Lecture 10 Flashcards
What does WEIRD stand for?
Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic.
Why is WEIRD important?
It describes where the overwhelming major research in psychology is made. Those weird people are psychological different from the rest – and therefore, they are also kind of weird.
If you look at non-WEIRD countries, they will look more like each other than as WEIRD people – even though they have nothing else in common.
What is Schweder and Bournce all about?
Schweder thinks at personality as a concept that only exist in the Western countries. He thinks that personality as a real property of a human being is a notion invented by our culture – but this doesn’t fit with the findings because 20 % isn’t 0 % - they still use trait terms, just not as much.
50 % of the terms Americans used to describe their acquaintances were personality traits.
Only 20 % of the terms Indians used were trait terms.
What is the “reference group effect”?
Your self-ratings probably compare yourself against those that you knew and/or deemed relevant. You will relate yourself to someone similar to you.
Why does the “reference group effect” make comparisons across cultures problematic?
Because everyone in a certain culture can be very similar and therefore, people will, maybe, rate themselves lower than they really are because everything is relative compared with the rest of one’s own culture.
It is tough to compare two different groups because when someone responds/self-reports, they’re not thinking about their relation to the other group – only to their own group.
How was the “reference group effect” adressed when looking at objective indicators of personality?
They looked at behaviors via postal employee working speed, walking speed and clock accuracy.
This objective indicators did not correlate with average self-ratings from each society, but they did correlate with “perceived national character” ratings of conscientiousness.
These objective indicators don’t correlate at all with self-reports – therefore, that shows that self-reports aren’t the best way to show correlations between cultures.
What are the differences between individualism and collectivism?
Individualism (I): priority to personal goals over goals of social groups (collectives).
Collectivism (C): either no distinction or priority to collective goals over personal goals.
Where are collectivism found?
East Asian countries, South America and Africa.
Where are individualism found?
The US, Australia, UK – Scandinavia is also leaning towards individualism.
What are individualism view on environment vs individual?
See themselves as more or less stable and the environment as flexible.
What are collectivism view on environment vs individual?
See the environment as more or less fixed and themselves as changeable to fit in.
What are vertical cultures?
Vertical cultures are more competitive and entail dominance hierarchies with more levels and fewer people near the top. Examples: USA (I) and India, China (C)
What are horizontal cultures?
In horizontal cultures people tend to feel more tightly bound to the level at which their collective identity is located and thus less able to rise (or fall). Examples: Denmark (I) and Israel kibbutz (C)
Why do people question seeing Japanese people as collectivists and Americans as individualists?
Because they think that these stereotypes are only used in research and don’t fit with the reality.
How can the individual level interfere with culture?
The individual level process of liking/disliking and internalization can lead to diverse individual differences within any given culture.
