Unit 4 Flashcards
What is the field of cross-cultural psychology?
the scientific study of variations in human behavior, taking into account the ways in which behavior is influenced by cultural context
What are the 2 objects of the cross cultural psychology study?
- Describing the diversity of human behavior in the world
- linking individual behavior to the cultural environment in which it occurs
What are the goals of cross-cultural psychology?
- Transporting psychological hypotheses and findings to other cultural settings (to test validity and applicability)
- Discovering cultural and psychological variations (not present in our own limited cultural experience)
- Integrating, into a broadly based psychology, the results obtained when pursuing the first two goals, and generating a nearly universal psychology
What is impulsive gratification?
the tendency to seek immediate pleasure or satisfaction without considering the long-term consequences.
-> self regulation: better life outcome
Is impulsive gratification biologically developed?
It is not determined by genetic factors alone. Cross-cultural studies show, for example, that economic uncertainty can significantly affect impulsive gratification
How is impulsive gratification related to culture?
- through economic uncertainty, poverty, education, family traditions, etc..
- learning from others
- motivation from family, religion, individual/collective goals etc.
What is Motivation?
a condition—usually an internal one—that initiates, activates, or maintains the individual’s goal-directed behavior
What do most social sciences emphasize in contrast to evolutionary theories?
the crucial role of social factors in determining individual motivation and behavior
What are two theories from Sociology? By whom?
Max Weber: desires and actions viewed as appropriate or inappropriate on basis of links to existing customs and rules
Karl Marx: Economic condition of inequality activates human needs
What does the Drive theory state?
it suggests that motivation arises from biological needs or drives, which are internal states of tension or discomfort that push an organism to act in order to restore balance (homeostasis)
-> linked to Clark Hull
according to the drive theory, who values needs more than most other things?
people from cultures that feel deprived of certain needs
social needs -> drive -> goal-directed behavior (direct people toward establishing and maintaining relationships)
What do arousal theories of motivation suggest?
that people seek to maintain optimal levels of arousal by actively changing their exposure to arousing stimuli
-> focuses on the concept of arousal or levels of alertness as primary motivator for behavior
What are people motivated to according to the arousal theories?
to maintain an optimal level of arousal
What do people of all cultures have (differences)?
different needs and motivations, but the value of those needs and the behaviors related to them are different.
What does Seeking Sensory Stimulation involve?
the drive to seek novel, exciting, or stimulating experiences
-> e.g.: exploring new environments, engaging in social interactions, trying new foods, or participating in thrilling activities
-> Universal psychological mechanism
What is Procrastination?
the tendency to delay or avoid tasks, often due to a preference for immediate pleasure or relief over long-term goals that require sustained effort
->Universal psychological mechanism
What is hunger?
a biological need
-> cultural norms and traditions regulate eating habits, what to consider tasty and tasteless, taboos on particular foods
What does the humanistic theory of Abraham Maslow’s state?
Humans have a number of innate needs that are arranged in a hierarchy in terms of their potency
-> strengest of needs are culture specific
where are eating disorders more common?
in western countries
-> cultural norms have a significant impact on whether an individual develops a preoccupation with thin-body ideals and acquires an intense fear of gaining weight
What is aggressive motivation?
the desire to harm or injure others
what does aggressive behavior include?
physical abuse, verbal assault, angry retaliation,
open hostility
where does aggressive behavior root in?
psychological, political, biological, socioeconomic, and cultural
factors
What is Bidirectional causation in aggressive motivation and violence?
dangerous social conditions induce encouragement of violence in “self-defense” – the encouragement of aggressive behavior creates a social climate that permits it
What does it mean that a society has materialistic values?
that the success is determined by money and access to power
What does the Frustration-aggression hypothesis state?
aggression is a main response to frustration
-> frustration leads to aggressive behavior
-> caused by unfavorable circumstances (poverty, broken families, migration, urbanization, unemployment, discrimination)
What does Borowitz “Herostratos syndrome” mean?
kind of violence caused by a craving for notoriety or self- glorification
-> individuals commit notorious acts of destruction or violence to gain fame - even if it leads to infamy rather than admiration
What does “culture of honor” stand for?
a complex set of beliefs, attitudes, and norms about the importance of personal reputation, and the necessity of protecting and defending one’s reputation and social image
Are there violence-free societies?
no
-> BUT: the rates vary among different groups and the thresholds of tolerance vary
What is Sexual motivation and what is it regulated by?
motivation to engage in sexual activity, is certainly regulated , at least in part, by human physiology
What do societal factors (laws, customs, norms) determine regarding sexuality?
what types of sexual behavior are acceptable, under what circumstances and with what frequency
What does sex culture mean?
Set of requirements, beliefs, symbols, and norms regarding sexuality and its expression.
-> Influenced by religion, ideology, politics, and moral values.
What are difficulties for cross-culture research of Sexuality?
Refusal rate (proportion of people who do not want to participate in a study as subject)
some countries sexually restrictive, some very open
What is chastity? What role does it play in different societies?
No experience with sexual intercourse
-> in countries such as china, Iran, India and others essential for a woman’s position in the society
what does permissive and restrictive mean in terms of sexuality?
permissive: nontraditional sex cultures - Germany
restrictive: traditional - china
What does Sexual orientation refer to?
romantic or sexual attraction to people of a specific sex or gender
In how many percent is romantic kissing common in cultures?
46%
What is a social need that directs people to strive for excellence and success, influence and accomplishment?
need for achievement
are we born with the need for achievement?
No - it is learned during childhood if parents promote it
is there an association of high/low achievement motivation with nations and cultures?
each society sets standards for what type of goals a person is expected to achieve
Individualist-success motivation: directs to attainment of personal goals
Collectivist-success motivation: Directs to connect with other people
What does achievement mean across cultures?
it has different meanings in different cultural settings
What is the relationship between culture and cognition?
- Westerners: a composition of independent objects with a stronger desire for personal autonomy and victory.
- Easterners: holistic assumptions in favor of achieving balance and harmony in competing demands.
-> Societies provide members with common and coherent ways of knowing that are reflected in cognition.
What is the most intuitive way in which culture influences cognition?
in shaping the types of knowledge and facts that are learned by individuals
what are cognitive styles?
persuasive cultural ways of thinking
sensation -> perception -> cognition
What is sensation?
Process by which receptor cells are stimulated and transmit their information to higher brain centers
What is Perception?
Process that organizes various sensations into meaningful patterns
What does culture create regarding our perception?
presence and absence of certain experiences that affect our ability to perceive
-> experience shapes perception - perceptual expectations
what are perceptual sets?
particular interpretations likely to occur and increase both the speed and efficiency of the perceptual process
-> influenced by cognitive and motivational states
What affects sensation and perception?
environmental conditions
What are the 2 ways of perceiving time?
monochronic and polychromic
What does monochronic perception of time mean?
one event at a time
- linear and sequential view of time
- limited resource that must be used efficiently
- time = money
What does polychronic perception of time mean?
several events occurring simultaneously
- flexible, multiple activities and events can occur simultaneously
- time is abundant and infinite
- social interactions more important than schedules
How do we define Consciousness?
Subjective awareness of one’s own sensations, perceptions, and other mental events.
what do many psychologists (Piaget, vygotsky and Wundt) say about consciousness and what it is dependent on?
it is dependent on socialization experiences and other cultural factors.
What role does sleep play in consciousness?
Responsiveness to external stimulation is diminished, not entirely absent
-> might be influenced by cultural practices, sleeping arrangements and environmental conditions
-> significance of dreams
what are the two types of cultures according to their interpretation of dreams?
Monophasic: Culture that values cognitive experiences occurring only during normal waking phases (indirect indicators of concerns, fears and desires
Polyphasic: cultures that value dreams and treat them as part of reality (individual guidance)
What are altered states of consciousness?
Phenomena that are different from normal waking and include mystic perceptual and sensory experiences.
-> mediation, hypnosis, trance, possessions
What is trance and what is it marked by?
Sleeplike state marked by reduced sensitivity to stimuli, loss of alteration of knowledge, and automatic motor activity.
-> An altered state of consciousness characterized by decreased awareness of and responsiveness to stimuli and an apparent loss of voluntary power
-> induced by external sources: music, singing and direct suggestion
What is possession considered as in many cultures and religious groups?
as cause of particular mental disorders
What is meditation?
a quiet and relaxed state of tranquility in which a person achieves an integration of thoughts, perceptions and attitudes
-> liberation from the self or an expansion of conscious awareness
What is the western perspective on cognitive styles?
logical, analytical and rational reasoning skills are highly valued
-> lack of these reasoning skills = cognitive deficit
What are cognitive styles?
cultural ways of thinking
-> field dependent vs. field independent
What does field dependent vs. field independent mean in cognitive styles?
they determine predictable differences in a variety of psychological domains
-> field independent: People see themselves as separate from others and independent, autonomous
-> field dependent: cognition is more heavily influenced by the cultural context
What are the results from East Asia and Western countries of the perception studies based on cognitive styles?
- East Asian: Holistic perceptual orientation. Objects are interconnected.
- Western: Attention to details and singularity of objects.
What did Cole et al. critics on cognitive styles? What did he suggest?
he suggested that cognitive performance should be understood through an examination of contextual features of the culture and specific cognitive operations
What does Cole et al.’s research support?
that situational context matters
What is Intelligence?
Intellectual capacities that are the result of our biological inheritance and of a unique adaptation to the ecocultural context
What are the definitions of intelligence based on?
western culture testing
- problem solving, ability to respond and adapt and process knowledge such as memory, categorization and recognition of relevant cognitive components
What is intelligence A, B and C according to Hebb?
A: the genetic capacity of the brain
B: developed in interaction with cultural context (observed in real-life situations)
C: refers to specific skills, ability and knowledge that a particular society values as ‘intelligent’
What are solutions to measure intelligence properly across culture?
- To develop culture-free measures
- To develop culture-specific normative data
- To evaluate scores with skepticism
What does the Flynn effect on intelligence state?
IQ scores have been increasing continually since the beginning of the 20th century.
-> People’s IQs increased by about 3 points per decade
What factos contribute to the Flynn effect?
- growing up with fewer siblings (increased support and attention offered by parents)
- better nutrition in people who are pregnant
- education systems have improved
How is intelligence viewed across cultures?
- Cross-cultural research supports a view of intelligence related to specific cultural values
- intelligence tests closely linked to education and are artificial
- for some cultures, intelligence is a combination of practical know-how and social skills
