HC 2 cultural psychology

Question 1

Stages of cross-cultural research?

Answer 1

1. Initial tests of cultural differences and the discovery of fascinating cultural differences
2. The search for meaningful dimensions of cultural variability that can possibly explain
   those differences  individualism vs collectivism
3. The conceptual application of those meaningful dimensions in cross-cultural studies
4. Empirically applying those dimensions and other possible cultural explanations of
   behavior experimentally

Question 2

Validity?

Answer 2

the degree to which a finding, measurement, or statistic is accurate, or represents what it is supposed to

Question 3

Reliability?

Answer 3

the degree to which a finding, measurement, or statistic is consistent

Question 4

Cross-cultural validation studies?

Answer 4

a study that examines whether a measure of a
psychological construct that was originally generated in a single culture is applicable, meaningful, and thus equivalent in another culture
–> do not test certain hypotheses but test the equivalence of psychological measures

Question 5

Indigenous cultural studies?

Answer 5

= studies that use rich, complex, and in-depth descriptions of cultures and cultural differences to predict and test for differences in a psychological variable

Question 6

Cross-cultural comparisons?

Answer 6

= a study that compares two or more cultures on some psychological variable of interest,
often with the hypothesis that one culture will have significantly higher scores on the
variable than the other
–> Involves participants from two or more cultures and measure those participants’
responses on a psychological variable of interest

Question 7

Exploratory studies?

Answer 7

studies designed to examine the existence of cross-cultural similarities or differences. Often simple quasi-experimental designs comparing two or
more cultures on a psychological variable
–> strength: broad scope for identifying cross-cultural similarities and differences
–> weakness: limited capability to address the causes of the observed differences

Question 8

Hypothesis-testing studies?

Answer 8

Studies designed to test why cultural differences exist.
Use context variables or experiments
–> strength: more substantial contribution to theory development and explicit attempts
to deal with rival explanations
–> weakness: less likely to discover interesting differences outside the realm of the
tested theory

Question 9

Contextual factors?

Answer 9

Any variable that can explain observed cross-cultural differences, these include characteristics of the participants or their cultures
(Socioeconomic status, education, age, economic development, religious institutions,
preparedness and routine with earthquakes)

Question 10

Structure-oriented studies?

Answer 10

Compare constructs, their measurement, or their
relationships with other constructs across cultures
–> focus on realtionships among variables and attempt to identify similarities and differences in these relations across cultures

Question 11

Level-oriented studies?

Answer 11

Studies that compare mean levels of scores between cultures
–> ask whether people of different cultures have different amounts of different
variables

Question 12

Ecological level studies?

Answer 12

a study in which countries or cultures are the unit of analysis
–> compares countries by using the mean of the participants

Question 13

Individual level studies?

Answer 13

A study in which individuals are the unit of analysis
–> compares individual participants

Question 14

Multi-level studies?

Answer 14

Studies that involve data collection at multiple levels of
analysis, such as the individual level, context, community, and national culture
–> combination between ecological & individual studies

Question 15

Ecological fallacy?

Answer 15

be aware of the level of your data (and what
type of inferences are possible)  when making inferences on individuals you do not need
data of countries
- Inferences on individuals based on aggregated country-level data –> but: distributions overlap
- The differences within groups can be larger than the differences between groups
- Thinking in dichotomies (individualist/collectivist; ind/inter)

Question 16

Bias in research: theoretical positions?

Answer 16

1. Absolutism: psychology is everywhere the same  not applicable
2. Relativism: underlying processes are different  greetings are different and thus the
   underlying processes are different
3. Universalism: underlying processes are the same, expressions may be different  all
   greetings are about being polite (underlying process) but how it’s expressed is
   different

Question 17

Methodological approaches of bias in research: qualitative?

Answer 17

= there are multiple truths out there
- Ecologically appropriate context to study, and apply to field research
- Interpretation of the information is relevant
- Challenging to formalize procedures and clarify what you have done to make sure it
can be replicated

Question 18

Methodological approaches of bias in research: quantitative?

Answer 18

=treating the reality as independent and dependent variables
- Independent and dependent variables
- Quasi-experiment  unable to divide participants among cultures
- Difficult to control confounds
- Post hoc interpretations: conclusions based on independent/interdependent views

Question 19

Methodological approaches of bias in research: mixed methods?

Answer 19

• Qualitative methods display their main strength in the context of discovery
• Quantitative methods are particularly strong in context of justification, testing procedures/hypotheses

Question 20

Bias?

Answer 20

Systematic errors that endanger the comparability of results across cultures/groups
- Bias is not error or noise, but meaningful, systematic variation we do not understand
yet
- Bias is a confound, and we need to take it into consideration to address (or adjust)
our research question
- Bias points to real cultural difference

Question 21

Equivalence?

Answer 21

The level of comparability across cultures/groups  target is to converse the
scores to be equivalent

Question 22

Construct/conceptual bias?

Answer 22

= the construct measured is not identical across cultures/groups; does the theoretical
framework and hypotheses being tested mean the same thing in the cultures being tested?
–> filial piety has something to do with respect, care for and loving the parents,
obedience, and unlimited responsibility

Question 23

Solution construct/conceptual bias?

Answer 23

• Acknowledge incompleteness of construct
• Sample all relevant behaviors of construct across cultures

Question 24

Method bias?

Answer 24

= can come from sampling, instrument, and administration of your method
- Method bias can be mistaken as cultural differences
- People are more often able to admit to drug use in an online report compared to
face-to-face surveys

Question 25

Sample bias?

Answer 25

Cross-cultural variation in sample characteristics –> influence on target measures
Example: most research is carried out on students

Question 26

Linguistic bias?

Answer 26

= whether the research protocols used in cross-cultural study are semantically equivalent
across the various languages included in the study
- Checked by back translation
–> Dutch to English to Dutch, and see if it’s equivalent (i feel blue)

Question 27

Measurement bias/instrument bias?

Answer 27

= the degree to which measures used to collect data in different cultures are equally valid
and reliable
–> Example: Chinese children outperformed Greek children on tasks of visual-spatial
processing  Chinese children use visual-spatial processing more often because of
their alphabet

Question 28

Stimulus familiarity?

Answer 28

Stimulus familiarity: whether you are used to a certain type of testing

Question 29

Respons bias?

Answer 29

1. Agree very strongly –> more often by people with low socio-economic status
   from collectivist contexts –> wanting to be nice and agreeable
2. Extremity responding more often in Western countries than Asian countries –> speaking your mind and wanting to be decisive
3. Socially desirable responding
4. Reference group effect: implicitly making social comparisons with others when
   making rating on scales

Question 30

Administration bias?

Answer 30

= how we administer the survey
- Administration conditions: individual, in a group, online
- Ambiguous instructions
- Interview effects: interaction between administrator and respondents
- Communication problems (language difference, taboo topic)

Question 31

Item bias?

Answer 31

= an item biased when it has different psychological meaning across cultures

Question 32

Examples of an item bias?

Answer 32

• Applicability: I never make a long trip without checking the safety of my car
  –> different applicability between Dutch and American students as Dutch students
  often do not have a car and American students often do
• Cultural connotations: I do things my own way  depends on the context whether it
  is desirable or undesirable
• Translation: “distress” or expression “I feel blue” differently translates to Dutch

Question 33

Goal: equivalence?

Answer 33

= related to the measurement level at which scores obtained in different cultural groups can
be compared
1. Construct equivalence: free of construct bias
2. Measurement unit equivalence: conversion needed
3. Full score equivalence: bias free
–> instruments are similar, but responses can be different

Question 34

Steps to minimize bias? Design?

Answer 34

• How to make the study culturally appropriate
• Instrument choice: adopt, adapt, or assemble
• Approach: decentering (= measure in NL and in China) and convergence

Question 35

Steps to minimize bias, implementation?

Answer 35

• How to conduct the study in a culturally appropriate way
• Pretest: pilot studies and cognitive interviewing
• Field work: standard protocol, instructions, documentation

Question 36

Steps to minimize bias, analysis?

Answer 36

• Do my items behave differently?
• Exploratory factor analysis
• Confirmatory factor analysis
• Differential item functioning analysis

Question 37

Everyday biases and fallacies, ethnocentrism?

Answer 37

= the tendency to use one’s own group’s standards as the standard when viewing other groups, to place one’s group at the top of a hierarchy and to rank all others as lower
–> much what we know comes from WEIRD studies

Question 38

Language - evaluative bias?

Answer 38

No distinction between objective description and subjective evaluation. No neutral words for people (allochtoon, autochtoon etc.)

Question 39

Ethnicity?

Answer 39

= indicates cultural heritage, the experience shared by people who have a common ancestral
origin, language, traditions, and often religion and geographic territory

Question 40

What is race?

Answer 40

• Differentiation based on similar, genetically transmitted physical characteristics
• All groups overlap

Question 41

Assimilation bias / beliefs perseverance effect?

Answer 41

= culture (as a pair of glasses) can be expressed as cognitive schemas that help us organize
information
Conflict: you meet a succesfull Africal busninessman
1. Assimilation: that’s only because of his political friends
–> changing the data –> belief perseverance effect –> make an exception and, keep your schema
2. Accommodation: it seems that Africans are not lazy
–> changing the schema

Question 42

Fundamental attribution error?

Answer 42

= tendency to over-emphasize dispositional, or personality-based, explanations for behaviors
observed in others while under-emphasizing the role and power of situational influences

–> randomized people who gave a positive speech were seen as pro-Fidel Castro and people who gave a negative speech were seen as anti-Fidel
Castro
–> smaller in interdependent contexts

Question 43

Self-fulfilling prophecies?

Answer 43

Expectation creates reality: expectations –> communicate those expectations –> people
respond by adjusting behavior –> original expectation becomes true
–> Expectations influence behavior of others: self-stereotyping/ low-effort syndrome