L2: Cultural Bias

Question 1

What is cultural bias?

Answer 1

Tendency to judge people in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions. If the norm or standard for a particular behaviour is judged only from the standpoint of one particular culture then any cultural differences will be seen as abnormal

Question 2

How to reduce cultural bias

Answer 2

• Do not extrapolate findings or theories to cultures that aren’t represented in the research sample or assume that there are universal norms across different cultures.
• Use researchers who are native to the culture being investigated, carry out cross-cultural research, and be sensitive to cultural norms when designing research

Question 3

What is Ethnocentrism?

Answer 3

• Emphasising the importance of the behaviour of one’s own culture
• Behaviours that do not conform to the western model are somehow deficient, unsophisticated or underdeveloped.
  e. g Strange situation - securely attached babies showed certain traits, when babies from Germany did not show separation protest, german women were seen as cold and rejected

Question 4

What is cultural relativism?

Answer 4

The idea that a behaviour can only be properly understood in the context of the norms and values of the culture in which it occurs

Question 5

Evaluation (+)

Answer 5

(+) Individualistic cultures are western and value personal freedom and independence. Collectivist cultures place more emphasis on the needs of the group. Critics say a simplistic distinction is unhelpful. Research found that 14/15 studies which compared the US and Japan had found no evidence of the traditional distinction between cultures
(+) African-Caribbean immigrants are 7x more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness. This has led to questions about validity of the DSM and ICD for diagnosing individuals who are born outside of the culture that they were developed in.
(+) Mental illnesses in some cultures that do not exist in others. e.g koro - when a man in China believes his penis is retracting into his body

Question 6

Evaluation (-)

Answer 6

(-) Some human behaviours are universal e.g happiness and disgust, even in the animal kingdom. Also Interactional synchrony between infant and caregiver
(-) Cross-cultural research is one way to prevent cultural bias in psychology. Knowledge and concepts that we take for granted are not shared by other people. This counters scientific racism, meaning results are more likely to have validity