Cross Cultural Psych

What is analytic thinking?

Focusing on separate objects, their properties, and abstract rules. Analytic = Apart.

What is holistic thinking?

Focusing on relationships, context, and the entire scene. Holistic = Whole.

What is taxonomic categorization?

Grouping things because they belong to the same category. Cow + chicken = animals.

What was the main takeaway of Miller’s study in your notes?

Cultural differences in explaining behavior developed with age: American participants emphasized dispositions more; Indian participants emphasized context more.

What was the main takeaway of Kim’s talking-and-thinking research?

Talking aloud does not help thinking equally across cultural groups and tasks.

What is low-context communication?

Meaning is conveyed more explicitly through words. “Say what you mean.”

High - context communication?

Meaning depends more on shared knowledge, relationships, and nonverbal cues. “Read the context.”

implicit cues and meanings

What is the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis about?

The relationship between language and thought.

What is linguistic determinism—the strong version?

Language determines or constrains what people can think.

What is linguistic relativity—the weak version?

Language influences thought, attention, and categorization.

What does Chomsky’s universal grammar theory propose?

Humans have an innate foundation for acquiring language.

What is vertical cultural transmission?

Passing cultural information between generations.

What is horizontal cultural transmission?

Spreading information between peers or groups

Why can cross-cultural communication lead to misunderstandings?

Speakers and listeners may interpret the same message through different cultural expectations.

What helps reduce cross-cultural misunderstandings?

Active listening, clarifying meaning, patience, openness, and avoiding assumptions about intent.

What does James–Lange theory propose?

Bodily changes occur first, and experiencing those changes produces emotion. Body first.

Cannon-Bard theory?

Emotion and physiological responses occur simultaneously. Both together.

What does Schachter–Singer theory propose?

Emotion results from physiological arousal plus a cognitive interpretation or label. Body + label.

What was Darwin’s central view of emotions?

Emotions and their expressions have evolutionary roots and adaptive functions.

What six basic emotions are highlighted in Ekman’s research?

Happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise.

What is appraisal?

Your own interpretation of what a situation means

• people can appraise situations differently: praise and criticism

What is the psychometric approach to intelligence?

Measuring intelligence through standardized tests and numerical scores.

• can’t capture: diverse abilities, tests sample only particular skills in particular contexts

Person-first language vs Identity-first language

Person with a disability vs/ Disabled person

What is culture

Shared attitudes, behaviours and symbols transmitted across people and generation

What is power distance?

How much people accept unequal distributions of power. High power distance = greater acceptance of hierarchy.

What is uncertainty avoidance?

Discomfort with uncertainty and ambiguity, often associated with a preference for rules and predictability.

What is individualism?

Emphasis on independence, personal goals, and self-reliance. “I choose.”

What is collectivism?

Emphasis on interdependence, group goals, and collective responsibility. “We belong.”

What is an independent self-concept?

Defining yourself through your personal traits and preferences: “I am creative.”

How do scientific, folk, ideological, and legal knowledge differ?

Scientific: research. Folk: everyday beliefs. Ideological: value systems. Legal: laws and official rules.

What can make dominant-group privilege difficult to recognize?

Members may see their own experiences and advantages as normal or universal.

What are the five minority identity development stages, in order?

Conformity → Dissonance → Resistance and immersion → Introspection → Synergetic articulation and awareness.

What happens during conformity?

The person accepts or favors the dominant culture’s standards.

What happens during dissonance?

Experiences lead the person to question previously accepted beliefs about identity and the dominant culture.

What is culture shock?

The emotional, behavioral, and cognitive challenges of adjusting to an unfamiliar cultural environment.

What is the similarity-attraction hypothesis?

People tend to feel more comfortable with others they perceive as similar.

What is the cultural distance hypothesis?

Greater differences between familiar and new cultural environments can make adjustment harder

What are the five multicultural personality traits?

Cultural empathy: understanding and attending to the feelings of people from different cultural backgrounds

open-mindedness: being receptive to unfair people, values, and ideas

social initiative: taking the lead in making contact and participating socially

emotional stability: remaining relatively calm and balanced under stress

flexibility: adjusting your behaviour or approach when circumstances change

Reduction in culture shock?

Reducing anxiety, developing coping strategies, and building social support.

What is the evaluative bias of language?

Words express judgments and values, not just descriptions. Example: “traditional” versus “backward.”

What is a dichotomous variable?

A variable with two mutually exclusive categories, such as pass/fail.

What is a continuous variable?

A variable that varies along a spectrum, such as degree of anxiety.

What is the Barnum effect?

Believing a vague, widely applicable description is uniquely accurate about you. Example: a horoscope.

What is assimilation bias?

Interpreting new information through existing beliefs or schemas. “My beliefs filter what I see.”

What is representativeness bias?

Judging likelihood by how closely something matches a stereotype, often ignoring base rates.

Ex: someone who wears glasses and read books academic rather than blue collar

What is availability bias?

Judging frequency or likelihood by how easily examples come to mind.

What is the fundamental attribution error?

Overemphasizing personal traits and underestimating situational influences when explaining others’ behavior.

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

An expectation changes behavior in a way that helps bring about the expected outcome

ex: believe will fail something so feel nervous and low confidence and it manifests

What is belief perseverance?

Continuing to hold a belief despite evidence against it.

What is the naturalistic fallacy?

Assuming that because something is natural or common, it ought to be morally acceptable.

What is bidirectional causation?

A affects B, and B affects A. Example: stress worsens sleep, and poor sleep increases stress.

What is multiple causation?

Several factors contribute to one outcome. Example: stress may reflect workload, finances, and relationships.

Nature?

Inherited biological influences on development

Nurture?

Environmental influences and experiences that shape development

Sensitive period?

Developmental window when acquiring a skill is especially easy; learning later

• Cultural & languages

What is attachment?

Emotional bond with a caregiver that provides a sense of security

What is a cross-cultural critique of attachment theory?

Western assumptions about caregiving, emotional expression, and assessment may not fit every culture.

How can caregiving arrangements differ across cultures?

Care may involve parents, grandparents, siblings, and other community members—not just one caregiver.

How do distal and proximal caregiving differ?

Distal: more face-to-face speech, sight, and objects. Proximal: more physical contact and bodily coordination.

What is analytic thinking?

Focusing on separate objects, their properties, and abstract rules. Analytic = Apart.

What is holistic thinking?

Focusing on relationships, context, and the entire scene. Holistic = Whole.

Components of Intelligence

Recognition, categorization, thinking, and memory

Cognitive development varies culturally

Influenced by environment (education, social experiences, and cultural practices)

Models of disability

Moral: moral defect, curse from god

Medical: innate deviation, focus on curing or treating these inadequacies

Social/minority model: disability as a variation of the human condition and emphasizes the role of societal barriers in limiting opportunities for people with it

Ableism

  - Belief that people with disabilities are inferior to nondisabled people.

  - Results in segregation, social isolation, and limiting opportunities.

Strategies to Combat Ableism

  - Education: raising awareness and understanding.

  - Policy Changes: implementing inclusive policies and practices.

  - Promoting Inclusive Attitudes: encouraging acceptance and respect for diversity.