Culture bias

Question 1

culture

Answer 1

= the values, beliefs + patterns of behaviour shared by a group of individuals

Question 2

culture bias

Answer 2

= the tendency to judge people in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions

Question 3

alpha bias (not in spec but need anyway)

Answer 3

= when a theory assumes cultural groups are profoundly different

Question 4

beta bias (not in spec but need anyway)

Answer 4

= when real cultural differences are ignored or minimised - can be seen in universal research designs drawing conclusions that assume all cultures are the same

Question 5

ethnocentrism

Answer 5

= seeing the world from one’s own cultural perspective + believing it to be accurate

– lack of awareness that other ways of seeing things can be just as valid as one’s own

Question 6

cultural relativism

Answer 6

= insists that behaviour can only be properly understood if cultural context is taken into account

Question 7

universality

Answer 7

= can be applied to all people irrespective of culture or gender

Question 8

emic approach

Answer 8

= if certain culture studied then results should only be relevant to that culture

Question 9

etic approach

Answer 9

= behaviour can be applied regardless of culture - universal to all cultures

Question 10

psychopathology link…

Answer 10

…definitions of abnormality demonstrate culture bias - abnormality varies from culture to culture

– found that African-Caribbeans in Britain are diagnosed as psychologically ill on basis of behaviour e.g. hallucinations - perceived as normal in their subculture

Question 11

attachment link…

Answer 11

…Ainsworth’s strange situation = ethnocentric research - designed in America to assess attachment styles assuming the strange situation has same meaning for infants from other cultures

– argued to demonstrate imposed etic

Question 12

contrast to Ainsworth…

Answer 12

… cross cultural research found differences in findings - e.g. Germany = higher rate of insecure-avoidant behaviour - result of methodology used as encouraged to be more independent + therefore respond differently to strange situation

Question 13

cultural relativism…

Answer 13

… opposite to ethnocentrism

– appreciates behaviour varies between cultures - behaviour can only be fully understood by studying it w/in culture where it originates (could lead to A bias as may. be assumed behaviour is only relevant to one culture)

Question 14

cultural relativism - emic/etic?

Answer 14

…suggests an emic approach

– cultural bias occurs where researcher assumes that an emic construct (behaviour specific to single culture) is actually etic (behaviour universal to all cultures)

Question 15

application summary - abnormality + attachment…

Answer 15

…social norms are culturally relative + context is vital in understanding behaviour

– attachment type only understood if child rearing + parenting style taken into account

Question 16

application summary - psych disorders…

Answer 16

… affected greatly by culture - some anxiety disorders are specific to cultures e.g. in Japan there is a syndrome for fearing of upsetting others - no such phobia in UK - classed as social phobia

– psychological illness is relative to culture

Question 17

(+) Implications - recognising…

Answer 17

…one way to deal with CB is to identify when it occurs

– Smith + Bond surveyed research on social psychology in a text book + found 66% of research studies were American, 32% were euro + 2% from rest of world - also in 2016 67% ppts in research were American Psychology undergrads

– suggests research is severely unrepresentative but also can be simply improved through sampling different cultural groups

Question 18

Implications - progress…

Answer 18

…although difficult to approach research completely objectively w/o any level of conscious or unconscious culture bias - psychological researchers do give consideration to these matters + an increased understanding of the issue is helping to reduce ethnocentrism in psych

– psychologists today are well travelled + academics hold international conferences which exchange research + ideas across cultures again aiming to minimise the effects of the issue

Question 19

Implications - indigenous psychology…

Answer 19

…IP has been developed which aims to explicitly draw on the experiences of individuals in different cultural contexts - e.g. afrocentrism emphasises the importance of recognising the African context of behaviours + attitudes - such approaches are said to hold strength in regards to cultural relativism

Question 20

Consequences - stereotypes…

Answer 20

…CB research can have severe implications through validating damaging stereotypes - tests in psych which are formed w/ CB may advantage those ppts who are from culture from which its derived

– e.g. Americans are more likely to perform better over other cultures on an IQ test constructed in America - results would then inform attitudes on intelligence of different cultures suggesting Americans possess higher intelligence than others - not only invalid + inaccurate but they would contribute to negative stereotypes

Question 21

Consequences - white superiority…

Answer 21

…Nobles argues Western psychology has been a tool of oppression + dominance - psych data has been used by psychologists + others to justify social policies that harmed ppl of colour - includes racial segregation, diminished educational opportunities, restrictions on immigration, institutionalisation, forced sterilisation + anti miscegenation laws (makes it a crime for two ppl of different races to marry)

– psych has sustained + failed to challenge research, practice, + policy frameworks rooted in White normativity that support the continued belief in White superiority