M1 - What is culture?

culture (defnition by Matsumoto & Yuan + functional definition)

Matsumoto and Yuan gave the following definition of culture:

“Culture is a unique meaning and information system, shared by a group and transmitted across generations, that allows the group to meet basic needs of survival, pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life.”

There is also a functional definition, which explains how people use culture:

“Culture is a pair of glasses that we are constantly looking through — a schema to help us evaluate and organise information.”

WEIRD-people

Most psychological research is based on WEIRD people, which stands for Western, Educated, Industrialised & Rich people.

Most of the word doesn’t fit into this label, but research by Henrich et al. has shown that 73% of authors were at American Universities, and 99% were at universities in Western countries. On top of that, 96% of all psychological samples come from countries with only 12% of the world population.

4 contrasts between cultural groups

• large industrialised vs small societies: participants from large industrialised societies are more sensitive to teh Müller-lyer-illusion than those from smaller societies → this is because industrialised societies have more squared objects/environments.

• western vs non-western industrialised societies: western cultures are more individualistic and less conformative.

• Americans vs other western societies: the US is one of the most individualistic countries; Americans believe that their successes/failures are within their control, whilst people from other western countries also take external factors into account.

• university-schooled vs non-university schooled Americans: higher-educated participants have larger post-decisional spread (= after you’ve chosen something, you evaluate it as better and evaluate the other options as less).

sampling bias

When a study/survey collects data in a way that some members of the target group have a higher or lower chance of being picked than others → the sample is not representative of the entire population anymore.

4 sources of culture

Culture is built upon four sources:

1. Group life: living in groups increases one's chances of survival. A division of labor emerges, making the group functional. A potential downside of groups is the emergence of conflict, as people differ from one another.

2. Environment: the environment in which a group lives significantly influences its way of life. Key aspects include temperature and population density (e.g. people dress differently in a warm climate than in a cold climate, thus different traditional clothing is created, etc.)

3. Resources: natural resources—such as water or arable land—can influence a group. However, humans have also created their own resources, namely money. Those with more money can expand further and are less dependent on others, a factor that shapes the culture.

4. The developed human mind: humans possess a psychological ‘toolkit’ that enables them to adapt and survive; this includes norms, values, and other universal skills not found in other animals. An example is shared intentionality—the ability to share psychological states during collaborative activities (you know everyone in your group has the same goal).

ethnocentrism

The tendency to view the world through one’s own cultural filters → we grow up a certain way and we get used to it, so we believe the rest of the world is the same was as we know it.

This can be problematic when information isn’t updated and you use your own culture as the “standard” for the rest of the world.

ecological demands / environmental stressors + latidunal psychology + rice vs wheat theory

Ecological demands are the conditions of the environment (e.g. climate, available resources, population density, etc.) → this has shaped culture, because people have adapted to their environments. Environmental stressors are harsh/demanding environments (ecological demands), such as extreme climates. These can affect ways of living negatively, but greater affluence (wealth) can help manage environmental stressors.

Latitudinal psychology states that psychological characteristics differ based on how far poeple live from the equator → a latitudinal study shows that distance from the equator can predict country levels of psychological variables (e.g. creativity, aggressiveness, etc.). On average, creativity is higher in countries with very mild climate zones. 

The impact of ecological demands is also illustrated by the Rice vs Wheat theory: Ricefarming is water- and labour-intensive and requires extensive social coordination and cooperation → rice farmers are therefore more interdependent and more likely to adhere to group norms. Wheat farming is less labour-intensive, so cooperation is less required → these farmers are more independent

3 visions on cultural differences

• Absolutism = psychology is the same everywhere; there are no differences between cultures.

• Relativism = psychology and its underlying processes are different between cultures; therefore, cultures cannot be compared and psychological processes can only be understood within a culture.

• Universalism = psychology and its underlying processes are the same across cultures, but the expression of these underlying processes may be different.

etics vs emics

Etics = universal psychological processes or behaviour → things you can compare across cultures.

Emics = culture-specific processes or behaviour → things you cannot compare across cultures.

community/society, country, race and ethnicity vs culture

Community/society = system/structure of interrelationships among individuals and groups.
Don’t confuse this with culture—culture refers to the meaning/value that we are associating with these structures (particularly with relationships to other people).
Example: a first-born son is a structural definition that you can apply to all kinds of societies across the world. However, what a firstborn son means may differ dramatically across different cultural contexts.

Country = merely a geopolitical definition; it only says something about the borders of a country and nothing about culture.
Example: within a country there can be small or big differences in culture between regions. Large countries (like the USA) often have large cultural differences, even though it’s still the same country.

Race = more a social construction than a biological essential; culture provides race its meaning. Racial differences are not useful for scientific/practical purposes without a clear understanding of the underlying causes of the observed similarities and differences.
Example: US census data, where racial categories have shifted over time (e.g. Mexicans were their own race, pacific islanders were classified as Asian). This shows that race is not self-evident, but a social construct.

Ethnicity = groups characterised by a common nationality, geographic origin, culture, or language. This is not the same as race; ethnicity is more connected to culture.

racial essentialism

When someone is reduced to the race they belong to. It makes the false assumption that people of a specific race share unchangeable traits, behaviours, and abilities.

objective vs subjective elements of culture

Objective elements are the cultural elements you can observe directly, e.g. art, clothing, food, music, etc.

Subjective elements are the cultural elements you cannot observe directly; these are more internal to people, such as values, beliefs, religion, etc.

5 categories of subjective elements of culture

Values:

• Individualism vs Collectivism

• Power Distance

• Long- vs Short-Term Orientation

Beliefs

• Social axioms (dynamic externality & societal cynicism)

• Religions

Norms

• Rituals

• Etiquettes and Politeness

• Tightness vs Looseness

Attitudes

• Opinions

• Stereotypes

• Prejudice

Worldviews

• Self-concepts = the idea of who you are. (independent vs interdependent self)

• Cultural worldviews

• Attributions

social axioms (dynamic externality & societal cynicism)

General beliefs and premises about oneself, the social and physical environments, and the spiritual world; the assertions (statements) about the association between two or more entities/concepts.
Social axioms describe the state of the world / how things generally are (e.g. “good things come to good people”).

Bold and Nim found that there are 2 social axioms that are most relevant for people’s thinking and behaviour.

• Dynamic Externality = beliefs concerning external forces (e.g. fate, God, spirituality, etc.).
  E.g. cultures that are high in dynamic externality would be more likely to say things like “belief in a religion helps understand the meaning of life.”.
  Higher dynamic externality often goes together with collectivism, whilst lower dynamic externality often goes together with individualism (though not always!).

• Societal Cynicism = a general apprehension or pessimism of the world.
  E.g. cultures that are high in societal cynicism would be more likely to agree with things like “kind-hearted people usually suffer losses.”.

independent vs interdependent self

Markus and Kitayama introduced the terms independent and interdependent self.

The basic premise of this theory is that the self-concept is the mediator of the individualist-collectivist cultural differences; in different cultures, the self would also be constructed differently.

In an individualistic culture, the self is a bounded entity and therefore independent of others: the most important elements of the self-concept are inside the person (personal qualities).

In a collectivistic culture, the self is less bounded and therefore interdependent: the most important part of the self-concept are the relationships the person has with other people.

tightness & looseness in relation to ecological/historical threats

A tight culture has strong norms and low tolerance for deviant behaviour; a loose culture has loose norms and more tolerance for deviant behaviour.

Tight cultures have been shaped by high ecological and historical threats (e.g. high population density, conflict, natural disaster, less resources, etc.) and have more strict socio-political institutions (e.g. autocratic government).

This leads to more tightness, because in a threatening environment, society needs to coordinate its behaviour order to survive → these stronger norms are implemented into everyday life (the acceptable range of behaviour are more restricted) → this influences a person’s psychological adaptations (e.g. more/better self-regulation).