culture bias

culture bias definition

• the tendency to judge all cultures and individuals in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions

• Adopting a universal bias can involve culture bias

  • An overwhelming majority of psychology research focuses on participants from wealthy Western individualistic countries, creating a skewed and unrepresentative view of human behaviour

ethnocentrism definition

the belief (conscious or unconscious) that one’s own culture is superior to other cultures, thereby rendering other cultures as strange or abnormal

ethnocentrism’s relation to psychological research

• Ainsworth’s research on attachment styles exemplifies ethnocentrism, as the findings reflect a very white, western, individualistic perspective

  • E.G. it is normal for securely attached children to show some separation anxiety

  • It is abnormal to show too much or too little separation anxiety from the caregiver

• The issue with Ainsworth’s findings is that subsequent cross-cultural attachment research (Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg 1988) found that:

  • Japanese children show high separation anxiety due to the amount of time they spend with their mothers before going to school

  • German children show far less separation anxiety due to the instilling of independence in them by their mothers

  • By labelling these attachment behaviours as ‘insecure’, Ainsworth was ignoring the role of culture in attachment

• When ethnocentrism is unchecked, it can produce an imposed etic

cultural relativism definition

idea that cultures can only be understood from within the culture

cultural relativism’s link to psychological research

• Researchers can achieve cultural relativism by taking an emic approach (an approach that involves the researcher conducting the research from the perspective of the culture)

• Replicating studies which were originally conducted in one culture can yield different results e.g:

  • Miranda et al (1981) found over 90% obedience going to 450V using a sample of Spanish students

  • Smith & Bond (1996) found great cultural variation in replications of Asch’s conformity experiment, highlighting cultural differences between individualistic and collectivist cultures

strengths of cultural bias

• An awareness of culture bias can serve to highlight inequalities within the research process and within society itself, helping to challenge ethnocentrism

  • E.G. Berry (1992) model of acculturation points out that when people move from one culture to another, there will be difficulties in adjusting to the new culture

weaknesses of cultural bias

• The categories ‘individualistic’ and ‘collectivist’ may be too broad, which in turn presents a generalised, homogenous view of cultures, ignoring nuance

  • E.G. the USA comprises huge variation across the population, incorporating a range of cultures such as the Latino population in California, the Amish in Pennsylvania

• Some cross-cultural research is beset with problems e.g:

  • Self-report methods may have to be adapted per culture to align with local practices, different levels of literacy and religious protocols

  • The operationalised variables set up by the researcher may have different meanings or resonance per culture e.g. episodic memory may differ according to the relevance and meaning placed on individual experience in a specific culture