Psychology Sociocultural Approach

Social Identity

The groups you belong to, the people you identify with.

Social Identity Theory

People categorize themselves into different social categories to build their own social identity

Categorization

the process by which you group people together on certain characteristics

• gender, age, nationality, religion

Identification

The act of categorizing yourself as a member of a particular group, taking on the values and beliefs of the group

Social Comparison

Comparing your group (the in-group) with other groups (out-groups) in ways that make your group seem better

Social Cognitive Theory

The influence of individual experiences, the actions of others, and environmental factors on individual behavior

Factors of SCT

Observing a model

Outcome expectancies

Self efficacy

Identification with the model

Stereotypes

widely held belief about the characteristics of a group

Generalization

Forming a belief about a particular social group and applying that belief to all members of the group

Confirmation bias

Basic human tendency to seek out information that confirm a belief, and ignore information to challenge a belief

Effects of stereotypes

discrimnation, prejudice

Culture

made up set of attitudes, behaviors, and symbols, shared by a large group of people.

Conformity

changing your beliefs or behaviors to fit in with a group

Norms

rules for appropriate and inappropriate behavior, beliefs, values, and attitude

Cultural Dimensions

how the values of a society affect behavior

Power Distance

to the extent which people accept unequal distributions of power

High power distance

boss makes all the important decisions, and the employees accept total authority

Low power distance

decisions are made collaboratively, all employees have a say

Uncertainty avoidance

Tolerance for ambiguity

High uncertainty avoidance

Strict rules and guidelines that establish how things must be done

Low uncertainty avoidance

More acceptance for different ways of doing things

Masculinity vs femininity

describes the importance given to achievement and striving for sucess

Masculine culture

more competition, focus on material rewards, and assertiveness

Feminine culture

More emphasis on cooperation, modesty, and quality of life

Individualism vs collectivism

describes the importance given to group belonging and integration

Individualistic culture

People have looser ties to social groups, and tend to act independently

Collective culture

People have stronger bonds with their social groups, and emphasize group loyalty and cooperation with others

Long-term vs short-term orientation

describes how people think about time

short-term culture

people tend to focus on the past and the present, and tend to seek immediate gratification

long-term orienation

people tend to focus on the distant future, and are willing to delay immediate gratification in favor of working toward long-term goals

Enculturation

The process of learning the values, beliefs, norms and expectations of the place you are from.

Seperation

When an immigrant is primarily interested in maintaining their cultural background

Marginalization

When an immigrant is not interested in keeping their original culture or the culture of their new home

This can result in feelings of alienation

Integration

Maintain their cultural heritage and learn their new home's values, attitudes, norms, and behavior.

Also known as biculturalism

Acculturation

The process of social, psychological, and cultural change that results from blending between cultures

Assimilation

The process of social, psychological, and cultural change that results from blending between cultures

Reciprocal determinism

Behavior is controlled or determined by the individual, through cognitive processes, and by the environment, through external stimulus events

Surface culture

Surface culture encompasses easily observable elements such as behaviors, customs, traditions, and the architecture of a culture.

Deep culture

Deep culture involves cognitive elements, values, beliefs, gender roles, respect for authority, and rules and concepts of social identity and the self, which are easily accessible to members of a culture but may be more difficult for non-members to understand.

Emic approach

Studying culture from the insiders' perspective by understanding cultural elements through the meanings and interpretations of the culture members themselves. Uses participant observations and interviews to understand cultural phenomena from the culture members' viewpoint.

Etic approach

The etic approach studies culture from an outsider's perspective, understanding cultural elements through observations without interfering. It uses standardized measurements like surveys and experiments to explore the culture.

Stereotype threat

the anticipation of a situation that can potentially confirm a negative stereotype about one's group. It causes emotional distress and spotlight anxiety. 

Illusory correlation

cognitive bias where unrelated events are perceived as related. This occurs when two rare events co-occur, like encountering a minority group member and a negative behavior, leading to exaggerated connections and negative stereotypes.

Social categorization

Social categorization interacts with illusory correlation in forming stereotypes (Johnson, Schaller, & Mullen, 2000). Stereotypes arise indirectly through culture or directly from personal experiences. Key sources are personal interactions and gatekeepers like media and parents.

Acculturative stress

Acculturative stress (or culture shock) is the personal battle between enculturation (maintaining identity) and acculturation (fitting in) when moving to a new culture, causing psychological, somatic, and social difficulties.