Lee et al (1997) Flashcards
define culture
the human-made part of the environment. the way in which people do things as well as beliefs, values, and norms
what are individualistic cultures
people’s identities are defined by personal choices and achievements (self-reliance + rights of individuals to do their own thing emphasised)
what are collectivist cultures
peoples identities are defined by the group they see themselves as apart of (extended family, tribe, nation etc) group goal takes place over individual goals, maintaining group harmony is important
in general what do individualist cultures think about lying
it breaks social contract as you are denying another person their right to the truth
in general what do collectivist cultures think about lying
it leads to social disruption and destabilises social harmony
in terms of culture what was the aim of this study
to find out if the culture a child grows up in (individualist or collectivist) affects their views about truth telling and lying
in terms of age what was the aim of this study
to find out if the views of children about truth-telling and lying change as they grow older
what was the experimental design of this study
independent measures
describe the sample for this study
228 participants
- 120 from China (equal split into ages 7, 9 and 11)
- 108 from Canada: age 7,9,11 | 36, 40, 32
- 108 male, 110 female
which country in this study has a collectivist culture
china
which country in this study has an individualist culture
Canada
what are chinese children taught from a young age
taught about honesty and modesty (they should avoid boasting and to not brag about personal achievements, they should not seek teachers praise)
what were the categories of the four stories read to the children
(prosocial-lie)(prosocial-tell truth)(antisocial-lie(antisocial-tell truth)
what is the IV for this study
children from both cultures of different ages in different types of stories (prosocial vs antisocial)
what is the DV for this study
ratings of the characters behaviour (when lying + telling the truth)
how were the children split up in terms of stories
half had ‘social’ stories (had an impact on another child)
half had ‘physical’ stories (had an impact on the environment- eg tearing pages out of a book)
what were the two questions children had to answer after every story
’ is what — did good or naughty’
‘ is what — said to their teacher (about what they had done) good or naughty’
how did the children give their answers to the two questions
on a 7-point rating scale (3* = very very good)(-3* = very very naughty)
describe the findings for pro-social stories (telling the truth about something good they had done)
culture interacted with age to influence the child’s response
- in regards to telling the truth about something pro-social they had done, children in China viewed this less positively as they got older- it was seen as ‘begging for’ or ‘wanting’ praise
describe the findings for pro-social stories (lying about something good they had done)
culture interacted with age to influence the child’s response
- children in China viewed lying about something good more positively as they got older whereas children in Canada viewed the lying as something disapproving
describe the findings for the antisocial stories
culture had no influence on the childs response
- telling the truth about something anti-social was rated very positively
- lying about something anti-social was viewed negatively, and it was viewed more negatively as children got older
what side does this study sit on in relation to the nature-nurture debate
nurture- suggests our morals are influenced by the culture we grow up in
what side does this study sit on in relation to the freewill-determinism debate
environmental determinism- suggests our morals are caused by our culture
what side does this study sit on in relation to the reductionist-holism debate
holistic- suggests both age and culture are influences on moral development
in what way can this study be argued as not being ethnocentric
it studies children from different countries and cultures (individualist and collectivist, canada + china)
in what way can this study be argued as being ethnocentric
- cant guarantee Canada and China represent all individualist and collectivist cultures
- translating into english and mandarin can have different direct translations (effecting telling of the prosocial/antisocial/truth/lying stories)
- story is very western so may not be applicable to chinese culture
what are the similarities between Lee et al and Kohlberg
- both cross-cultural
- both involved children being given scenarios to comment upon
how are both Lee et al and Kohlberg cross-cultural
- in Kohlberg many countries and cultures studied (Malaysia, Canada, USA, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey, UK)
- In Lee et al studied individualist and collectivist cultures (in Canada and China)
how are both Lee et al and Kohlberg both involved in children being given scenarios to comment upon
- in Kohlberg children given different moral dilemmas to comment upon every 3 years for 12 years (eg Heinz dilemma)
- in Lee et al children given 4 prosocial and antisocial stories about truth telling and lying to comment upon
describe the differences between Lee et al and Kohlberg
- one longitudinal study, other snapshot
- different gender mix of participants
how do Lee et al and Kohlberg have different methods in study
- Kohlbergs study was longitudinal, it used the same people over 12 years from age 10-16 to 22-28
- Lee et als study was snapshot, it used different children in different age groups 7,9,11 at the same time
how do Lee et al and Kohlberg have different gender mix of participants
- Kohlbergs study only studied 75 boys
- Lee et als study studied both boys and girls (118 boys and 110 girls)
how has this study changed our understanding of the key theme ‘moral development’
- suggested that the culture a child grows up in can have an effect on the development of their moral thinking
- it isn’t talking about ‘levels’ or ‘stages’ of moral development
how hasn’t this study changed our understanding of the key theme ‘moral development’
- both studies find that childrens moral thinking changes as they grow older
- it doesn’t find anything to challenge the idea of moral thinking developing in a sequence
how hasnt this study changed our understanding of individual diversity
neither studies explore reasons for individual differences in moral thinking between children (regarding responses given in the study)
how hasn’t this study changed our understanding of individual diversity
neither studies explore reasons for individual differences in moral thinking between children (regarding responses given in the study)
how hasn’t this study changed our understanding of social diversity
both say the age a child is at will influence the way they think about issues of morality
how has this study changed our understanding of social diversity
told about boys and girls, not just boys. told us about younger children aged 7, 9 and 11 and not children ages 10-28
how has this study changed our understanding of cultural diversity
the culture a child grows up in does effect their moral thinking
how hasn’t this study changed our understanding of cultural diversity
canada was one of the countries data was collected from in both studies
