cultural bias

cultural bias

- ignoring cultural differences and interpreting all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of one’s own culture. 
- Baron and Byrne: 1991 textbook on social psychology, 94% of the studies were conducted in North America.  
- thus, psychology is mainly the study of white American males. 
- despite having restricted their enquiries to particular parts of the world, many psychologists routinely claim to have discovered ‘facts’ about human behaviour that are ‘universal’.

Universality and bias:  

Critics argue that mainstream psychology has generally ignored culture as an important influence on human behaviour. by doing so, has mistakenly assumed that findings derived from studies carried out in individualist cultures can be straightforwardly applied all over the world. e.g. class social influence studies of conformity (Asch) and obedience (Milgram), originally conducted with US pps, revealed very different results when they were replicated in other parts of the world [e.g. Kilham and Mann (1974)]. ‘norm’ or ‘standard’ for a particular behaviour judged only from the standpoint of one particular culture, then any cultural differences in behaviour – that depart of deviate from this standard – inevitably seen as ‘abnormal’, ‘inferior’ or ‘unusual’.

AO3 - limitation of cultural bias: unfamiliarity with research tradition

when conducting research in Western cultures pps’ familiarity with the general aims and objects of scientific enquiry are assumed.

but, the same knowledge and ‘faith’ in scientific testing may not extend to cultures that don’t have the same historical experience of research.

Bond and Smith (1996) demand characteristics may be exaggerated when working with members of the local population. this may have an adverse effect on the validity of the research. 

AO3 - limitation of cultural bias: operationalised variables

variables under review may not be experienced in the same way by all pps.

e.g. the behavioural expression of emotions such as ‘aggression’ may give rise to quite different behaviours in different cultures.

in China, the invasion of personal space is seen as normal, whereas in the UK this may be seen as threatening or confrontational. issues like these may affect interactions between the researcher and pps in cross-culture studies. 

AO3 - strength of cultural bias: challenging ‘implicit assumptions’

benefits of conducting cross-cultural research - it may challenge typically individualist ways of thinking and viewing the work.

being able to see that some of the knowledge and concepts we take for granted aren’t shared by other people around the world may promote a greater sensitivity to individual difference and cultural relativism in the future.

this counters the charge of ‘scientific racism’ that have been made against some psychological theories in the past and means that the conclusions psychologists drawn are likely to have more validity if they include recognition of the role of culture in bringing them about. 

ethnocentrism

judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. In its extreme form it is the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures. 

Refers to a particular form of cultural bias and is a belief in the superiority of one’s own cultural group.

In psychological research this may be communicated through a view that any behaviours which don’t conform to the (usually individualist) model are somehow deficient, unsophisticated or underdeveloped.

e.g. Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (1970) – criticised for only reflecting the norms and values of American culture. Ainsworth identified the key defining variable of attachment type as the child’s experience of anxiety on separation. ‘ideal’ (or secure) attachment was characterised by infant showing moderate amounts of distress when left alone by the mother-figure.

but, this led to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries which were seen to deviate from the American ‘norm’. e.g. German mothers viewed as cold and rejecting rather than encouraging independence in their children.

thus, the Strange Situation was revealed as an inappropriate measure of attachment type for non-US children. 

universality and bias

Henrich et al. (2010) reviewed hundreds of studies in leading psychology journals and found that 68% of research pps came from the US, and 96% from industrialised nations.

suggests that what we know about human behaviour has a strong cultural bias. Psychologists routinely claim to have discovered 'facts' about universal human behaviour. Henrich et al. coined the term WEIRD to describe the group of people most likely to be studied by psychologists - Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies.

If the norm or standard for a particular behaviour is set by WEIRD people, then the behaviour of people from non-Westernised, less educated, agricultural and poorer cultures is inevitably seen as 'abnormal', 'inferior' or 'unusual.

ethnocentrism

a particular form of cultural bias and is a belief in the superiority of one's own cultural group.

Ainsworth and Bell's (1970) Strange Situation is an example of this, criticised as reflecting only the norms and values of 'Western' culture. They conducted research on attachment type, suggesting that 'ideal' attachment was characterised by the babies showing moderate amounts of distress when left alone by their mother-figure (typical of secure attachment). but, this led to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other countries which were seen to deviate from the American 'norm'.

e.g. Japanese infants were much more likely to be classed as insecurely attached cuz they showed considerable distress on separation (Takahashi 1986). It’s likely that this finding was due to the fact that Japanese babies are rarely separated from their mother.

cultural relativism

Berry has drawn a distinction between etic and emic approaches in the study of human behaviour. An etic approach looks at behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal. An emic approach functions from inside a culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture.

Ainsworth and Bell's research is an example of an imposed etic - they studied behaviour inside one culture (America) and then assumed their ideal attachment type (and the method for assessing it) could be applied universally.

Berry → psychology has often been guilty of an imposed etic approach - arguing that theories, models, concepts, etc., are universal, when they actually came about through emic research inside a single culture. The suggestion is that psychologists should be much more mindful of the cultural relativism of their research - that the 'things' they discover may only make sense from the perspective of the culture within which they were discovered - and being able to recognise this is one way of avoiding cultural bias in research.

AO3 - limitation of cultural relativism

cultural relativism vs universality:  

Berry’s concept of imposed etic is a useful reminder to psychologists of the culturally specific nature of their work.

but, it shouldn’t be assumed that all psychology is culturally relative and that there’s no such thing as universal human behaviour.

Ekman (1989) – suggests that basic facial expressions for emotions (such as happiness of disgust) are the same all over the human and animal world.

critiques of Ainsworth’s Strange Situation shouldn’t obscure the fact that some feature of human attachment – such as imitation and interaction al synchrony – are universal.

a full understanding of human behaviour requires the study of both universals and variation among individuals and groups.