9

Local culture is the culture which we are enculturated into

Answer 9

The culture which we are enculturated into

Question 10

Global culture

Answer 10

The international culture that affects as through interacting with the Internet, media and international travel and business.

Question 11

Biculturarism

Answer 11

one feels comfortable and proficient in more than one cultural. In this case, both one’s local culture and in the global cultural environment.

Question 12

Delocalisation

Answer 12

When one has a strong global identity but fails to identify with their local culture.

Question 13

Enculturation

Answer 13

Is a lifelong process that helps a person gain social values, social norms, behaviours, social roles, expectations and language. These local influences shape our first culture.

Question 14

Acculturation

Answer 14

Involves socialisation and psychological change that takes place when we come into contact with other cultures. There are several ways that this might take place. For example, migrants undergo this process when they move to another country. Another consequence of globalisation has been the emergence of Third Culture Individuals (TCIs), who are raised in a culture other than their parents’ culture.

Question 15

3 studies used for globalisation

Answer 15

Becker et al. (2002)

Norasakkunkit & Uchida (2014)

Buchan et al. (2009)

Question 16

Aim of Becker et al. (2002)

Answer 16

To assess the impact that television had on the eating attitudes and behaviours of ethnic Fijian girls.

Question 17

Sample of Becker et al. (2002)

Answer 17

The first sample (1995) consisted of 65 secondary female students, and the second sample (1998) of 68 female students who participated in the study three years after television was introduced. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants and their parents/guardians.

Question 18

Background of Becker et al. (2002)

Answer 18

A natural experiment was designed to compare two samples of Fijian schoolgirls before and after the arrival of television, which predominately aired Western dramas, comedies, etc. Before the arrival of television in the 1990s, eating disorders were considered rare among this traditional cultural group. Ethnic studies argued that there was an absence of pressure to be slim through dieting and other measures of restricting weight gain.

Question 19

What did both groups do of Becker et al. (2002)?

Answer 19

Both groups completed a 26-item questionnaire on attitudes to eating, including disordered behaviours like binging and purging.

Question 20

What was asked extra of the second group of Becker et al. (2002)?

Answer 20

Additional questions were asked of the second group concerning body image and dieting.

Question 21

What was compared from the 2 groups of Becker et al. (2002)?

Answer 21

Quantitative data from the two groups on the extent of television exposure, body mass index, instances of disordered behaviour of bingeing and purging and answers to the questionnaire, Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) were compared.

Question 22

What qualitative data was taken of Becker et al. (2002)?

Answer 22

Qualitative data was gathered on those participants who had self-reported binging and purging. A semi-structured interview was undertaken to determine if these participants met the clinical definition of an eating disorder. This narrative data was audiotaped, transcribed and analysed for thematic content. Several themes emerged, including an admiration for Western actresses and a desire to emulate (emulate = imitate, copy) them, especially in weight and appearance. Participants linked weight loss and successful careers. Arguments with parents were also reported with traditional local influences conflicting with Western cultural influences, mainly about how much food should be consumed.

Question 23

Results of Becker et al. (2002)

Answer 23

In summary, girls in the second group with TV in their homes were three times more likely to have an Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) score greater than 20, which is considered a risk for eating disorders. Girls began saying that they felt fat or were dieting, with 69% of girls having tried dieting and 75% of teenage girls saying they felt too big or fat.

Question 24

Conclusion of Becker et al. (2002)

Answer 24

The investigators concluded that television, with its Western imagery, profoundly influenced the increase in disordered eating behaviour despite the traditional local cultural influences that countered dieting, purging and body dissatisfaction.

Question 25

Buchan et al. (2009) argument

Answer 25

Offer a more positive view of globalisation. Their study aimed to determine how globalisation influences human cooperative behaviour, especially in efforts to find solutions to global challenges of resource depletion, climate change and other social dilemmas.

Question 26

Aim of Buchan et al. (2009)

Answer 26

To examine two competing hypotheses: globalisation favours one’s own ethnic, racial, or language group and the alternative that globalisation strengthens cosmopolitan (cosmopolitan = showing interest in different cultures, ideas, etc.) attitudes by weakening local and national sources of identification which in turn can lead to more cooperative behaviour.

Question 27

Sample of Buchan et al. (2009)

Answer 27

1145 participants were recruited using a quota sampling method from urban centres of industrial nations with varying globalisation levels. These nations included the United States, Italy, Russia, Argentina, South Africa, and Iran.

Question 28

What did participants do in Buchan et al. (2009)?

Answer 28

Participants completed a survey to determine their score on the Individual-level Globalisation Index, which measures the extent they participated in global economic, social, and cultural networks.

Question 29

What were participants then asked to do in Buchan et al. (2009)?

Answer 29

Participants were asked to make a series of decisions about allocating tokens between a personal account, a local account, and a world account.

Incentives were structured so that decisions could be used to measure whether the participants were self-interested (most contributions to their personal account) or willing to cooperate exclusively with people from their own locality (most contribution to the local account) or more willing to cooperate with groups from around the world (most contributions to the world account.)

Question 30

Results for Buchan et al. (2009)

Answer 30

An analysis of how these tokens were distributed found that as country and individual levels of globalisation increased, so too did an individual’s cooperative behaviour at the global level.

Question 31

Conclusion for Buchan et al. (2009)

Answer 31

The study concluded that globalisation is a powerful force influencing large-scale cooperative behaviour among citizens from very different countries.

Question 32

Hikikomori

Answer 32

A culture-bound syndrome found primarily in Japan where young Japanese may lock themselves in their rooms and refuse to come out for years at a time.

Question 33

3 key parts of hikikomori

Answer 33

No motivation to participate in school or work

No signs of other psychological disorders;

Persistent social withdrawal for at least six months.

Question 34

Aim of Norasakkunkit & Uchida (2014)

Answer 34

Berry’s acculturation model to explain the origins of hikikomori.

Question 35

Participants of Norasakkunkit & Uchida (2014)

Answer 35

Getting access to people who suffer from hikikomori is very difficult, the researchers used a sample of 195 Japanese university students.

Question 36

Method Norasakkunkit & Uchida (2014)

Answer 36

Participants were given a standardised test to see whether they were at high risk or low risk for hikikomori.

The researchers then gave the participants a test to measure their attitudes about social harmony and social conformity.

Question 37

What did the test contain? Norasakkunkit & Uchida (2014)

Answer 37

The test looked at three levels: perception of their current self, their ideal self, and general Japanese society.

They also were asked to take a test to measure their sense of local identity (high on social harmony and collectivism) and global identity (high on individualism and achievement).

Question 38

Results of Norasakkunkit & Uchida (2014)

Answer 38

The results showed that both groups agreed that social harmony and conformity were highly valued by Japanese society.

However, when assessing the current self and ideal self, the students at high-risk for hikikomori ranked social harmony values much lower than the low-risk students.

That is, high-risk students would ideally like to be lower in harmony seeking and conformity than what they perceive to be the case in Japanese society as a whole.

In addition, high-risk students scored lower than low-risk students on both local identity and global identity.

It appears that the local culture may alienate many Japanese youths who may then decide not to conform to the cultural norms, but do not identify with or know how to access the globalised culture, and so they withdraw from society.