SCLOA studies Flashcards
Cultural Dimensions
Cultural dimensions are the differences in values or beliefs between cultures. These are reflective of a society’s culture, showing what it is they view as the most important.
Cultural Dimensions study intro
One such cultural dimension is a culture’s tendency towards individualism vs collectivism. As the name suggests, collectivistic cultures are focused more on group success and interdependence within a community. There is less need for privacy and less importance is placed on individual freedom. This is in contrast to individualistic cultures which focus on personal success, freedom, independence and privacy. The theory of cultural dimensions is that these cultural values impact behaviour.
Kulkolfsky (2011)
The researchers wanted to see if there was a difference between flashbulb memories in collectivistic and individualistic cultures.
To carry out the study, Kulkoffsky gave a flashbulb memory questionnaire, based on the original questionnaire used by Brown & Kulik, to people from individualistic cultures like the US and collectivistic cultures like China.
The participants were asked to recall a public event that took place in their lifetime - like 9-11 or the death of a famous person. The researchers found that there were fewer examples of flashbulb memories in collectivistic cultures for such events.
In collectivistic cultures, there is less importance given to personal experience and the display of personal emotional responses is frowned on. This means that they spend less time talking to others about their personal experiences and therefore do not carry out the rehearsal that is important for the development of such vivid memories. So, although the collectivistic cultures may have strong memories of the event itself, they do not have flashbulb memories in which they remember what they were doing, whom they were with or how they personally found out about the event.
This study supports the idea that our culture can impact our behaviour and cognition.
Acculturation study:
Miranda and Matheny (2000)
socio-psychological predictors of acculturative stress among Latino adults
Background
acculturation is the process of adjusting to a non-native culture. it involves changes in identity, values, behaviors, and attitudes. frequently, such changes engender a unique type of distress referred to as accumilative stress
Aim
to investigate which factors in the lives of Latino immigrants to the United States would decrease the level of acculturative stress
Participants
a random sample of 197 Spanish-speaking American immigrants
Procedure
participants completed a questionnaire and tests to assess family cohesion, level of acculturation, acculturative stress, and coping strategies for stress
Results
researchers found that immigrants with effective coping strategies, good proficiency in English, and a strong family structure were less likely to experience acculturative stress
in addition, immigrants who spent a longer time in the US were less likely to demonstrate this stress and showed a higher level of acculturation (no quantitative data…)
Conclusion
the results of this study support views of researchers such as Berry (1990) who contend that acculturative stress is influenced by multiple factors
the study shows that there are *many protective factors that may influence the extent to which an individual acculturates and the effect this will have on mental health
Enculturation study (based on observational learning on SCT theory)
Odden and Rochat 2004
To study the role of observational learning (based on social cognitive theory) in enculturation in Samoa
Method
observation
Procedure
- This study was an observational, longitudinal study (lasting 25 months) of 28 children in one Samoan village
- In Samoan culture, adults have a non-interventionist approach to their children. Parents do not spend much time with their children, believing that children can learn important skills and values on their own. Thus, this culture provided a unique opportunity to assess the role of observational learning
- Observations were made of the children’s behaviour over 25 months, and at the end of the study, children completed a multiple choice test that tested their knowledge of the values of Samoan society, including the Chief system
Results
- Children were not taught how to fish, as the supply of fishing equipment was limited. However, children spent a great deal of time observing how adults fished. By the time the children were 10, they began borrowing fishing equipment (without any adult supervision), and by 12 most were capable fishermen (despite never being taught how to fish)
- The multiple choice test demonstrated that most children had a basic understanding of the concepts, rites and rituals of their society, including the Chief system, despite not having been explicitly taught these by teachers or parents. Children were able to learn the norms of their culture simply by observing and overhearing the conversations of others
Conclusion
Observational learning plays a significant role in enculturation. It is possible for children to learn the values, norms and behaviours of their culture simply by observation and imitation
Evaluation
- A strength of this study is its longitudinal design - by collecting observations over a period of 25 months, researchers were able to observe children acquire new skills (such as fishing) over the course of the study
- On the other hand, this study only involved participants from one Samoan village, so it is not certain that observational learning plays such a significant role in other cultures
- This was an observational study, without a standardised method for data collection. Therefore, there is always the risk of research bias – researchers might have given more weight to observations that confirmed their hypothesis, and less weight to observations that challenged it
Stereotype study (stereotype threat)
Steele and Aronson (1995) carried out an experiment to see if stereotype threat would affect the performance of African Americans on a test of verbal abilities. All of the students in the sample were from Stanford University, so it can be assumed that they were of similar verbal ability. In one condition the group was told that the test was a test of their verbal abilities. In the second test, they were not told this. When the group was told it was a measure of their verbal abilities, the African Americans scored lower than the white Americans. When they were not told it was a test of their verbal abilities, African American students performed as well as the white Americans. In a final version of the experiment, they had a third group indicate their race on the test before beginning. In this case, the African Americans did worse than the white Americans. Stereotypes about the academic ability of African Americans led to spotlight anxiety which meant that they performed worse on the test. This shows that stereotypes can have a negative effect on performance even if the individual does not believe in the stereotype himself. This effect is strongest when the person is made aware of his group membership or of the stereotype.
