PSY1PAC W9-12

Ethnocentrism

The belief in the superiority of one's own culture over others, affecting the exploration of cultural differences.

Kohlberg’s Model of Moral Reasoning

A framework proposed by Lawrence Kohlberg that outlines three levels of moral development:

1. Preconventional: determined by physical/hedonistic consequences of action

2. Conventional: determined by external standards, concern for social order

3. Postconventional: determined by internalized, abstract principles about justice and individual rights.

Heinz Dilemma

A moral dilemma presented by Kohlberg to illustrate the stages of moral reasoning regarding whether Heinz should steal medicine to save his wife's life.

In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $1,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.

Big 3 moral ethics across cultures

1. Ethic of autonomy 

2. Ethic of community

3. Ethic of divinity

All 3 ethics found across cultures

Western cultures particularly concerned with autonomy

Community and Divinity are very important in many others

Ethic of Autonomy

A moral framework focusing on individual rights, justice, and the premise of harm or fairness.

• harm/care: the crowd ignores someone who needs help

• fairness/reciprocity: a student cheated on an exam

Ethic of Community

A moral framework centered around social roles, obligations, and loyalty within a community.

• ingroup/loyalty

• authority/respect

Ethic of Divinity

A moral framework that emphasizes purity, sanctity, and adherence to divine standards.

• purity/sanctity

Price of moral violations

How much would you need to be paid to...

• Stick a small pin into the palm of a child you don’t know

• Say something bad about your country while calling in, anonymously, to a talk-radio show in a foreign country?

• Attend a performance art piece in which the actors act like animals for 30 minutes, including crawling around naked and urinating on stage?

Moral vs social obligations

Moral obligations are:

• Objective obligations: things people should do even if no official rule exists

• Legitimately regulated: things people should be prevented from doing, and that should lead to punishment if done

If an obligation is not considered to be moral, it is a convention or personal choice (a social obligation).

Moral Intuitions

Innate ethical judgments influenced by cultural factors, categorized into various foundations like Autonomy, Community, and Divinity.

How does disgust relate to authority?

• Disgust is a common response to moral violations.

• Same facial muscle movements appear as when smelling something unpleasant or seeing contamination.

• Disgust can also arise when witnessing unfair treatment.

• Feeling disgust makes ambiguous or harmless behavior seem problematic or immoral.

Culture Wars

Conflicts between different cultural groups based on varied opinions on social and moral issues.

What are Haidt’s moral intuitions (foundations) and how do they differ politically?

• 3 Ethics → 5 Moral Foundations (Haidt):

  • Autonomy → Harm, Fairness

  • Community → Ingroup, Authority

  • Divinity → Purity

• Political Differences:

  • Left: Emphasize Harm & Fairness

  • Right: Endorse all five more evenly

How do moral intuitions and food choices differ across cultures?

In the West, vegetarianism is a choice based on harm and fairness (animals, environment). In India, it is often tradition, linked to purity, authority, and ingroup values.

What did Weber argue about religion and achievement motivation?

Weber (1904) argued that Protestant beliefs shaped capitalism. People saw work as a calling and a moral duty, tied to predestination. Success was viewed as a sign of God’s favor, but enjoying wealth was sinful. Over time, this ethic secularised, creating a cultural drive to work hard and accumulate capital.

Protestant Ethic

Max Weber's theory linking the rise of capitalism to Protestant values emphasizing hard work, frugality, and economic success as signs of divine favor.

How do cultures differ on the morality of thoughts?

• Judaism: Morality based on practices; behavior > thoughts.

• Christianity: Morality includes thoughts; faith and belief matter.

• Christians (esp. Protestants): See thoughts as under control and leading to behavior.

• Jews: Less emphasis on thoughts → don’t assume they cause behavior.

• Small-scale societies (e.g., Yasawans, Fiji): Intention less central; accidental harm judged nearly as immoral as intentional harm.

Innate vs Acquired biological differences

1. Innate biological differences: Different selection pressures over generations cause genetic variations in different human populations

2. Acquired biological differences: Caused by different experiences within one’s lifetime in diverse locations

Skin color across different populations

• Humans need ultraviolet radiation (UVR) to provide Vitamin D, but too much UVR can be damaging.

• In high-UVR locations, darker skin prevents overabsorption of UVR.

• In low-UVR locations, lighter skin allows enough UVR absorption to synthesize Vitamin D.

• Skin color strongly correlates with the amount of UVR that reaches different parts of the globe.

Culture-Gene Coevolution (Lactose tolerance)

Cultural factors can influence genomic variation.

Example: Lactose tolerance (or intolerance) in humans

• Most adults develop lactase nonpersistence, or meaning they don’t have enough lactase to digest lactose.

• Cow domestication in northern Europe → mutation that helps humans digest milk.

• Lactase persistence developed in regions with high genetic diversity in cattle

High Altitude effect on genetic variation

• Environmental factors can influence genetic variation

• Several cultural groups in Tibet live at very high elevations (> 4000 m)

• Several handy genetic adaptations

  • Higher blood-oxygen levels

  • Greater lung capacity

  • Greater capacity for exercise at high levels

  • Result of natural selection

Underwater Vision

Moken (nomadic people in SE Asia)

~300 years ago, fled turmoil in Indonesia, most now in Thailand

DOUBLE the underwater visual acuity of Europeans

Very young, Moken children swim underwater to collect fish and shellfish

Differences in visual acuity appears experience-driven

Phsyical Height variation across cultures

• Potential explanation: The economic wealth of a country has close ties with the height of its people.

• More wealth may allow a healthier diet, especially at ages when growth spurts occur.

• Changes in average heights across time have happened alongside broad societal changes that affected diet

Culture and Sleep

• Before electricity: People often had two sleep phases (sleep → wake at night → sleep again). ns.

• Sleep needs: The “8 hours” idea is too simple. NSF (2015) reviewed 300+ studies to give flexible guidelines.

• Infants: Big differences in daily sleep hours across countries (Mindell et al., 2010).

• Within countries: Sleep patterns also vary a lot locally (Pronk et al., 2024).

How does SES affect health?

• Lower SES is linked to poorer health outcomes everywhere.

• Poverty limits cognitive resources and promotes short-term survival strategies.

• Stress is a major pathway: it weakens the immune system and increases illness.

• Lower SES is often tied to more unhealthy habits (e.g., smoking, poor diet).

• Perceived control and subjective SES strongly influence health.

• Similar patterns are observed in humans and primates.

How do medical practices differ across cultures?

• Traditional medicine often links illness to supernatural causes (witches, spirits, demons).

• Western medicine relies on the scientific method and rejects supernatural explanations.

• Metaphors for the body differ:

  • China: Yin & yang → balance of opposites.

  • France: Terrain → resistance; more rest/spa treatments, less focus on bathing.

  • USA: Machine → body must be maintained; more surgery, heavy antibiotic use.

• Some cultures (e.g., Germany) have unique illness concepts not found elsewhere.

The French Paradox

The observation that French populations have a lower incidence of heart disease despite a diet rich in saturated fats, linked to lifestyle factors.

French vs American Eating Differences

• Portion size

• Eating time

• Eating sociality / conversation

• Freshness and taste (vs. shelf life) priority

• Snacking prevalence & opportunities

• Moderation vs. abundance ideology

What changes have occurred in food and eating, and what are their effects?

• Shift: Scarcity → abundance; high effort → low effort; modest options → huge variety.

• Positives: More food, greater variety, safer production, efficiency → linked to longer life expectancy.

• Negatives: Diets higher in fat/sugar/calories, lower in fiber; rise of chronic disease; global diet homogenization (“Coca-Colonization”).

• Trend: Renewed interest in “traditional eating,” though ideas of “traditional” vs “modern” vary across cultures and time.

What is the TEP10 Project and what did it find about eating practices?

• Large cross-cultural project (10 countries, ~50% of world population).

• Goal: Develop framework for traditional vs. modern eating and explore lay perceptions.

• Methods: Surveys (online, paper, interviews) in local languages; rated 86 food facets from very traditional → very modern.

• Findings:

  • Similarities (modern): eating out, vending machines, global/foreign foods, recently produced foods.

  • Differences (traditional): dairy, red meat, home-canned foods, desserts after meals, table manners.

  • More cross-country agreement on what counts as modern than on what counts as traditional.

Eating Motivations Scale (TEMS)

A scale used to measure reasons behind food choices, including aspects like convenience, health, sociability, and pleasure.

Cross-Cultural Medical Practices

Diverse medical approaches influenced by cultural beliefs, where traditional practices may attribute illness to supernatural phenomena.

Psychological Disorder

Behaviors that are rare and impair the individual, with definitions varying across cultures.

Cultural Concepts of Distress (syndromes, idioms, explanations)

Ways that cultural groups experience, understand, and communicate suffering. Difficult to connect with diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM).

Cultural syndromes: clusters of symptoms that occur in specific cultural groups.

Cultural idioms of distress: shared ways of experiencing and talking about personal and social concerns

Cultural explanations: culturally recognized ways of explaining symptoms, illness and distress

Hikikomori

A societal withdrawal phenomenon in Japan where individuals barricade themselves at home, often impacting young men.

• Disconnect from DSM: depression? social anxiety?

• Fears about failing in social world with little tolerance for falling short/ non-conformity; declining career options

Dhat

A psychological syndrome in South Asia characterized by the fear that one’s body is leaking semen, associated with guilt and cultural beliefs (masturbation forbidden & semen a source of vitality and defense against disease).

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder in North America and Europe involving uncontrollable binge eating and inappropriate behaviors to prevent weight gain.

• More common in women.

• Absent in much of the world, especially cultures where food is not abundant. 

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder featuring an intense fear of gaining weight, leading to self-starvation, primarily affecting women in North America and Europe.

• Largely absent in many cultures when there is no fear of fatness

Koro

“Head of a turtle”

A cultural syndrome found in Southern China and Malaysia where men fear that their penis is retracting into their body. Also in women, fear of losing nipples. 

Frigophobia

A cultural condition primarily affecting women in China and Singapore, characterized by avoidance of cold air and foods. Wearing multiple layers year-round. Often treated via diet (pepper, ginger, vinegar.

Ataques de Nervios

A cultural phenomenon in Puerto Rico, mainly among women, involving convulsions and a sense of being out of control following stress.

What are “culture-bound” disorders in Aboriginal Australian contexts?

• Behaviours or experiences seen as normal within Aboriginal culture but may be misdiagnosed as mental illness in Western contexts.

• Misdiagnosis occurs when clinicians lack cultural understanding.

• Example from Westerman (2021): “Things that are often considered ‘normal’ in Aboriginal communities but viewed from whitefella world might be considered mental illness.”

Susto

feeling the soul has been dislodged from the body, which can lead to a range of symptoms (parts of Latin America)

Hörsturz

sudden and temporary impairment/loss of hearing, with no obvious cause. Often attributed to stress (Germany)

Fernweh

“distance sickness.” Longing for far-away lands and travel. “Nostalgia in reverse” (Germany) Perhaps not so culture-bound in the age of Covid?

How can cultural beliefs about health cause physical symptoms?

• Beliefs and expectations can produce real physical reactions.

• Example: People reacting strongly after being injected with a placebo (saline solution) — not the drug itself, but the belief about it.

• Shows the mind-body link influenced by culture and belief systems.

How does language influence emotional experience across cultures?

• Different cultures categorise and describe emotions differently.

• Example:

  • Natyashastra (ancient Indian text): 8 basic emotions.

  • Ekman’s model: 6 basic emotions.

• English has 2,000+ emotion words, while Chewong (Malaysia) have only 8.

• Vocabulary shapes emotional awareness and expression.

two key differences in psychopathologies worldwide

1. relative prevalence

2. symptom presentation

Somatization vs psychologization

Somatization: physical symptoms (Sleep disturbances, headaches)

Psychologization: psychological symptoms (Depressed mood, crying)

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) diagnosis requirements

• diagnosis requires for people to exhibit at least five of nine symptoms:

  • Depressed mood

  • Inability to feel pleasure

  • Change in weight or appetite

  • Sleep problems

  • Psychomotor change

  • Fatigue or loss of energy

  • Feeling worthless or guilty

  • Poor concentration Suicidality

Prevalence of Depression

• apparent universal

• large differences in prevalence 

• rates vary based on diagnostic criteria

• Rates in China ~20% of those in USA

• Rates in Nigera 4x those in USA

What does “depression as departure from cultural emotion norms” mean?

• Depression involves emotions that conflict with cultural expectations about how one should feel or express emotion.

• Example: In Western cultures that value positive affect and expressiveness, emotional numbness may feel especially distressing or abnormal.

• Highlights culture’s role in shaping how depression is experienced and understood.

Social Anxiety Disorder

A condition characterized by excessive fear of social situations and avoidance that interferes with daily life.

Taijin kyofushou (TKS)

A unique cultural form of social anxiety occurring in Japan, focused on concerns about others' discomfort caused by one’s appearance (e.g. body odor, blushing, sweating, penetrating gaze). Chief concern: others’ discomfort. Worst around acquaintances, not strangers.

What are the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia?

• Diagnosis requires 2 or more symptoms over a significant time period:

  • Delusions

  • Hallucinations

  • Disorganised speech

  • Grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour

  • Negative symptoms (e.g., flat affect, loss of speech)

• Involves a combination of genetics, prenatal experiences, and neuroanatomy.

Paranoid vs Catatonic schizophrenia

• Paranoid Schizophrenia (delusional visions)

• Catatonic Schizophrenia (lack of motor response)

How do recovery rates for Schizophrenia differ across cultures?

• Higher recovery rates in less industrialised societies.

• This is opposite to the pattern seen in most mental or physical illnesses.

• Possible reasons:

  • Hallucinations and spirit possession beliefs may be culturally accepted → less stigma.

  • Stronger sense of community and social support in less-developed societies.

Why is cultural connection important for wellbeing and suicide prevention?

• Loss of cultural continuity → ↑ suicide risk (e.g., First Nations youth).

• Self-government, control of culture, land, education → ↓ suicide rates.

• Links to language, land, stories, spirituality build identity & resilience.

How does culture shape treatment and support-seeking?

• Western therapy: talk-based, insight-focused (may not fit all cultures).

• Social support:

  • West → open help-seeking.

  • East Asia → avoid overt support; prefer implicit comfort from relationships.

    • Morita Therapy (Japan): accept circumstances; rest, reflection, meditation.

    • Naikan Therapy: reflect on kindness received; fosters gratitude & insight.

  • Emphasise spiritual and communal healing, not just clinical treatment.

What are key cross-cultural healing approaches?

• Family: shared responsibility, guidance, reduced stigma.

• Spirituality/Religion: illness as spiritual imbalance.

Sweatlodge (First Nations)

• cleansing & healing ritual using rocks, fire, water, prayer; used for distress, addiction, gratitude.

• Healing = community, spirit, and connection, not just individual treatment.

How is health defined in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts?

• Holistic: social, emotional, cultural, and physical wellbeing of community, not just individual.

• Includes life–death–life cycle and connection to Country, culture, spirituality, and family.

• Key wellbeing factors:

  • Autonomy & empowerment

  • Family & community

  • Culture, spirituality, identity, Country

  • Education, work, basic needs, mental & physical health

What is cultural responsiveness and why does it matter?

• Competence: awareness of one’s bias, knowledge of others’ cultures, skills for adaptation.

• Responsiveness: ongoing, reflexive, relational practice.

• CRAM (Smith et al., 2023) – 9 factors:

  • Awareness, Knowledge, Inclusive Relationships, Cultural Respect, Cultural Safety, Social Justice & Human Rights, Self-Reflection, Cultural Humility, Cultural Competence.

• Core competency for psychologists in Australia, USA, Canada.

Social Loafing

The phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working in a group compared to when they are working alone.

Social Striving

The tendency for individuals to work better when evaluated as part of a group rather than as individuals.

Pros and Cons of cultural diversity

Pros:

• Greater variety in viewpoints provides more information.

• People in diverse groups consider and process information more deeply and accurately than homogenous groups.

• Diversity can lead to enhanced creativity and informed problem solving.

Cons:

• Diversity can cause friction, harming performance.

• Differences can lead to problems with communication and group cohesion.

• Differences can also lead to stereotyping, decreased trust, segregation, and negative work outcomes

Recommendations for multicultural teams

• Use clear strategies to avoid communication issues

• Highlight all group members’ contributions to diversity

• Emphasize value of diversity and merit

• Consider everyone’s perspective Recognize and appreciate differences

Creativity

The generation of ideas that are novel, useful, and appropriate; involves both novelty and usefulness as necessary components.

Creativity as novelty

• Generating novel ideas → individualism

• Westerners show a stronger preference for novel objects than East Asians.

• Priming individualistic thoughts generates larger number of ideas than priming collectivistic thoughts.

• Extremely novel creativity possibly linked to mental illness in the West, but likely less linked in China

Creativity as usefulness

Generating useful ideas →  collectivism.

• Importance of practical solutions that address social concerns

• Participants in Singapore elaborated more on the appropriateness of ideas in a pair rather than alone, but Israelis did not show this effect.

• When motivated to do well on a brainstorming task

• Koreans: more useful ideas but not more original ideas

• Dutch: more original ideas but not more useful ideas

• Cultures tend to produce different kinds of innovations.

• East Asian cultures tend to foster incremental rather than breakthrough innovations

What makes a good leader in different cultures?

• Different cultures may have different models of good leadership.

• Studies suggest that: US-Americans value leadership highly; American chief executive officers (CEOs) earn more than CEOs in any other country.

• Europeans tend to be more ambivalent about leaders.

• People in Latin America prefer strong, autocratic leaders.

• People in Asia prefer leaders who are moral role models and guide others in their professional and personal lives.

Universally desirable leaders (charismatic, team-oriented)

• charismatic/value-based leaders: inspire and motivate others while maintaining high standards based on core beliefs

• team-oriented leaders: emphasize team building and common goals.

Culturally contingent leaders (humane-oriented, autonomous, participative, self-protective, paternalistic)

• Humane-oriented leaders: supportive, considerate, compassionate, and generous. Highly valued in Southern Asia, less so in Western Europe.

• Autonomous leaders: independent and individualistic. Highly valued in Eastern Europe but less so in Latin America.

• Participative leaders: involve others in making and implementing decisions Highly valued in Northern Europe but less so in Middle East and North Africa

• Self-protective leaders: ensure own safety & security Usually seen as less effective Somewhat more valued in Southern Asia and avoided in Northern Europe

• Paternalistic leaders: similar to how parents guide children Viewed as more effective in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, less appreciated in individualistic cultures

Leadership recommendations

• Be open to ambiguity, self-confident, and optimistic

• Maintain a global mindset and good knowledge of local culture(s)

• Appreciate individual uniqueness and cultural differences

Rational Persuasion

Leadership trait that involves obtaining evidence, conveying arguments, and suggesting solutions as a way of exerting influence Particularly valued in America

Guanxi

A Chinese concept emphasizing the importance of relationships and obligations inherent in social connections for business and personal life.

Wasta

An Arabic term for creating trust through mutual connections, which can assist in mediation but may lead to corruption.

Nemawashi

Japanese process of informally discussing ideas before making a proposal One agreement is reached, one can act quickly; it can take a long time to reach consensus, and possibly stifle creativity.

Jeitinho

Brazilian concept for navigating hierarchies

• “The little way out”: dodging official rules

• Adaptation in a system that can’t always be trusted?

• Range of behaviours

  • Doing favours for others

  • Breaking social norms

  • Finding pragmatic solutions

  • Sometimes engaging in corruption

Distributive Justice + 3 principles of resource distribution (need, equality, equity)

socially just and equitable allocation of goods and services.

• Need: helping those who would benefit most

• Equality: sharing equally among group members

• Equity: based on individual efforts and abilities

Systems of distributive justice (meritocracy, seniority)

• Meritocracy: A system that rewards individuals based on their equity of contribution, commonly seen in individualistic societies. Usually motivates individuals to work hard Breeds competition, potentially disrupting relationships

• Seniority: uses age or time spent as an employee as the basis of reward Much of the world uses the principle of equality to maintain distributive justice May decrease individual motivation but maintain harmonious relationships in some cultural contexts

Just World Belief

worldview that life is fair, people tend to get what they deserve.

Economic games for fairness (dictator, ultimatum, public goods)

• Dictator game: One person decides how to split money with another; measures generosity and fairness. Giving varies by culture and is predicted by market integration and religion.

• Ultimatum Game: Like the Dictator Game, but the receiver can reject unfair offers—both lose if rejected. Tests fairness and willingness to punish unfairness. Wealthier countries give less overall.

• Public Goods Game: Group members decide how much money to contribute to a shared pool (multiplied and divided). Tests cooperation and free-riding. Altruistic punishment of non-cooperators increases fairness and trust.

Antisocial Punishment

The use of personal resources to punish cooperating individuals, typically motivated by revenge or to prevent others from being better off.

What does civic cooperation reveal about virtue, happiness, and cultural norms?

• Civic virtue: Measured by attitudes toward dishonest acts (e.g., tax cheating, fare evasion, bribery).

• Virtue & happiness: When dishonesty and antisocial punishment are low, virtuous people are happier. When both are high, the link disappears (Stavrova et al., 2013).

What do studies on corruption, deception, and negotiation reveal about cultural differences?

• Corruption & deception: all cultures showed some dishonesty—often seen as “justified.” More national corruption → more deceptive behaviour.

• Predictors of corruption: Poverty, inequality, high power distance, and sometimes collectivism.

• Negotiation styles:

  • Collectivist cultures: Prefer compromise, avoid anger, use apology to maintain trust.

  • Individualist cultures: More competitive, use threats or anger to gain advantage, focus on self-interest.