W10: Culture and Personality

What is culture?

Culture consists of patterns of historically derived and selected ideas and their embodiment in institutions, practices, and artifacts

What are the 3 types of cultures that influence personality? (ETC)

1. Evoked culture

2. Transmitted culture

3. Cultural universals

What is evoked culture (i.e., an evolutionary perspective)?

Cultural differences that are resulted from differing environmental conditions

What are the 2 required prerequisites?

1. An evolved psychological mechanism that is universal

2. Environmental differences

What is the degree to which a culture prioritises honor influenced by?

Means of subsistence

Where is the honour culture of southerners evoked from?

From their historical herding communities

What may the high competition for resources in Singapore be evoked by?

High population density

What is transmitted culture?

The transmission of seemingly arbitrary values, beliefs, and ideas from one person’s mind to another through interaction

How is the self defined in Western, individualistic cultures VS non-Western (Eastern), collectivistic cultures?

• Western: the self possesses unique abilities, motives and dispositions that separate me from my group (independent)

• Eastern: the self is understood as part of a whole (interdependent)

What did the meta-analysis done by Levin et al., suggest about the Western/Asian self-concept divide?

It is overstated

What are 2 criticisms/findings of this theory?

1. Even though western samples are more independent than interdependent, the difference between western and eastern is much smaller than assumed

2. Asians are NOT actually more interdependent than independent

What is an alternative explanation in attributing these differences?

Evoked culture; independence/interdependence developed from the environment they were raised in

Are stereotypes about different cultural groups accurate?

They have some level of accuracy compared to national mean trait level

What must we take note of when studying cross-cultural difference in personality?

The reference-group effect

What is the reference-group effect?

Evaluating oneself relative to their cultural norms rather than an absolute standard

Eg. a hardworking student in a high-performing country may rate themselves as “average”

What are 2 cultural universals (features of personality that are present in most or all cultures)?

1. Emotions

2. Big 5 personality traits (OCEAN)

What is the difference in what people’s feelings/emotions are related to between Americans and Japanese?

• Americans: related to their personal achievement and goals (eg. pride, anger)

• Japanese: related to social harmony (eg. friendly feelings, guilt and shame)

What outcomes do aggregate (combined, average) personality profiles in a population shape?

Political outcomes (eg. voter behaviour)

Where are people who are more individualistic more likely to migrate to?

The frontiers (borders)

What are 2 characteristics of cultural influences that does not make people from the same culture have the same personality?

Cultural influences on personality are:

1. Probabilistic and not deterministic

2. Plural (originates from many sources) and partial (only one out of the many influencing factors)