culture

CULTURE, RELIOGION, AND ETHNICITY

HISTORY & RESEARCH

• Evaluating others from one’s own cultural point of view is termed ETHNOCENTRICISM

• Things that seem natural and normal to us can often only be identified as culture-specific through comparison with other cultures

• Cross-cultural personality psychologists often distinguish between EMIC and ETIC approaches

• Problems arise when concepts and methods developed in one culture are carelessly transferred to another culture in an attempt to make cross-cultural generalizations about personality

COLLECTIVIST & INDIVIDUALISTIC

• A key dimension of cultural effects on personality involves the centrality of the autonomous individual versus the centrality of the collective

• INDIVIDUALISTIC themes = Western cultures

• CELLECTIVIST themes = Eastern cultures

ERRORS OF SCIENTIFIC INFERENCE

• Ethnic groups

• Groupings based on cultural habits, customs, and religious beliefs

• Some large groupings are based o physical characteristics tied to geographical origin, such as skin color or eye shape, or height - race

• Because physical characteristics are so obvious, we often overgeneralize and over-attribute personality characteristics based on them

• AMERICAN DILEMMA

• U.S. founded on the idea of “All men are created equal”

• Racial divide – Black-White differences

• In considering the relevance of race, it certainly makes sense to take into account that personality is influenced by the reactions of others and that others often react to us based on perceived physical characteristics

CULTURE & TESTING

• Psychological testing rests on a number of assumptions

• A problem arises when the assumptions underlying the test are culturally biased

• One way to deal with this is through the development of the culture- free tests

• CULTURE FAIR tests attempt to control for or rule out effects that result from culture rather than from individual differences

• Other tests take culture into account with comparison group for scoring purposes

• One of the other problems is that the tests are not culturally biased, but rather that they are used inappropriately

• Stereotype threat: the threat that others’ judgment or their own actions will negatively stereotype them

PAIR & DISCUSS

• Recall that Rorschach tests were supposed to be CULTURE FREE and that theorists like Jung believed in universal archetypes? If you were to structure a culture-free test, name at least one item it might include.

LANGUAGE AS A CULTURAL INFLUENCE

• Language is one of the most central and influential features of any culture

• Speaking and listening are a pervasive mode of interpersonal interaction in all human societies, and a central part of who we are

• Each person speaks a unique version of his or her native language – IDIOLECT

• Variations between groups of people who share regional characteristics or cultural characteristics create distinct DIALECTS

• The idea of an accent focuses on pronunciation, but DIALECT is more comprehensive in that it encompasses variations in vocabulary and unique syntactic forms.

• Language allows people to maintain a strong identification with their group

• An example is within the deaf community

CONCLUSIONS

• Understanding cultural influences is important to understanding all eight of the basic aspects of personality

• Cultural differences involve the shared behaviors and customs we learn from family, peers, and societal institutions

• More INDIVIDUALISTIC themes tend to be found in Western cultures, whereas more COLLECTIVIST themes are found in Eastern cultures

• In America, Black – White differences are the most significant cultural grouping

• AMERICAN DILEMMA

• Better to study the effects of ethnic identification, history, minority status, family, subculture, religion, and social class rather than race.

• Effects of social class on personality can be dramatic, but are typically studied in other countries than the United States

• Language is one of the defining features of an individual’s identity

• A problem with psychological testing is not that the tests are culturally biased, but rather that the test results are used inappropriately

• A valid understanding of personality must take into account culture

• Don’t eliminate culture, but bring it into key consideration as a basic element of personality