Concepts - Sociocultural approach

Assimilation

when an individual abandons their original culture and adopts the cultural behaviours and values of a new culture.

Confirmation bias

This is the tendency to pay attention to information that is in line with one's stereotypes.

Dispositional factors

individual characteristics that influence behavior and actions in a person - such as personality or temperament.

Informational social influence

Also known as social proof - when people look to the actions of others in an attempt to determine how to behave in a given situation.

In-group bias

favoring members of one's in-group over out-group members.

Normative social influence

when a person conforms to be liked or accepted by members of a group.

Salience

when one is highly aware of one of their membership to a social group.

Self-efficacy

one's belief in one's ability to succeed accomplishing a task.

Social comparison

a drive within individuals to gain accurate self-evaluations by comparing oneself to other people.

Social context

how someone reacts to something depending on their immediate social or physical environment.

Vicarious reinforcement

our tendency to repeat or imitate behaviors for which others are being rewarded.

Conformity

A change in behaviour as a result of real or imagined group pressure/norms, as a result of social comparison

Pluralistic ignorance

A conformity type where you do nothing because no one else is doing anything

Out-group discrimination

Form of cognitive bias that causes us to hold negative attitudes towards outgroups

Positive distinctiveness

Seek to achieve positive self-esteem by positively comparing our in-groups to an out-group on valued dimensions

Social categorization

The process by which we identify which groups we belong to and which group we don’t belong to

Social identification

The process of adopting to norms and taking on characteristics of in-group, after you have decided to belong to a group

Social Identity Theory

The idea that we have many differnet identities, derived from percieved memberships of social group

Social cognitive learning theory

The idea that behvaiour is learned from the environment through modelling and reinforcement

Cultural norms

Shared expectations, values, and rules that guide the behavior of people within a cultural group, passed down from generation to generation.  

Cultural dimensions

A continuum of values onto which members of different cultures can generally be grouped; they describe broad patterns of differences between cultures, rather than individual differences.

Ecological fallacy

When a conclusion is made about individuals based on group members.  For example, assuming that because John is an American, he is individualistic. 

Individualism

Cultures that stress the needs of the individual over the needs of the group as a whole, part of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Collectivism

Cultures that emphasizes the importance of the group and social cooperation, part of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Long-term orientation

Focused on the furture

Short-term orientation

When you are focused on the present or past and consider them more important than the future. You value tradition, the current social hierarchy, and fulfilling your social obligations.

Power distance

How individuals relate to power and authority. If low: culture is more democratic and believe that their voices should be heard. If high: culture is paternalistic and centralize authority, people accept their place in social hiearchy

Uncertainty avoidance

Whether individuals see unknown situations as a threat or challange. High — means there you tend to stick with what is familiar, there are lots of rules, don’t like change

Femininity vs Masculinity

Whether cultures are based on feminine (Equality, cooperation, good relationships with people) or masculine values (Competition, work)

Enculturation

The processes, beginning in early childhood, by which particular cultural values, ideas, beliefs, and behavioral patterns are adopted by the members of society

Cultural norms

Sets of societal expectations that influence behavior, tell us what kinds of behavior are appropriate/accepted or inappropriate.

Direct tuition

Teaching young children how to behave by reinforcing "appropriate" behaviors and by punishing or otherwise discouraging "inappropriate" behaviors

Participatory learning

Actively taking part in the learning process and applying learning from other situations

Vertical transmission

The passing down of cultural norms from one generation to another

Observational learning

Learning through simply observing and imitating others, with the help of identification with model

Rite of passage

Cermony or event making an important stage in someone’s life, especially the transition from childhood to adulthood

Acculturation

The psychological and behavioral adjustments that occur within individuals who come into contact with others from different cultural backgrounds

Acculturative stress

The anxiety that one may feel when attempting to assimilate into a new culture

Assimilation

The process in which a minority group or culture adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of the majority group, without staying connected to original culture

Integration

The process in which an individual assumes the beliefs, values, and behaviors of another culture without losing the characteristics of his or her own culture

Marginalization

A failure to acculturate when it is not really possible to maintain one’s original culture, but because of exclusion or discrimination, it is not possible to assimilate into the new culture

Protective factors

Conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities, or the larger society that help people deal more effectively with stressful events

Separation

When migrants maintain their own culture and minimize contact with the new culture

Reactive identification

When individual strengthens their ethnic or racial identity in response to discrimination

Immigrant paradox

“Greater” degrees of acculturations associated with problematic health outcomes

Local culture

Culture that individual is enculturated in

Global culture

Culture of trade, diplomacy, internet - culture that individual is acculturated into

Identity confusion

Difficulty ingegrating oneself into a single “identity” as one tries to determine one’s values and place in soceity

Delocalization

When one has a strong sense of global indentity but fails to identify with their local culture

Etic approach

Provide an outsider’s perspective

Emic approach

Provide an insider’s perspective

Cultural insensitivity

Ignorance of cultural differences which are important protectice facotrs for individuals

Dehumanization

Belief that individuals in other cultures lack ability to understand/adress their own mental health issues, underminding their autonomy

Risk factors

Characteristics at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precede and are associated with a higher likelihood of negative outcomes