Cross-Cultural Psych

Nature

The condition of heredity to our physical structures and behaviors→ GENES

Nurture

the contribution of environmental factors and experiences to our physical structures and behaviors → CULTURE

Culture

Interrelated set of thoughts, tools, and practices that is shared song a group of people who possess a common society identity

What are the three aspect of culture?

mindset, behavior, symbols and tools

What are apart of cultural stability?

shared meaning, rituals, norms, traditions and values

Cultural changes inlcude

ecology (city changes over time), social structures (hierachy, family), ideology (political)

Why is culture important

Affects a range of psychological processes, including perceptual, cognitive, personality, behavior, and social processes

What is self-concept?

An overarching idea about who we are- physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and in terms of any aspects that make u who we are

How do we measure one’s self-concept?

the 20 statement tests (give 20 different answers to the question of who am i?)

In the 20 questions there are 3 types of answers

physical (I am tall), social (leaner, sister), and mindset (I am curious)

There are cultyral impact on which ctageoires are most popylar

Cultural psychology

Self is socially constructed and varies across cultures

In individualistic cultures, how is the self described?

the self is often their personal traits and their own beliefs

ex: “I am hardworking, independent, funny, and I believe strongly in equality

In the collective cultures, how is the self defined?

defined social charactertctics

ex: I am a daughter, a member of my family, a student, and someone who supports my community.

Independent Self

associated with individualistic culture,

• being unique is very important

• taught to us by parents and teachers

• focus on promotion

• well-being is based on self-esteem

• communication: direct

low context sensitivity is what and associated with what type of self?

it means not needing to know background or context, and more to the direct

• associated with independent self

Interdependence self

defined themselves in terms of social relationships, group charctertsices, self and others are blurred

• high context sensitivity: where are you from?

• motivaton: preventing negatives

• communication: indirect

Individual self-primacy hypothesis

people generally think about themselves first as unique individual before thinking themselves as members of a group

Private self

how you see yourself internal

Ex: I am shy, hardworking…

Public self

how you think people in general see you

collective self

how you see yourself based on the groups you belong to

Ex: I am a supportive member of my friend group”

Tranis argues that we can’t

just describe cultures only as Individuals or collectivistic; there are cultural dimensions

Complexity

how many different social groups, roles, and relationships a person has

Someone who lives in a larger city and has more groups they are in would have

because they move between many different griups, they may develop a stronger sense of who am I independelty of these groups

While those who are apart of small city/village would

have a stronger collective self, as their identify may be more closely connected to their family and community

How could technology influence compleixty?

technology incraeses comlexity ad it exposes people to more groups, relationships, and environments

Tight cultures

strong social norms and clear expectations about proper behavior

What does tight culture encourage and why?

It encourages public self and collective self

why?

• people will pay attenrion to what other will think

• what does my group expect me to do

Loose cultures

has weaker social norms and greater tolerance for people behaving differently

Loose culture encourages

private self

• peole have more freedom to ask what do I personally wnat to do

Trait psychology

assumes traits are

• consistent: appear across situation

• stable: remain similar over time

• difference between people

• influence behavior

Ex: if someone is extraverted, we might expect them to behave more socially in many situations

Big 5 Personality traits

Openness

Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neurocistms

What does trait psych assume about the Big 5?

assume personality traits are universal, but psychologists question whether personality operates identically across culture

Agentic traits

focus on individual effectiveness and independence

Communal traits

focus on relationships and social harmony

Why is individualism vs collectivism not enough??

a culture could be collectivistic, but people in the culture may value/display agentic qualities

exx:

1960 is when

cross-cultural psychology becme an independent field from general psych

cross-cultural psychology

• Ongoing changes in variables reflecting

• Relationship of psychological variables with sociocultural, ecological, and biological variables

• similarlities & differences in individual psychological functioning in various cultural & ethnocultural groups

1970s in cross-cultural psych

cognition and perception

1980s in cross-cultural psych

interest in methodologies of social psych

• self-report surveys

• Individualism vs collectivism: universal psychological law

Shift from culture as external to internal

extenral: political organization — internal: shared beliefs, religions and values

1990s cross-cultural psych

debate on universalism vs relativism, maybe differnet cultures have different view

Exterme Relativism

everything is subjective (every experience you have is unique)

Moderate Relativism

people develop psyche to function in a spefic culture

moderate universalism

differences do not necessarily imply different psychological functions and processes

extreme univeralism

behavior is not influenced by culture

Culture comparative approach

finding causes and effects between culture and psyche

ex: How do different political organizations lead to individualism vs collectivism?

ecological approach (Berry)

cultural psychology

Culture is inseparable from the person and different psyches (emotions, cognitions, behavior-processes and culmination) emerge in different cultures

Field dependent cognitive style

thinking style that relies heavily on context and relationships; info is understood as part of a larger whole

Indigenous psychology

Is scientific study of human behavior or mind that is native, not transported from other regions and that is designed for its people

• Examining psychological phenomena in their native context

Cultural neuroscience

How biological processes may play a role in observed psychological difference between cultures

field-independent cognitive style

analytical thinking style in which a person can separate info or objects from their surrounding context

WEIRD Bias

bias caused by relying heavily on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic populations and assuming the finding apply universally

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

higher mental processes( (reasoning, problem-solving, memory, decision-making) not of individual but collectivity DEVELOPS OVER TIME OF SOCIETIES

Luria’s Cultural-Historical Approach

people’s ways of thinking can differ depending on their cultural environment, education, experiences, language, therefore patterns of thinking can also change.

Values

motivational orientations that guide actions and evaluations

power distance (cultural dimension)

how much people accept that power is distributed unequally. 

High power distance..

people are more accepting of

• authority

• unequal power

• The boss is the boss. You don’t question them!

Low power distance …

people expect greater ability to challenge authority

• Why should that person have more power than me?

Inidviualism vs collectivism (dimension2 )

individualism: people are more loosely connected to groups and take care of themselves and immediate family

collectivism: strobgly connect to in-groups that

REMEMBER THAT A CULTURE CAN HAVE BOTH

individualistic and collectivistic characteristics

• I: personal goals

• C: strong family toes, grandparents helping with children

individualistic and collectivistic characteristics vs Femininity (Power dimension 3)

cultural values

• masculinity value: achievement, assertivement

• Femininity: cooperation, modesty

Uncertainty Avoidance (PD 4)

how uncomfortable people are with uncertainly and ambiguity

High uncertainty avoidance

people prefer predictability

Low uncertainty avoidance

people tolerate risk and uncertainty

Long-term Orientation (PD5)

focuses more on adpating, future planning

Short-term orientation(PD5)

focuses more on maintaining traditions, following existing norms

Indulgence (PD6)

culture permits people to satisfy desires associated with

• fun

• enjoyment

• leisure

Restraint (PD6)

culture places more limits on gratification and expects people to control desires

Monumentalism

A person sees themselves as stable and consistent over time

• “I have strong values. I don't change who I am depending on the situation.

Flexhumility

A person believes they should adapt depending on circumstances

• “My behavior can change depending on the situation, and that's okay

Horizontal individualism:

individuals strive to be distinct without desiring special status

• I want to be different, but equal

Vertical individualism

strive to be distinct and desire special status

• “It’s important that I do my job better than others”

• I want to succeed and rise above others

Horizontal collectivism:

 emphasize interdependence but do not submit easily to authority

• If a co-worker gets a prize, I would feel proud

• We are a group of equals

Vertical Collectivism

 emphasize interdependence and competition with out-groups

• The group comes first, even if I sacrifice.

• “It is my duty to take care of my family, even when I have to sacrifice what I want”

Schwartz theory of basic human values

 what values have people (universality), what we have in common

• Values across from each other are in tension because they push behavior in opposite directions

• self-enhancement vs transcendence

• openness to change vs conservation

Religion is central

to the self!

5 functions of religion

1. Providing answers to spiritual mysteries 

2. Offering emotional comfort

3. Creating a place for social interactions

4. Fostering group cohesion and integration

5. Social control and social norms 

Attributions

the way people explain the cause, the WHY things happen

Weiner’s model of attribution

explains that the way people evaluate the causes of events lead to emotions and determine function actions

1) cause is internal or

2) cause is stable or unstable

3) can I control the cause?

self-serving bias

Take credit for personal success and avoid responsibility

• considered the western bias

Unassuming bias

Explain success more as a result for external factors and failure in terms of internal factors

• considered the eastern bias

• ex:  In Japanese: I did well in school because the test was easy/the professor prepared me well. I failed because I did not study or prepare enough… 

Fundamental Attribution error

underestimate the influence of external factors and overtime the influence of personal factors when evaluating other people’s actions

• a person does not make eye contact with, they must be rude

• typical for individualistic culture

Moral disengagment

Cognitive mechanisms that make people feel themselves less guilt and shame about misdeed

• victim blame attribution

• responsibility transfer (put it onto the group)

• seems to have higher level in collectivist culture, with example of responsibility transfer

Health and Healing belief (western causal attribution)

• Within the individual: you become ill due to bad habits, stress

• Natural environment (pollution: germs)

Individualistic (cultural origin of attribution)

• independent self

• explain situations in individual attributions

• internal locus of control

Collectivism (cultural origin of attribution)

• interdependent self

• explain situations in group causal attribution

• External factors

• Context, family, group  

What increase fundamental attribution error?

1) strong emphasis on personal characters

2) judgment of behavior according to social norms of respects, loyalty

3) social networks based on family and close friends with focus on reputation

4) Catholicism focuisng the ideas of virtue and guilt

What decreases fundamental attribution error?

1) Context

• family, friends, financial needs

• “I can’t be at this meeting due to family obligations”

2) Judgement of behavior accordion to social norms of respect, loyalty, courtesy  correctness

Health and Healing belief (non-industralized attribution)

• Social world: interpersonal stress, action of others- medical facilities

• Supernatural: God, destiny, indigenous beliefs

Social Behavior

Actions between 1 or more person

Pro-social behavior

give benefit to other helping, sharing, comforting, forgiving, cooperation

Anti-social behavior

actions that violate the rights of others, break social norms, or cause nuisance, distress, and harm to society

• exclusivity, bullying, violence, teasing, aggression