Psychology and Culture

Question 1

Culture

Answer 1

Refers to shared rules that govern behaviour; it is a filter through which we see and understand our current reality

Question 2

Multiculturalism

Answer 2

Refers to situations where multiple cultures exist within a country

Question 3

Pluralism

Answer 3

Supports both coexistence of different cultural groups and their right to retain their cultural heritage

Question 4

Cultural competence

Answer 4

Refers to a psychologists effectiveness in communicating and behaving appropriately with people from another culture, both in terms of understanding and being understood

Question 5

Individualistic

Answer 5

Empathise the primacy of the individual over the group

Question 6

Collectivist

Answer 6

Empathise group over individuals

Question 7

Cultural psychologists

Answer 7

Studies the ways in which people are affected by the culture they live in

Question 8

High-context cultures

Answer 8

Tend to pay close attention to nonverbal signs like body language and conversational difference to decode the real meaning behind words and actions. Empathise interpersonal relationships and rely on intuition and interpretation rather than logic. Middle east, Asia, Africa and South America

Question 9

Low context culture

Answer 9

Tend to pay close attention to what people actually say or do and interpret it literally, without as much regard to accompanying circumstances. People from these cultures rely on fact and logic and are less concerned with relationships. They say exactly what they mean: Australia, North America, much of Western Europe.

Question 10

Tight cultures

Answer 10

Group members are expected to closely adhere to cultural norms and expectations. Deviation from group norms is not tolerated.

Question 11

Loose cultures

Answer 11

Norms are either unclear or deviance from norms is tolerated. Triandis describes how Japanese children who return home after spending time living in the west are often criticised for deviations from cultural norms (eating western food rather than Japanese for lunch). Thailand is a loose culture where differences are accepted. E.g. thai locals overlook many culturally inappropriate behaviours from tourists.

Question 12

Culture Shock:

Answer 12

Is the feeling of disorientation and anxiety that occurs as people from one culture encounter and adapt to the practices rules and expectations of another. The shock arises because people have to cope with different languages, unwritten rules of behaviour, social structures, political and legislative processes and other aspects of daily life.

Question 13

(Stage One of culture shock) The honeymoon phase

Answer 13

Initial euphoria and excitement

Question 14

(Stage Two of culture shock)The disenchantment phase

Answer 14

disillusionment and even hostility towards the new culture as values and habits conflict with local attitudes and beliefs

Question 15

(Stage 3 of cs)The beginning resolution phase

Answer 15

The beginning resolution phase: Recovery as confidence and understanding the new culture grows

Question 16

(Stage 4 of cs)The effective functioning stage:

Answer 16

adjustment as the individual learns how to fit into the new cultural environment.

Question 17

Acculturation

Answer 17

Changes that groups or individuals undergo when they come into contact with another culture. Can be considered a process of integration, where people adopt and adapt aspects of the new culture they enter, while still retaining many elements of their cultural heritage.

Question 18

Assimilation:

Answer 18

Type of acculturation, which involves absorption into the dominant culture and abandonment of their traditional culture.

Question 19

Fusion

Answer 19

combining two cultures to form a new culture

Question 20

Alternation

Answer 20

Involves bicultural competence and multiculturalism, involves maintaining distinct cultural identities within a single multicultural social structure