sociocultural approach: cultural origins of behaviour and cognition

Question 1

cultures

Answer 1

made up of a set of attitudes, behaviours and symbols shared by a large group of people, and usually communicated from one generation to the next

Question 2

cultural groups

Answer 2

are characterised by different norms and conventions

Question 3

what 2 types of culture is there a distinction between

Answer 3

surface culture
deep culture

Question 4

surface culture

Answer 4

Refers to the behaviours, customs, traditions and words of a culture that can easily be observed

Question 5

deep culture

Answer 5

Refers to the beliefs, values, though processes and assumptions of a culture that may be more easily understood by members of that culture but may be less accessible to members of other cultures

Question 6

Matsumoto’s (2004) definition of culture

Answer 6

“A dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit, established by groups in order to ensure their survival, involving attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and behaviours”

Question 7

cultural dimensions, what do they refer to

Answer 7

refer to the values of members of a society living within a particular culture. How the values of society affect behaviour

Question 8

what are the 6 cultural dimensions

Answer 8

Power Distance Index
Individualism vs Collectivism
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
Masculinity vs Femininity
Long Term vs Short Term Orientation
Indulgence vs Restraint
Time orientation

Question 9

individualistic

Answer 9

value individualism and independence e.g. UK, USA, Canada

Uniqueness is valued
Speaking one’s mind is important
Self is defined by individual achievement
Freedom and autonomy are valued
Self-actualisation is a goal
Everyone has a right to privacy
Rule-breaking leads to guilt and loss of self respect
Self-reliance is seen as a virtue

Question 10

collectivist

Answer 10

value cooperation and community e.g. Nigeria, China, Japan

Social harmony is valued
Modesty is important
Self is defined by group membership
Common fate/history guides one’s decision making
Advancing the interests of the group is the goal
Privacy is not expected
Rule-breaking leads to shame/loss of face
Shared responsibility and interdependence are seen as a way of life

Question 11

proverb used by Markus and Kitayama (1991) to characterise the difference between USA and Japanese culture

Answer 11

‘In America, the squeaky wheel gets the grease; in Japan, the nail that stands out gets pounded down’

Question 12

berry 1967, aim

Answer 12

to investigate whether collectivism/individualism affects conformity rate

Question 13

berry 1967, method

Answer 13

Temne participants (collectivist), Inuit participants (individualistic) and Scottish participants (control) were presented with a line judgement task

On some of the trials, they were told “Most Temne/Inuit/Scottish people say this line is equal to the standard line” before making their choice

On the critical trials, the incorrect answer was given

Participants were measured on how close to the correct line their answer would be (further away = greater conformity)

Question 14

berry 1967, results

Answer 14

the Temne people (collectivist) conformed the most, while the Inuit people (individualistic) conformed least

Question 15

berry 1967, conclusion

Answer 15

collectivism and individualism has an impact on conformity, whereby people from collectivist countries are more likely to conform to the group

Question 16

berry 1967, strengths

Answer 16

High in reliability
→ Etic and a replication of Asch’s procedure.
→ This means that the study is replicable and so can be tested on other cultures to see if this result is continuous.

Trials done prior to factor of conformity
The trials conducted prior to the critical trials ensure that the results that we obtained are actually conformity. Because these trials showed that participants are able to match the line to the baseline, the drastic change in lines chosen show that collectivist societies will always follow their group, regardless of their opinion.

Question 17

berry 1967, weaknesses

Answer 17

Low ecological validity
→ highly artificial
→ means that the behaviour of participants may not be a representation of their behaviour in real life settings
→ the task they had to do was arbitrary and had no effect on them therefore it is highly likely that the results are not valid.

Low temporal validity
→ study is dated
→ causes us to question if this level of conformity is still valid today

Participants not randomly allocated
→ may have been individual differences

Question 18

Parker, aim

Answer 18

to investigate the sociocultural differences in symptoms and diagnosis of depression.

Question 19

Parker, participants

Answer 19

depressed Chinese living in Malaysia
depressed Causasians living in Australia

Question 20

Parker, method

Answer 20

They had to identify cognitive and somatic signs of depression and their reason for seeking professional help

They were given a questionnaire with two sets of symptoms that judged the extent to which these symptoms were experienced and ranked in order of distress

One set of symptoms were cognitive processes and mood, common in western diagnostic tools, while the second set of symptoms was somatic, common with Singaporean psychiatrists

Question 21

Parker, results

Answer 21

The Chinese were more likely to identify somatic symptoms
Caucasians were more likely to identify cognitive symptoms

Question 22

Parker, conclusion

Answer 22

In Western culture, which is individualistic, it is more appropriate to discuss feelings and identify depression as a lack of emotional wellbeing

In Chinese culture, which is collectivist, there is stigma around speaking of a lack of emotional health.

Question 23

Parker, link

Answer 23

This suggests that in Individualistic cultures, each individual is looked after- ‘gets the grease’- and their struggles are attended to.

But in collectivist cultures, the individual’s specific needs are generalised to basic needs ‘gets pounded down’.

It is seen as easier to deal with physical health than mental health, therefore for the benefit of the community, physical symptoms will be attended to.

Question 24

Parker, strengths

Answer 24

Questionnaire based on cultural evidence relevant to participants
→ This means that it was not just a standardised western questionnaire and it allowed both participants to have the same level of understanding
→ This reduces acquiescence bias as participants will choose the answer they believe to be true rather than they believe should be chosen, due to a lack of understanding.

Question 25

Parker, weaknesses

Answer 25

Participants were chosen based on the DSM-IV criteria, which imposed an etic approach onto the study
→ This means that participants were chosen based on a western idea of what mental illness is
→ This means that there is a possibility that due to the difference in culture, depression is experienced differently in other societies → Considering this, it could be said that culture does not affect behaviour.

Question 26

individualism vs collectivism, c critical thinking

Answer 26

Overall, this theory is very weak

This distinction is outdated due to globalisation and an increased interconnectedness of countries

Previously we may have witnessed a difference in individualistic and collectivist cultures, however as the world developed we have lost this distinction

Individuals in a culture may not all behave in the same way, making it impossible to generalise either an individualistic or collectivist description to a country

It is possible that within every culture we find some individuals who follow a more individualistic or collectivist lifestyle but we cannot generalise a quality to a large group

This is a socially sensitive subject as it is an example of a stereotype formation

To further disprove this theory, Takano and Osaka (1999) found that 14 of 15 studies that compared the USA and Japan found no evidence of the traditional distinction between individualism and collectivism
→ strengthens the suggestion of the theory being outdated and therefore shows that culture does not affect conformity or speaking about wellbeing and emotional health

Matsumoto stated that culture is dynamic, meaning that culture is constantly changing, just like the world around us is, suggesting that our behaviours change due to a range of factors and culture then changes as a result of these behaviours