lecture 8 Flashcards
What is culture and personality psychology?
- customs, habits, and beliefs that shape emotions and personality
- it highlights the differences between individuals
How does culture impact personality?
give examples (eye contact, emotion, face)
- individual personalites differ when belonging to different cultural groups
- basically the same things may have different meanings in different cultures
Eye contact
- sign of respect in america
- confrontational in asia
Emotional expression
- high arousal emotions in western cultures
- low arousal emotions in collectivist
Face cultures
- reputation/respect is very important in eastern asia; severe social consequences
What is the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory?
- studied many employees in 40 countries
- the needs and rights of the group vs the individual
What is power distance?
measures acceptance of inequality within a culture
High power distance
- hierarchical cultures wheer authority is respected
Low power distance
- egalitarian cultures with less emphasis on hiearchy
What is Masculinity vs Feminity?
masculine cultures
- value competitiveness, ambition, and achievement
Feminine cultures
- emphasize cooperation, nurturing, and quality of life
What is uncertainty Avoidance
reflects a cultures tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty
High uncertainty avoidance
- prefer rules, structure, and predictability
Low uncertainty avoidance
- comfortable with ambiguity and flexibility
What is individualism vs collectivism?
individualistic cultures (independent)
- prioritize personal goals and self-reliance
- no obligation to larger community
- celebrate individual achievements; own goals over the companies goals
- emphasize achievement
Collectivist cultures (interdependent)
- value group harmony and loyalty
- individual is expected to be loyal
- everyone has their own expected role
- avoid failure
- traditionally collectivist cultures are becoming more individualistic
What are long term vs short term orientations?
Long term
- focus on future goals, perseverance and savings
short term
- emphasize the present; immediate gratification
indulgance vs restraint
indulgance
- allows free expression, enjoyment, and leisure
retraint
- control desires with strict norms
Things about WEIRD populations
Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic
- most research is based on them despite being a minority of the global population (basically bias)
- people who move to WEIRD countries become more extroverted
Characteristics of cultures
Dignity
- individuals value their own rights; social judgement irrelevant
- common in market driven societies
Honour
- an individuals worth is based on reputation
- able to defend ones personal status
Face
- Social worth is determined by fulfilling societal and hierarchical expectations
- main focus is to maintain harmony
How traits vary between cultures
- How average level of traits vary across cultures
- Are there traits which are specific to a culture and can such traits be meaningfully applied to other cultures?
- Most extraverted countries: Mexico, Hungary, Bulgaria,
- Least: Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong ( Gardiner et al., 2018)
- Chinese living in Canada more open, cheerful & agreeable than Chinese in Hong Kong.
- Differences positively correlated with length of stay ( McCrae et al., 1998)
subcultures also exist within nations; different parts of america act differently
What are some challenges in cross-cultural research?
- Response Styles:
- East Asians often choose midpoints on rating scales, complicating direct comparisons.
- Scale Construction Issues:
- Western-developed scales (e.g., Big Five) may not capture cultural nuances, such as the emphasis on humility in Asian populations.
- Generalization Problems:
- Applying findings from WEIRD populations to non-WEIRD cultures leads to inaccuracies.
Culture and personality
ways of thinking
collectivists
- hollistic thinking: context is important (things are related to eachother)
- integrate different view points (describing oneself in contradictary terms)
individualistc
- analytical, categrocal
- abstract laws
Independent thinking vs contextual approach
independent thinking
- focusues on individual opinions, problem solving, and a zoom in perspective (smaller picture)
- associated with western cultures where this is prioritized
Contextual thinking
- emphasizes relationshups, contextm abd a zoom out perspective (bigger picture)
- common in collectivist cultures
cultural influence
- Family upbringing shapes behavior. For instance, in some cultures, children are encouraged to voice opinions, while in others, they are taught to remain quiet and respectful of elders.
