L1 - Intercultural psychology Flashcards
What is the traditional view of understanding psychology?
To search for cultural universals
- What was the same in every culture*
- These theorists lay the foundation for a lot of our research*
What is meant by cultural universals?
Aspects of behaviour and experience common to all cultural settings
In modern times, how has psychology shifted in regards to viewing different cultures?
We now value differences in psychological variables within different cultures
i.e. indigenous psychology
What is the current consensus regarding the nature v nurture debate?
That they both play a role
Cross-cultural psychologists are looking more into valuing 1)____ in culture rather than looking for 2)____
1) Differences
2) Universals
Indigenous Psychology is under what branch of psychology?
Cross Cultural Psychology
What are 3 useful features regarding cross-cultural psychology?
1) Test hypotheses and findings obtained in western cultures to other cultures
2) Explore other cultures in order to discover cultural variation
3) Integrate findings to generate a more global psychology
What are the 2 key assumptions regarding cross-cultural psychology?
1) Psychic Unity (theoretical assumption)
2) Cultural Equivalence (methodological assumption)
What is meant by the theoretical assumption of Psychic Unity?
The assumption is that everyone shares a set of psychic structures (mind, memory, perception etc.)
Differences in how things might be reported (e.g. european to african children) are put down to cultural differences rather than cognitive differences
What is meant by the cultural equivalence methodological assumption?
Cross-cultural psychologists cannot use randomisation when comparing cultures from two groups and so they must rely on a quasi-experimental design. Everything else must be equivalent.
If the researcher finds a difference, they assume it to be a cultural difference.
What steps does the cross-cultural psychologist take when designing a study?
It is important to have ‘equivalence of meaning’ when translating from one culture to another.
What are 2 ways of making sure there is ‘equivalence of meaning’?
Backwards and forwards translation
Translate from language 1-2 and then back from 2-1 to make sure meaning is the same
Team translation
Psychologists from two different cultures write as a team and translate as a team
What did Hofstede measure in his cultural variability study?
He used psychometric measures to assess average differences between groups of people at the cultural level (rather than individual).
What were the three comparative groups that Hofstede developed?
Individualism-Collectivism (IC)
Power-Distance (PD)
Tight-Loose (TL)
What does Hofstede’s Individual-Collectivism (IC) refer to?
The degree to which a culture sanctions feelings of uniqueness or individualism (I), or collective belonging (C).
What does Hofstede’s Power-Distance (PD) refer to?
The average level of inequality between higher and lower status individuals within a particular culture.
Useful index of average employer-employee relations across cultures
What does Hofstede’s Tight-Loose (TL) refer to?
Distinguishes between cultures whose members observe norms (T) and those that tolerate a greater level of non-compliance (L).
Which country has the highest level individualist (I) scores according to Hofstede?
United States
Which country has the highest level collectivist (C) scores according to Hofstede?
Venezuela and Columbia
What the 3 limitations of replication research?
1) Rather than focus on universals, we should also concentrate on what makes cultures different.
2) Viewing the differences between cultural groups as part of the findings, rather than something to be controlled.
3) Recognition that concepts are culturally constructed.
Indigenous Psychology is making an emergence due to a backlash for the search for universals.
What does this mean?
There is a sense that there is value in what makes us different, rather than what makes us the same.
We should view differences between cultural groups as a finding rather than something that needs to be controlled for (using quasi-experimental designs).
Is possession (e.g. by a demon) universally condemned?
No, some cultures it is normative with positive psychodynamic functions surrounding identity and creativity, whereas others will send them to an institution.
The way we interpret behaviour can depend on which culture we live in.
