Sociocultural Glossary for Quiz

Confederate:

An actor who participates in a psychological experiment pretending to be a subject but actually working for the researcher.

Content analysis:

A method used to analyze qualitative data by looking for themes or trends that emerge from the data.

Covert observation:

A type of participant observation where the researcher’s identity and the nature of the research are concealed from the participants.

Cross-sectional design:

Comparing two or more groups on a variable at a specific time.

Longitudinal study:

Research conducted over a period of time using observations or interviews to measure change.

Meta-analysis:

Pooling data from multiple studies of the same research question to arrive at one combined answer.

Method triangulation:

Using more than one method to gather data, like interviews and observations.

Participant Observation:

When a researcher joins a group to better observe and understand their behavior.

Prospective research:

A study attempting to find a correlation between two variables by collecting data early and testing over time for changes.

Retrospective research:

Studying an individual after an important change or development.

Acculturation:

The process by which someone comes into contact with another culture and adopts its norms and behaviors.

Acculturation gaps:

Generational differences in acculturation that lead to family conflict.

Acculturative stress:

A reduction in mental health of ethnic minorities during the adaptation to a new culture, often referred to as 'culture shock'.

Assimilation:

When an individual abandons their original culture in favor of a new culture.

Confirmation bias:

The tendency to seek or remember information that supports existing beliefs while ignoring contradicting information.

Cultural norm:

Rules based on shared beliefs about how individuals ought to behave to be accepted in a group.

Cultural dimension:

Trends of behavior reflecting the values of a specific culture.

Dispositional factors:

Individual characteristics that influence a person's behavior, such as personality or temperament.

Emic approach:

Looking at the behaviors of a group from the perspective of one member of that group.

Enculturation:

The process of adopting or internalizing the schemas of one's culture.

Etic approach:

A perspective in cross-cultural psychology that compares behaviors across cultures, emphasizing universal properties.

Global culture:

The culture learned and adapted through contact with other cultures.

Globalization:

The process of interaction and integration among people of different nations and cultures.

Illusory correlation:

When people perceive a relationship between two variables that does not exist.

Informational social influence:

When individuals look to the actions of others to determine how to behave in a situation.

In-group bias:

Favoring members of one’s in-group over out-group members.

Integration:

An interest in adopting the behaviors and values of a new culture while maintaining one's original culture.

Local culture:

The culture shared by individuals in the same environment where they grew up.

Marginalization:

The inability to maintain one's original culture and to assimilate into a new culture due to exclusion.

Normative social influence:

Conforming to be liked or accepted by group members.

Salience:

Being highly aware of one’s membership in a social group.

Self-efficacy:

Belief in one's ability to succeed in accomplishing tasks.

Social comparison:

The drive to gain self-evaluations by comparing oneself to others.

Social context:

How a person reacts based on their immediate social or physical environment.

Stereotype:

A social perception of an individual based on group membership or attributes.

Stereotype threat:

Fear of conforming to a negative stereotype that leads to underperformance.

Vicarious reinforcement:

The tendency to imitate behaviors for which others are rewarded.

Social cognitive theory:

A theory emphasizing the role of self-beliefs in cognition, motivation, and behavior, learning from observing models.

Social identity theory:

The interplay between personal and social identities, predicting group behavior.

Vulnerability models:

Models showing how environmental and social risk factors can lead to negative health outcomes.

Attention:

The learner must pay attention to the model, influenced by factors like model attractiveness or authority.

Retention:

The ability of an observer to remember the behavior that has been observed.

Motivation:

The desire to replicate observed behavior based on understanding potential outcomes.

Potential:

The necessary physical or mental ability to reproduce observed behavior, linked to self-efficacy.

Bicultural identity:

Identity that happens when a person combines both the local culture and the global culture.

Exclusionary reaction:

is a negative, emotion-driven reaction against another culture because of a perceived threat to one’s local culture. This often occurs when identification with the local culture is strong.

Integrative reaction:

sees other cultures as a resource for problem-solving. This tends to occur when local cultural identification is weak, people do not feel that the other culture is a threat to their own and the goal is not to find the “correct answer” to a problem.

Principle of consistency:

When people often or usually expect the behavior of a person to be consistent with the attitudes that they hold.

Attitude:

defined as an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, event, or object.