IB exam sociocultural approach studies

bro. I'm dying.

Social Identity Theory

The theory suggests that a person’s sense of who they are is based on their group membership(s). People categorize themselves and others in groups (race, gender, etc.) which helps them form their identity and can lead to in group favoritism and out group discrimination.

Ingroup and Outgroup

Ingroup is the people you associate yourself with and leads to favoritism. Outgroup is people you do not identify with and leads to discrimination.

Tajfel et al. (1972) - SIT, in/outgroup, British, Paintings, #LabExperiment

Aim: To investigate whether being assigned to an arbitrary (random) groups would lead to ingroup favoritism and discrimination against an outgroup, even when there’s no real conflict.

Sample: 48 British school boys (ages 14-15) from the same school.

1. Boys (around 14–15 years old) were shown some paintings and asked which artist they preferred (Klee or Kandinsky).

2. Based on their supposed preferences, the boys were split into two groups—but in reality, the grouping was random.

3. Then, each boy was asked to assign points (that later turned into money) to other boys, only knowing which group each boy belonged to (not names).

4. They had to choose between giving:

   • Equal points to both groups,

   • More points to their own group,

   • Or the biggest difference in favor of their group (even if it meant fewer total points).

They never met or knew who they were giving points to.

Results: The boys gave more points to their own ingroup than to the outgroup. Some boys chose to maximize the differene in points, showing that they wanted ingroup superiority over fairness.

Conclusion: Just being assigned a group is enough to trigger ingroup favortisim and supports Social Identity Theory: people derive self-esteem from group membership and will favor their group to maintain a positive identity.

Ethical considerations: deception, no stress.

Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory, developed by Albert Bandura, explains learning as a process that occurs through observing others and the outcomes of their actions. Rather than relying solely on direct experience, individuals can learn new behaviors and skills by watching others, a process known as observational learning or modeling. The theory emphasizes that learning is influenced not just by the environment, but also by personal factors such as thoughts, beliefs, and emotions, in a dynamic system called reciprocal determinism. This means that behavior, personal factors, and environmental influences all interact and affect each other. A key idea within the theory is vicarious reinforcement, where people learn by seeing others being rewarded or punished. For example, a student may choose to study harder after seeing a classmate praised for good grades, even if they haven't been rewarded themselves.

Bandura et al. (1961) - Bobo Doll Experiment, Social Cognitive Theory, #LabExperiment

Aim: To investigate whether children would imitate aggressive behavior observed in adults, supporting the Social Cognitive Theory, particularly by observational learning.

Sample: 72 children (36 boys and 36 girls) around the age of 4.

Procedure: Children were matched on the basis of their pre-existing aggressiveness, which was rated on a 5-point scale by the experimenter and nursery school teacher prior to the experiment.

IV: Bandura manipulated two sets of IVs:
(1) whether the role model was aggressive or non-aggressive,
(2) whether the role model was the same sex or opposite sex to the child; there was also
(3) a Control condition where the children did not see a role model at all.

Children split into groups → With aggressive model, non-aggressive model, no model at all.

Stage 1: Watching model

Stage 2: Taken into room with toys, for aggression arousal.

Stage 3: Room w/ some aggressive some non aggressive toys. Observed their behavior.

Results: Children who watched the aggressive model exhibited significantly more aggressive behavior, physical and verbal, especially boys. They tended to imitate more of their same-sex models. The non-aggressive and control groups showed much less aggression.

Conclusion: Behavior can be learned through observational learning and supports the SCT. Attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. First, the observer must pay attention to the model's behavior. Then, they need to retain or remember what they saw. Next, they must be physically and mentally able to reproduce the behavior. Finally, they need motivation to perform the behavior, which can come from rewards, seeing others rewarded (vicarious reinforcement), or personal reasons. All four steps are necessary for successful learning through observation. Children tend to imitate the same sex.

Ethical considerations: Deception, PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM (long term effects, increases aggression and exposure t it, consent, lack of debriefing, studies involving children always need to be more careful.

Hamilton and Gifford (1976) - Stereotypes, Illusory corelation leads to the formation of harmful stereotypes, Group A & B #LabExperiment

Participants overestimated the number of negative behaviors of Group B since the group is the minority (smaller in size). This led to an illusory correlation- a cognitive bias where people falsely associate a minority group w more negative traits simply since the group is smaller and the behaviors stood out more.

Sherif et al. (1954) - Robbers Cave Experiment, conflict, formation of stereotypes, prejudice bias, social identity theory, in/outgroup, conformity and social influence #FieldExperiment

Aim: To investigate the causes of ingroups and outgroups, conflicts, and how it can be resolved. The study focused on how competition for limited resources could lead to ingroup favoritism, outgroup hostility, and prejudice.

Sample: 22 boys, ages 11-12. They were divided into two groups and went to this Summer Camp.

Procedure: Stage 1 → Group formation, told to each come up with a team name, set up their camps, and began bonding to create the ingroup.

Stage 2 → Competition, they played games, made their team flags, and competed against each other for prizes. This competition led to hostility and negative stereotyping between the two groups, with each group viewing the other as the enemy.

Stage 3 → Conflict resolution, they were introduced to superordinate goals (tasks that involves teamwork such as cleaning up), through this, the conflict began to resolve and the hostile behaviors decreased significantly.

Results: Competition and creating ingroups and outgroups led to conflict, aggression, and hostility. Creation of in/outgroups creates hostility and stereotyping. Superordinate goals resolved the conflict. Cooperation helps conflict.

1. • Conformity and Social Influence: The boys conformed to their group’s norms, showing how social influence can shape behavior. Once ingroup norms were established, individuals were more likely to conform to those norms, even if it meant engaging in aggressive or prejudiced behavior toward the outgroup. This can be connected to normative social influence, where individuals conform to the behaviors and expectations of their group to be accepted.

   • Prejudice Bias: The experiment directly demonstrated how prejudice and bias can emerge from group competition. Intergroup conflict and negative stereotyping developed quickly once the groups were pitted against each other, leading to discrimination based on group membership.

Cultural Dimensions

Cultural dimensions are values or patterns of behavior that are commonly found within a culture and help explain how people in that culture typically think, feel, and act. These dimensions were first proposed by Geert Hofstede and include key contrasts such as individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs. femininity, and more. They serve as a framework for understanding how cultural values influence behavior, communication, relationships, and decision-making across different societies.

Culture and cultural groups

Culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, norms, customs, behaviors, and symbols that a group of people use to understand and interact with the world. It is passed down from generation to generation through language, traditions, and social learning. Culture influences how individuals think, feel, and behave within a society.

Cultural groups are groups of people who share a common culture. They may be connected by nationality, ethnicity, religion, language, or shared traditions. Belonging to a cultural group can shape a person's identity, social behavior, and worldview.

Hofstede (1973) - Cultural dimensions, values in the workplace, behavior and cognition, cross-cultural #Survey

Aim: To investigate how values in the workplace are influenced by culture, and to identify key dimensions that differentiate national cultures.

Sample: Analyzed around 100,000 employees in around 70 different countries. Male and females between 1967 and 1973.

Procedure: Hofstede sent our standardized surveys full of questions about each individual’s culture/country and then their values and attitudes in the workplace. ( attitudes toward authority, individual vs. group responsibility, time orientation, risk-taking, etc.). He analyzed the data and looked for patterns.

Results: Hofstede identified 4 cultural dimensions:

• Individualism vs. Collectivism → Western cultures (US and UK) are more individualistic where they strive for personal autonomy and achievements vs in Japan and China, they are more collectivistic, where they do almost everything together as a group.

• Power Distance: Higher power distance in the Phillippines and Mexico and lower in Sweden and Denmark.

• Uncertainty Avoidance

• Masculinity vs. Femininity

Cultural values influence behaviors and cognition in the workplace by a lot.

Influence on Behavior

• Cultural values (like individualism) influence behaviors such as communication style, conflict resolution, leadership preferences, and decision-making.

• For instance, individuals in high power distance cultures may be more accepting of hierarchical systems.

Influence on Cognition

• Culture shapes cognitive schemas, such as how people interpret social roles or approach problem-solving.

• For example, collectivist cultures may encourage context-dependent thinking, while individualist cultures promote analytical thinking.

Cultural Origins of Behavior

• Hofstede’s work shows that behaviors stem from cultural value systems that are learned through socialization in families, schools, and communities.

• These origins help explain why people in different countries behave differently in similar situations.

Levine & Norenzayan (1999) - Cultural Dimensions, Pace of life, monochronic/polychronic, #Fieldstudy #Obervational

Aim: To investigate whether certain cultures and their pace of life influences cultural dimensions, behaviors, and ways of thinking. Specifically, individualism and collectivism and time orientation (monochronic vs. polychronic cultures)

Sample: Residents in 31 MAJOR CITIES across countries in North America, Western Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The study just observed public behavior rather than focusing on individuals.

Procedure: Researchers measured the pace of life by observing the region’s walking speed, speed of postal service, and accuracy of public clocks. They then correlated these findings with each country’s Individualism vs. Collectivism, Economic vitality (GDP), climatic temperature, cultural time orientaion (monochronic or polychronic).

Results: They found that cultures (Europe, Japan, and North America) with the fastest “pace of life” scores had more individualistic values and had economic vitality and more industrialized. Slower pace of life countries showed less modernism, tropical regions and climates, and more collectivistic thinking and behaviors. These findings give us an understanding of how the cultural values can apply to people’s academic, home, and work life and how they think and behave.

Enculturation

Enculturation refers to the process by which individuals learn and adopt the values, customs, beliefs, behaviors, and norms of their own culture or social group. This process usually happens naturally over time as individuals grow up and interact with their family, peers, media, and society at large. Through enculturation, individuals come to understand what is considered appropriate, acceptable, or expected in their culture, and this influences their identity, behavior, and cognitive patterns.

Norms

Norms are the unwritten rules and standards of behavior that are considered acceptable within a particular culture or society. These norms govern how people are expected to behave in different situations and guide social interactions. Norms can be both explicit (clearly stated laws or rules) and implicit (social expectations that are understood without being openly communicated). They help maintain social order by ensuring that individuals act in ways that are consistent with the values of the group. Norms can relate to various aspects of life, including dress codes, communication styles, gender roles, etiquette, and ethical standards.

Acculturation

Acculturation is the process by which individuals or groups from one culture come into contact with and adopt elements of another culture. This typically occurs when a group of people moves to a new cultural environment or interacts with people from a different cultural background. The process of acculturation can involve changes in language, customs, beliefs, values, and social behaviors as people adapt to the new culture.

Inman et al. (2007) - 2nd gen Indian-Americans Acculturation/Enculturation, norms#interviews

Aim: To investigate how second-generation Indian-American adults manage cultural values to American culture while maintaining their heritage culture.

Sample: 16, 2nd gen Indian American adults (ages 20-30). All participants were US born with immigrant parents from India.

Procedure: Participants were individually interviewed focused on questions surrounding them growing up in a bicultural environment (cultural identity negotiation, religion, dating/marriage practices, family expectations vs. American values, education, careers, sources of acculturative stress/ cultural conflict. Researchers then looked for certain patterns and how acculturation and enculturation played a role.

Results:

• Most participants found a balance in both American and Indian cultures.

• Enculturation: Family values such as respect for elders, obligation, and education were highly emphasized. Religious practices were kept.

• Acculturation: There was some integration of American values/culture which caused conflicts in identity and families. This includes with career paths, dating, marriages.

• Norms: baka

Assimilation

Assimilation occurs when individuals adopt the new culture and abandon their original culture. They seek to integrate fully into the host society and may no longer retain or identify with the customs, values, or behaviors of their culture of origin.

Basu et al. (2017) - Acculturation, assimilation, mental health of immigrants teenagers, abnormal psychology, #CorrelationalStudy #Survey

Aim: To examine how acculturation factors influence mental health of immigrant adolescents and to explore cultural identity.

Sample: 300 high school immigrant teenagers who were either born in a different country or born here, but parents born in dif country. They focused on Asians and Latinos.

Procedure: Researchers gave participants surveys and used psychological scales for identifying acculturation, cultural identity, and mental health.

• Acculturation scales (assessed integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization).

• Cultural identity strength (both heritage and American)

• Mental health assessment (anxiety, depression, self-esteem)

• Researchers analyzed correlation between acculturation strategies (ways to adjust to the new culture/environment) and psychological outcomes.

Results: Assimilation was observed in the study when immigrants started adopting the British norms, such as speaking English, adopting British-style clothing, and participating in British social customs. This shift reflected a desire to conform to the expectations of the host society, which is a hallmark of assimilation. This causes identity conflict and psychological stress (more anxiety and self-esteem issues)

• They also found that those with acculturation strategies (being able to strongly identify with their ethic background or balancing both cultures well) showed better mental health, less likely to have depression.

Conclusion: The findings support theories of acculturation and enculturation, showing that the way young people balance cultural identities has a profound impact on their mental health.

Globalization

Globalization refers to the process by which businesses, cultures, societies, and economies become interconnected and interdependent across the world. It is driven by factors like advancements in technology, communication, and transportation, which allow for the easier movement of goods, services, ideas, and people across national borders. Globalization leads to increased global trade, cultural exchange, and shared knowledge, but it can also result in economic inequalities, cultural homogenization, and other challenges.

Becker et al. (2002) - Globalization, TV, eating disorders, Fijian adolescent girls, social cognitive theory, ETHICAL CONCERNS #NaturalisticExperiment

Aim: To investigate effect of prolonged exposure of Western TV on attitudes to eating and eating behaviours in Fijian adolescent girls.

Sample: Adolescent girls from Fiji.
Independent groups design.
1st sample: 63 girls in 1995 several weeks before TV came in.
2nd sample: different set of 65 girls studied in 1998.
Combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Procedure: Initial Data Collection (Before TV Exposure):

• In 1995, prior to the introduction of television, Fiji had a largely non-Western cultural environment. Researchers initially surveyed 63 adolescent girls to assess their eating behaviors, body image perceptions, and overall mental health.

• At this time, eating disorders like anorexia nervosa were not present in Fijian culture, and there was no strong emphasis on thinness as a beauty standard.

• Introduction of Television:

  • Western television programs were introduced to Fiji in 1995, primarily through the availability of satellite television. This marked the beginning of exposure to Western media, particularly the portrayal of Western ideals of beauty (e.g., thinness).

• Follow-Up Data Collection (After TV Exposure):

  • In 1998, three years after the introduction of television, the same group of girls was surveyed again to assess changes in eating behaviors, body image, and psychological well-being.

  • In addition to the original survey, researchers conducted interviews and used focus groups to gather more in-depth insights into the effects of television on the girls’ attitudes towards body image and dieting.

Results: (Before 0%) 11% of girls reported self-induced vomiting. 40% justified that they ate less and lost some weight. 70% of girls reported that the TV influenced their perception of body image.

Conclusion: Demonstrated that the introduction of Western television in Fiji led to significant shifts in eating behaviors and body image perceptions among adolescent girls, highlighting the impact of globalization. The study illustrates how exposure to global media can lead to the internalization of Western ideals, causing changes in local cultural norms, especially concerning beauty standards and health behaviors. This underscores the powerful influence of globalization in shaping cultural values and behaviors, even in societies that were previously isolated from such influences.

Ethical considerations: damn…

Leung et al. (2008) - Globalization, Consumer behavior, Western v. Eastern

Aim: The study aimed to examine how globalization and cultural differences influence consumer behavior across different cultures. Specifically, it investigated how Western cultural influences were affecting consumer preferences and behaviors in countries with traditionally different values.

Sample: The study involved participants from a range of countries, including both Western (e.g., the U.S., the UK) and non-Western countries (e.g., China, Japan, Korea). The participants were selected to reflect various cultural backgrounds with varying levels of exposure to Western media and consumer products.

Procedure: The researchers used surveys and questionnaires to assess consumer preferences and attitudes toward brands, products, and marketing tactics. The surveys measured:

• Brand recognition (e.g., which global brands the participants were familiar with).

• Consumer attitudes toward global products (such as Western fast food or clothing brands).

• Perceptions of individualism versus collectivism in their consumer choices (e.g., prioritizing personal preferences vs. choosing products for family or community use).

• Focus: The study aimed to investigate the changing dynamics between local cultures and the global market, specifically how global products and brands were received in countries that traditionally did not have Western consumer practices.

Results: The study found that globalization had a significant impact on consumer behavior across cultures.

• Western cultural values were becoming more prominent in non-Western societies, particularly among younger generations.

• People from cultures traditionally associated with collectivism (e.g., Asian countries) were adopting individualistic consumer behaviors, prioritizing personal choice and brand preferences.

• The study also showed that global brands (e.g., Coca-Cola, McDonald's) had greater appeal in non-Western countries, particularly as Western-style marketing became more pervasive.

• Increase in consumption of outside culture products.

Conclusion: The findings from Leung et al. (2008) illustrate how globalization influences consumer behavior by spreading Western ideals of consumerism and individualism to traditionally more collectivist cultures. As these cultures adopt global products and brands, there is a shift in consumer preferences and values, leading to a greater integration of Western consumer culture into local practices. This study shows how globalization fosters the homogenization of consumer habits and cultural practices, resulting in a blending of local and global influences in everyday life.