CH 3: Cultural Psychology

Transmitted culture

Culture that is passed down through generations

Evoked culture

Culture that is shaped by the natural environment and lifestyle

WIERD

Western, educated, industralized, rich, and democratic. Basically the idea that psychology was mainly developed in western countries so it might look at things from a Western perspective.

Analytical thinking style

Sees things as detached from the environment. They also categorize things based on their attributes. (tendency for Western cultures)

Holistic thinking style

tendency to view the whole instead of the parts. Seeing things in context and how they relate to each other. (seen more in East Asian cultures)

Non-verbal communication

The ways in which people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, other than with words.

Encode

Expressing nonverbal behavior

Decode

interpret meaning of other’s nonverbal expression.

Emblems

gestures with specific meaning in a certain culture (ex: thumbs up)

Display rules

when certain nonverbal behaviors are appropriate

Schema

mental structures we use to understand the world.

Self-concept

the overall set of beliefs ppl have about their personal attributes (our believes about ourselves)

Independent view of the self

Defining yourself based on your own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions

Interdependent view of the self

Defining oneself in terms of relationships to other people

Culture

the set of meanings developed by a society for social coordination

Factor analysis

a statistical method that groups many related variables into a smaller set of hidden, underlying traits called factors

Dimensions of culture

1. Individualism/collectivism

2. Power distance (hierarchy)

3. Uncertainty avoidance (openness)

4. Masculinity/Femininity (gendered)

5. Long-term/short-term orientation

6. Indulgence vs restraint (self-expression values)

Individualism vs Collectivism

The degree to which people are integrated into groups.

Individualism

focus on individual values, expression, and uniqueness (ex; the US)

Collectivism

focuses on one’s role in a broader community and society as a whole (ex; China)

Power distance (hierarchy)

the degree of acceptance of hierarchical leadership and authority structure

Uncertainty avoidance (openness)

how society faces uncertainty and ambiguity (basically trying to avoid uncertainity)

Closed

manage anxiety of uncertainty with order of fixed norms and strict routines (ex; Russia)

Open

comfortable with uncertainty, open to loose norms and deviations

Masculinity/ Femininity

how masculine the men are in the society (basically the level of gendered emotional roles in society)

Masculine

rigid norms for men of competition and toughness

Feminine

more even emotional roles for me and women

Long-term/short-term orientation (Time orientation)

How people’s attention and values are oriented toward short-term versus long-term goals

Indulgence vs restraint (self-expression values)

Personal gratification vs social order

Indulgent

free self-expression and enjoyment

Restrained

stricter control on behavior

Tight vs loose cultures

Some cultures that have faced severe threats tend to develop tighter cultures to keep social order while others allow for more openness and flexibility.