Chapter 4: Research Methods in Cultural Psychology

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Chapter 4: Research Methods in Cultural Psychology.

WEIRD populations

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic societies; often used as the default sample in psychology but not representative of most of humanity.

Cross-cultural research

Research comparing cultures to identify universal versus culture-specific patterns in thinking and behavior.

Methodological equivalence

Ensuring questions and procedures are interpreted similarly across cultures to allow fair comparisons.

Translation accuracy

How well translated materials preserve the original meanings and intentions across languages.

Back-translation

Translating materials into another language and then back into the original language to check for discrepancies and improve equivalence.

Socially desirable responding

A response bias where participants answer in ways that are socially approved rather than truthful.

Moderacy bias

Tendency to select middle options on scales rather than extreme ones.

Extremity bias

Tendency to select extreme ends of scales rather than middle options.

Acquiescence bias

Tendency to agree with statements regardless of content.

Reverse scoring

Scoring approach that cancels acquiescence by including negatively worded items that are scored in the opposite direction.

Reference group effect

Self-evaluation shifts depending on the reference group a culture uses for comparison.

Deprivation effect

Cultural values measured may reflect environmental constraints; e.g., valuing safety more where safety is at risk.

Standardization (z scores)

Transforming each person's responses into z scores to compare patterns across cultures by their own variability.

Standardization caveat

Standardizing assumes equal average response across cultures, which can distort cross-cultural mean comparisons.

Experimental method

Research design that manipulates an independent variable to observe causal effects on a dependent variable with control of extraneous factors.

Between-groups manipulation

An experimental design where different groups receive different levels of the independent variable, usually with random assignment.

Within-groups manipulation

An experimental design where the same participants experience all levels of the independent variable.

Quasi-experiment

A study that compares cultures as groups but lacks full experimental control over the cultural variable.

Random assignment

Equally likely allocation of participants to conditions to ensure equivalence at the start.

Situation sampling

Two-step method: participants describe culturally common situations, then others imagine how they would respond in those situations.

Cultural priming

Briefly activating culture-related ideas to influence how people think or behave in a culturally typical way.

Agent-based modeling

Computer simulations with autonomous agents to test how cultural and environmental factors interact to shape behavior.

Cultural neuroscience

Field combining neuroscience and cultural psychology to study how culture shapes brain function, often with fMRI or EEG.

fMRI

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.

EEG

Electroencephalography; records electrical activity of the brain with high temporal resolution via scalp electrodes.

Replication

Repeating a study to see if the same pattern of results emerges, strengthening reliability.

Unpackaging

Identifying underlying variables that explain observed cultural differences.

Tightness-looseness

Degree to which a culture has strong norms and low tolerance for norm violations.

Individualism-collectivism

Cultural dimension describing the extent to which people prioritize independence (individualism) or group interdependence (collectivism).

Hofstede's dimensions

Cross-cultural dimensions such as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, long-term vs short-term orientation, and individualism-collectivism.

Triandis's dimensions

Expansion of individualism-collectivism into vertical/horizontal distinctions within each—vertical and horizontal individualism/collectivism.

Schwartz values

A set of culturally shared values (e.g., universalism, benevolence, conformity, tradition, security, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction).

HRAF

Human Relations Area Files; ethnographic database organizing cultures by broad categories for cross-cultural study.

Standard Cross-Cultural Sample

A comparable database of small-scale societies (Murdock & White) used to study cultural variability and universals.

Culture-level measures

Measures that assess cultural characteristics at the level of cultures, not individuals.

Occam's razor

The principle that simpler explanations with fewer assumptions are typically preferable, especially when findings converge across methods.

Culture of Honor (Nisbett & Cohen)

A hypothesis that the Southern U.S. evolved a culture of honor from herding economies, fostering protection of reputation through aggression.