Lesson 2 - Culture bias in Psychology

Question 1

What is culture?

Answer 1

Can be defined as the norms, values, beliefs and patterns of behaviour shared by a group of people

Question 2

Cultural bias

Answer 2

The tendency to judge people in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions. Through the lens of one’s own culture and values

Question 3

Ethnocentrism

Answer 3

Means seeing the world only from one’s own cultural perspective and believing that your own perspective is normal and correct. An ethnocentric perspective can also take the stance that one’s own culture is superior to other cultures.

Question 4

Cultural Relativism

Answer 4

The idea that a behaviour only makes sense/can only be understood in the context of the norms and values of the society or culture in which it occurs.

Question 5

Universality

Answer 5

When a theory is described as universal, it means that it can apply to all people, irrespective of culture.

Question 6

What is an etic approach?

Answer 6

Looks at behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe these behaviours as universal

Question 7

What is an emic approach?

Answer 7

Looks at behaviour from the context of the given culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture

Question 8

Examples of ethnocentrism

Answer 8

• Rack (1984) claimed that African-Caribbean’s in Britain were sometimes diagnosed as mentally ill on the basis of behaviour which is perfectly normal in their subculture. and this is due to the ignorance of African-Caribbean subculture on the part of white psychiatrists.
• Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation assumes that the Strange Situation has the same meaning for the infants from other cultures as it does for American children. For example, it assumes that a secure attachment type is ideal, and that either a Type A or C style is bad. German children demonstrate a higher rate of insecure-avoidant behaviour, but it is not the case that German mothers are more insensitive to their children than American mothers. They encourage independent behaviours. Therefore, the Strange Situation is an imposed etic.

Question 9

Examples of cultural relativism

Answer 9

Sternberg (1985) pointed out that the co-ordination skills necessary in a preliterate society (like shooting a bow and arrow) is irrelevant in describing intelligence in a society that is literate.

Question 10

Strengths of cultural bias in psychology

Answer 10

• Takano and Osaka (1999) found that in 14 of 15 studies looking at Japan and the US the collectivist and individualistic distinction did not apply which suggests that cultural studies in more recent research post-2000 may not suffer from cultural bias as previous research did
• One positive to come from acknowledging cultural biases is the emergence of cultural psychology. cohen (2017) defined this as the study of how people shape and are shaped by their cultural experiences. It incorporates sociology, anthropology and political science. It attempts to avoid ethnocentrism by taking an emic approach.
• Another positive coming out of cultural bias are techniques to avoid it. Contemporary psychologist are significantly more open minded and well travelled than previously. International psychology conferences increase the exchanges of ideas between psychologists which help to reduce the ethnocentrism is psychology.

Question 11

Weaknesses of cultural biases in psychology

Answer 11

One problem with psychological research is that many classical studies are culturally biased. Milgram, Asch, Zimbardo were all carried out in the US with American (mostly male) pps. In fact, when Asch’s line study was carried out in India and China and cultures that were individualistic, there was a higher rate of conformity compared to individualistic cultures like UK and France.