Culture Bias

What is culture bias? give example

The tendency to judge people in terms of one's own cultural assumptions

Van Ijzendoorn's study 18/32 studies were from the US

What are two types of culture?

Individualism

Collectivism

features of individualism

Focus on 'I'

Identity comes from individuality

Loose ties b/w individuals - look after yourself and immediate family

Competition b/w individuals = encouraged

Confrontations ok and can be healthy

features of Collectivism

Focus on 'we'

Identity defined by relationships w/ others and belonging to groups (family and social)

Strong in-group bonds are formed + extended family is important

Competition is b/w groups

Value harmony in the group, so confrontations may be disrupt group harmony

What is the scale that measures individualistic/collectivistic?

Who developed it?

how did he develop it? What are the issues with this?

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

• Interviewed IBM employees (a western company)

• Asked Qs from a western standpoint

• Most people in the study would be well-educated, from urban areas NOT REPRESETNANTIVE

Describe Bond and Smith (1997)

17 different countries

133 studies

All used Asch paradigm

Found correlation b/w individualism and collectivism with conformity

Least conforming = USA, UK, France

Highest conforming = Hong Kong, Fiji, Zimbabwe

The value we place on the thoughts of others, could affect our willingness to conform or remain an individual

Describe Takano and Osaka (1999)

• Meta-analysis

• 15 studies

• b/w US and Japanese Ps

• Looking at conformity again

• 14/15 studies showed NO DIFFERENCE in conformity

• BOTH HICs - could be extraneous variable that explains the different outcome b/w this and Bond and Smith (1997)

• Maybe other factors other than culture are more important

What does WEIRD stand for?

Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic

What is WEIRD research?

Research that represents WIERD categories - countries, researchers, sample

Why is WIERD research bad?

• lacks generalisability, as it focuses primarily on populations that are not representative of the global population, leading to biased conclusions

• only 5% of population is WEIRD

• This leads to a homogenous group of researchers, studying a homogenous group of behaviours - limits true understanding of the diverse nature of human behaviour

What is ethnocentrism?

give examples:

A culture bias that implies the superiority of one's own culture (usually Western) - Western = 'normal' (this is culturally relative, so not true)

• Ainsworth (1978)

• Yerkes IQ test

What is Culture relativism?

give an example:

The idea that behaviour, norms, and values can/should be understood within cultural and social context

• Definitions of abnormality

• Deviation from social/cultural norms

What is cultural psychology?

• Branch of Psych that focuses on the impact of culture on behaviour and how cultures are shaped

• Strives to avoid cultural bias

What is the Emic approach?

What’s an example?

Culturally specific research carried out from the perspective of the culture being investigated

Maasai women in northern Tanzania w/o background of mental health issues experiencing distressing auditory vocal hallucinations as a symptom of depression

What’s the Etic approach?

give some examples:

A universal approach to studying behaviour to make general laws about all cultures

• Ainsworth

• Biological explanations for OCD

• DSM

What’s imposed etic?

give an example of it:

studying one culture and then applying research to all cultures as if the behaviour is the same

• ainsworth

What’s indigenous psychology?

theories drawing explicitly on the particular experiences of people in different cultural contexts

Evaluation - too simple, no longer applies

Despite Japan being a collectivist culture, and the US being individualist, Osaka and Takana (1999) found no difference in conformity, suggesting it is outdated, too simple, and no longer applies bcs of globalisation. A better distinction may be economy (HIC/NEE/LIC).

Evaluation: cross cultural research

Cross cultural research challenges western assumptions as it promotes sensitivity to individual differences/cultural relativism, so people receive treatment (eg: for depression) suitable for their cultural understanding, and there’s less stigma in cultural differences

Evaluation: Data can sometimes help biases endure

Previously a US IQ test was used all over the world, but Binet (1982) found that it required cultural and educational knowledge to be successful, and those who didn’t have it were seen as less intelligent, helping biases endure.

Evaluation: recognising strength of cultural relativism and universality

A full understanding of human behaviour requires the study of both universals and variation among individuals and groups, making both important for gaining a holistic understanding

Evaluation: emic research

Practical applications, especially for non-WIERD countries, eg: Myers (2013) - common depression symptom for Maasai women in N Tanzania is distressing auditory verbal hallucinations (not in DSM) so can help w/ diagnosis