Exam 1 Multicultural Psychology

What is Multicultural Psychology

Is the systematic study of behavior, cognitions, and affect in settings where people of different backgrounds interact.

What does BIPOC stand for?

Its a relatively new term that stands for

Black

Indigenous

people

of

color

It’s used to emphasize the importance of skin color as a determinant of people’s reactions to racial markers

What is Culture?

The systems of knowledge, concepts, values, norms and practices of a group of people, shared through symbols, that are learned and transmitted across generations

What is surface structure of culture?

The physical manifestations of a group’s way of life that can be easily observed, such as music, food, dress, and language.

What is Deep structure of culture

the philosophical assumptions that underlie a culture and are reflected in its values, practices and beliefs

what is diversity?

it acknowledgment of individual human differences that go beyond race, ethnicity, and nationality, such as age, gender, sexual orientation, religion and socioeconomic status and physical ability. 

what is normativity?

the belief that there is one “normal” (average, numerical majority) way that everyone should be, or aspire to be, with everyone else “failing to meet the standard”. 

What is biological concept of race?

The perspective that a race is a group of people who share a specific combination of physical, genetically inherited characteristics that distinguish them from other groups.

what is sociocultural concept of race?

The perspective that characteristics, values, and behaviors associated with a group of people who share certain physical characteristics serve the social purpose of allowing outsiders to identify group members and for members to identify themselves- closer to ethnicity.

what is Ethnicity?

It’s a combination of race and culture that emphasizes characteristics that are passed down the generations, both genetically and by learned behavior. Ethnic cultural heritage includes the beliefs, values, symbols, knowledge, and traditions that have enabled a people to survive in their original geographic context. These include food gathering, shelter-building, clothing preferences, and childrearing practices. 

What is intersectionality?

It’s the meaningful ways in which various social statuses (e.g. race, gender, social class) interact and result in differing experiences with oppression and privilege.

What is culture contact?

It’s a critical incidents in which people from different cultures come into social contact with one another either (a) by living and working with one another on a daily basis, or (b) through visiting other countries on a temporary basis, such as for business, tourism, or study.

What are the 8 basis assumptions of multiculturalism?

Tolerance

Respect

Inclusion 

Sensitivity 

Equity 

Empowerment

Social Justice

Social Change 

What is Equality?

It assumes that everyone is equal, such as everyone’s vote in an election counts the same as everyone else's vote. However, smaller groups are outnumbered. 

What is Equity?

It recognizes differences and injustices and provides remedie, such as by recognizing the extra difficulties encountered by students from poverty backgrounds and providing scholarships for them.

What is social justice?

Working towards equity, where every citizen is treated fairly and has equal access to the rights, privileges, opportunities, and resources available within society. 

What is whitelash?

It’s the backlash exhibited by European Americans in response to the changing demographics of society, particularly embodied by the election of Barack Obama as president by a minority of European American voters but a majority of votes from people of color.

Multiculturalism as the “fourth force”……

The idea that mulicultural psychology is so important as a worldview that it will fundamentally change the direction of the field of psychology as psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanism did. 

Implications of multicultural perspectives (hint there are 4 of them)

-All behavior occurs in and is impacted by a cultural context

-Until recently, this fact has virtually been ignored by the field

-Once we understand the nature and contribution of culture, this understanding will dramatically alter and expand the way we study and understand human behavior

-The capacity to take multiple perspectives on a problem provides more cognitive resources and allows for correction of distortions in the visual field 

What is the Biopsychosocial Model?

A model of human behavior that takes into consideration biological, cognitive-affective, social interpersonal, social institutional and cultural factors.

What is the Quantitative approaches?

Research questions can be meaningfully answered by numerical scores

What is Logical positivism?

A scientific approach that attempts to measure “truth” or real phenomena objectively through logical deduction, quantitative methods, and statistical analyses

what is the qualitative approaches

research questions can be meaningfully answered by detailed verbal descriptions of important phenomena that are lost in reduction to numerical scores. 

what are minority groups 

Is any group of people who does not get equal access to power, wealth, and resources compared to a dominant group (majority group) based on its cultural and physical differences. A minority group consists of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sex, and disabilities. 

What does ADDRESS stand for in Hayes’ model of Minoritized Groups?

Age and Generational differences

Developmental and acquired

Disability 

Religion

Ethnic and Racial Identity 

Social Status 

Sexual Orientation 

Indigenous Heritage 

National Origin 

Gender

What are the Ethics of Conducting Research?

Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility 

Principle C: Integrity 

Principle D: Justice 

Principle E: Respect for People’s rights and dignity 

What is Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Attempting to benefit the research participants while not harming them.

What is the principle B: Fidelity and responsibility

Researchers carry themselves professionally and try to establish proper relationships with communities, consulting with appropriate professionals in the affected communities 

What is the principle C: Integrity?

Researchers adhere to truthfulness and do not cheat or make up data

What is the principle D: Justice

Psychologists attempt to ensure that research participants are treated fairly and with justice. Psychologists do not venture beyond their expertise

What is the principle E: Respect for people’s right and dignity?

Psychologists recognize that everyone is deserving of respect and dignity, particularly those who are members of vulnerable groups. 

What is Internal Validity?

It”s causal inference. Changes in the dependent variable can be attributed to the independent variable (experimental vs. control groups)

What is external Validity?

Generalizability. Results of an experiment can be generalized to other populations or “people in general” 

Theoretically, Internal and external validity are equally important, but in practice, not so much.

What is Cross-cultural equivalence of measures refers to what?

Ensuring a research instrument, such as a survey or test, produces comparable results across different cultural groups by having the same meaning and psychometric properties.

What is functional equivalence? 

items on a test or survey measure the same behavior as opposed to having the same literal meaning e.g., “hello” vs. “bonjour”

What is conceptual equivalence?

Refers to a term or phrase that is a culturally meaningful equivalent of the term being examined. 

what is Linguistic equivalence?

When a literal translation of a term from one language to another has similar meaning 

What is metric equivalence?

Numerical scores that are generally equivalent from one culture to another.

what are the 3 Sternberg’s conception of intelligence?

Analytic Intelligence

Practical Intelligence

Creative Intelligence

What is Analytic intelligence?

Involves problem-solving and information processing for academic success.

What is Creative Intelligence?

Allows individual to handle new situations and generate novel ideas.

What is practical intelligence?

its often called “street smarts” is the ability to adapt to select and shape one’s real-world environment to achieve goals 

What are the Gardner’s eight types of intelligence?

Linguistic

Logical-mathematical

spatial

musical

Bodily kinesthetic

Interpersonal

intrapersonal

Naturalist

Research that involves groups of peoples solving a single problem. such tasks involve?…

A jigsaw problem: individuals within a group each receive answers to pieces of a problem, and the problem can only be solved when they put their pieces together

A consensus-building task: the group must consider a problem from different perspectives in order to avoid what social psychologists call “groupthink”

Negotiation Tasks: the group must settle on the best solution to a dispute between two parties

what is Indigenous traditional knowledge?

personal or experiential knowledge, which include traditional practices such as tribal ceremonies

what is Indigenous research methodologies?

an integration of both western knowledge and indigenous practices

what does OCEAN stand for, for the NEO personality inventory

Openness to new experience

Conscientiousness 

Extraversion 

agreeableness

Neuroticism 

But no scales for harmony, empathy, collaboration, community-building 

What are the kinds of bias in personality test interpretations?

Bias of the user and bias in the usage

what is bias of the user?

A bias in the interpretation of a test’s scores when the test user has a particular perspective or bias that may disadvantage a person or group

what is the bias in the usage?

a bias introduced when a test is used in an inappropriate manner, such as being administered in a language in which the test taker is not fluent

but see also biases due to nonequivalent tests

what is worldview?

A worldview is a psychological perception of the world that determines how we think, behave, and feel

A person’s worldview is shaped by their life experiences growing up in their family; in the roles they play in clubs, organizations, and institutions; and in the communities and larger cultures that surround them.

what is Eric perspective?

an attempt to build theories of human behavior by examining commonalities across many cultures

what is Emic Perspective

an attempt to derive meaningful concepts within one culture

what is Imposed Etics?

The forcing of one culture’s worldview on another culture, assuming that one’s own worldviews are universal.

what are the male and female differences in worldview?

Issues of safety

sexual harassment 

choice of having children 

workforce issues 

What does “well meaning clashes?

are cultural differences in interpretation based on different cultural worldviews

There differences are not meant to harm others but may cause problems because there are different epic interpretations of situation or concepts. 

what is individualism?

a social pattern in which individuals tend to be motivated by their own preferences, needs, and rights when they come into conflict with those of a group or collective in which the individual is a member.

what is collectivism?

A social pattern in which individuals tend to be motivated by the group’s or collective’s preferences, needs, and rights when they come into conflict with those of the individual.

what is idiocentrism?

individualistic tendencies that reside within an individual, individualism refers to the society, whereas idiocentrism refers to an individual

what is Allocentrism?

collectivistic tendencies that reside within an individual. Collectivism refers to the society, whereas allocentrism refers to an individual.

what is countercultural individuals?

Idiocentric individuals residing in a collectivistic culture, or allocentric individuals residing in an individualistic culture. 

what does losing face/saving face?

Loss of face involves being publicly revealed for negative behavior; face saving involves being able to protect one’s public persona

what is face giving/giving face?

Extolling the virtues of another person in public. Doing this for yourself would be considered boastful and individualistic.

what does the ideology WEIRD stand for?

Western

Educated

Industrialized

Rich

Democratic

What are the areas of relationship from Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s value orientation model?

Time focus

Human activity

Social relations

People/nature relationship

what is the Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s value orientation model?

Florence Kluckhohn and Fred Strodtbeck developed the Value orientation Theory (at Harvard University in 1961) that assumes that all people, everywhere and through the ages, have to overcome a number of problems (universal dilemmas) in order to survive. 

what is Derald Wing Sue’s Worldview model?

Emphasizes how an individuals cultural identity and their understanding of social power dynamics shape their perception of themselves and their place in the world. 

what is Locus of control?

the focus of control over outcomes of one’s life, be it internal or external control.

what is locus of responsibility?

The focus of responsibility for one’s position in life, be it internal feelings of responsibility or external, societal responsibility. 

what are the Identification of Ethnic Groups

ALANA

VREG

BIPOC

what is ALANA?

Helm’s acronym for African Americans, Latinxs, Asian Americans, and Native Americans

What is VREG?

Helms’s acronym for members of visible racial/ethnic groups

what is BIPOC?

a new acronym, emphasizing skin color, for black, indigenous and people of color

Describe the four levels of the General Systems Model and how behavior can be explained at each of these levels, giving an example for each?t

The General Systems Model (GSM) is a conceptual framework used to understand complex systems by examining them at different levels of organization. It helps analyze behavior by considering how different components interact within a system. In psychology, sociology, biology, and other fields, the GSM can be used to explain behavior at four hierarchical levels: Cellular, Organismic, Social, and Ecological.

1. Cellular Level

• Explanation: At this level, behavior is understood in terms of biological or biochemical processes. This includes the function of cells, neurotransmitters, hormones, and genetic influences.

• Focus: Physiology, neurology, and genetics.

• Example: A person with Parkinson’s disease may show tremors and difficulty in movement. This behavior can be explained by a dopamine deficiency in certain brain cells, particularly in the substantia nigra.

2. Organismic Level

• Explanation: This level looks at the individual as a whole organism. It focuses on internal psychological processes such as perception, cognition, motivation, and emotion.

• Focus: Mental and emotional processes within an individual.

• Example: A student experiences test anxiety and avoids studying. The behavior can be explained by internal stress responses, such as fear of failure, that affect their motivation and performance.

3. Social Level

• Explanation: Here, behavior is explained through the influence of interpersonal relationships and social structures like family, peers, and community.

• Focus: Social interactions and cultural influences.

• Example: A teenager starts smoking because their peer group smokes. The behavior is influenced by social pressure and group norms.

4. Ecological Level

• Explanation: This level considers how the broader environment and ecosystem influence behavior, including cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors.

• Focus: Interactions between individuals and their larger environmental context.

• Example: A child in a low-income neighborhood may show behavioral problems in school due to limited access to resources, exposure to violence, or environmental stressors like overcrowding.

Define multicultural psychology and explain how it differs from traditional psychology?

Multicultural psychology is the systematic study of how cultural factors influence human behavior, thought processes, and emotions. It examines how people’s cultural backgrounds—including race, ethnicity, gender, language, religion, social class, and immigration status—affect their psychological development, mental health, and interactions with others.

Example

• Traditional Psychology: A therapist treats depression based on a Western model (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy focused on individual thoughts), assuming that the client’s symptoms are rooted in faulty thinking patterns.

• Multicultural Psychology: The therapist considers that the client’s depression may be influenced by experiences of discrimination, cultural stigma, or immigration stress, and tailors the treatment accordingly (e.g., including community or family support, spiritual beliefs, or acculturation issues).

Explain the differences between race as a biological construct and race as a sociocultural construct, including how both of these ideas developed historically?

Race as a Biological Construct Definition:

Race as a biological construct assumes that humans can be divided into distinct groups based on physical and genetic traits such as skin color, facial features, and hair texture. It implies that these groups have inherent biological differences, including in behavior, intelligence, or ability.

Race as a Sociocultural Construct Definition:

Race as a sociocultural construct views race as a product of social beliefs, practices, and institutions, rather than biology. It reflects how societies categorize people based on perceived physical traits and assign meaning, value, and status to those traits.

Compare and contrast race, ethnicity, and culture?