Ch. 12: Cultural Variation in Experience, Behavior, and Personality

Cross-cultural psychology

Psychological research and theorizing that attempts to account for psychological differences between and within different cultural groups

Enculturation

The process of socialization through which an individual acquires their native culture, mainly early in life

Acculturation

The process of social influence by which a person partially or fully acquires a new cultural outlook, either by having contact with or living in a culture different from the person’s culture of origin

Etics

The universal components of an idea; in cross-cultural psychology, aspects of a phenomenon that all cultures have in common

Emics

The locally relevant components of an idea; in cross-cultural psychology, aspects of a phenomenon that are specific to a particular culture

Individualism-collectivism

A dimension used to compare cultures; individualist cultures emphasize the individual’s well-being over that of the community, whereas collectivist cultures emphasize the well-being of the community over that of the individual

Outgroup homogeneity bias

The sociopsychological pehnomenon by which members of a group to which one does not belong seem more alike than do members of a group to which one does belond