Issues and debates - culture bias Flashcards
what is culture bias ?
Overlooking cultural differences by looking at human behaviour from the perspective of your own culture
what are individualist cultures ?
refers to western countries like the US that are thought to be more independent
what are collectivist cultures
refers to cultures such as india and china that are said to be more conformist and group orientated
what is the problem with psychology in terms of culture bias
it is a western male dominated discipline
the problem with culture bias in psychological has led to what ?
psychologists claiming that what they have found is universal yet it can only be applied to particular groups of people
what is an example of culture bias research in psychology
obedience research by (milgram) originally conducted with US participants revealed very different results for other parts of the world -> kilham and mann (1974)
what is ethnocentrism ?
superiority of one’s own culture group.
a type of culture bias that involves judging other cultures by the standards and values of own culture
what is one example of ethnocentrism ?
The strange situation
Ainsworth (1970)
how is the strange situation an example of ethnocentrism
suggested behaviour demonstrated in a securely attached American infant was ideal
This leads to misinterpretation of child rearing styles in other cultures.
The SS is a Inaccurate measure of attachment for non US children
what can be concluded by the strange situation in terms of culture bias
reflects only the norms and values of American culture
other than ethnocentrism, ainsworth strange situation is a example of what ?
imposed etic
define imposed etic ?
a test, measure or theory devised in one culture that is used to explain behaviour in another culture
how is the strange situation and example of imposed etic
assumed the us based model of classifying attachment was the norm and could be applied universally.
imposed her own cultural understanding upon the rest of the world.
what is the etic approach
looks at universal behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe and explain those behaviours that are universal
what is the emic approach
looks at behaviour from within a given culture and identifies behaviour specific to that culture
what did Berry (1969)
argue ?
psychology has imposed an etic approach arguing tha theories, models etc are universal
how have the models, theories actually came about in psychology
through emic research within a single culture
how can cultural bias in research be reduced
cultural relativism
what is cultural relativism
the idea that norms and values as well as ethics and moral standards can only be understood within specific social and cultural contexts
what are culture bound syndromes ?
groups of syndromes classified as treatable illnesses in certain cultures but not recognised in the left
what are examples of culture bound syndromes
brain fag - difficulty concentrating and thinking - common in west africa
koro - belief that penis is retracting into the body - china
the existence of culture bound syndromes suggests what ?
that diagnostic manuals of mental disorders in the west (DSM and ICD) may be ethnocentric
- mental disorder is not a universally agreed concept
what is a negative impact of cultural bias - damaging research
culture biased research amplifies and validates damaging stereotypes.
The US army had an IQ test which was culturally biased towards a white majority african americans were bottom of the IQ scale
negative effect on attitudes towards african americans
highlights impact that culturally biased research can have
negative impact of culture bias - unrepresentative
smith and bond -
survey of European text books on social psychology - 66% of studies American, 32% European and 2% rest of the world
psychological research -> severely unrepresentative and should be greatly improved by selecting different cultural groups
what is a positive impact of cultural bias - evolving psychology
contemporary psychologists are more open minded than previously
increased understanding of other cultures
eg international psychology conferences increase the exchange of ideas between psychologists.
helped to reduce ethnocentrism
more appreciate cultural relativism
what is a positive impact of cultural bias
development of indigenous psychologies, - based on particular experiences of people in different cultural contexts.
eg afrocentrism which emphasises the importance of recognising the African context of behaviours and attitudes.
example of emic approach- looks at behaviour from the inside of a particular cultural system.
lead to emergence of theories that are more relevant to the lives and cultures of people
