cultural bias Flashcards
what is culture?
the values, beliefs, language and behaviour shared by a group of people
what is cultural bias?
the tendency to judge people in terms of your own cultural assumptions, therefore overlooking cultural differences
ethnocentrism
seeing the world from only one cultural perspective, regarding ones own ethnic, racial or social group as normal or correct
give an example of ethnocentrism
- ainsworths strange situation was made to assess attachment types, researchers assume that it will be equally applicable to infants from other cultures as it is for american children (who it was tested on)
- german children however demonstrated a higher rate of insecure avoidant behaviour, due to the high level independence encouraged by their mothers
- the strange situation is an imposed etic, where a theory is developed in one culture and imposed onto another
cultural relativism
behaviour can only be fully understood if the context of the culture (e.g. the norms and values of the society) in which it occurs are taken into account
give an example of cultural relativism
intelligence varies across cultures, with differing priorities on skills and abilities. for instance, sternberg (1985) noted that in preliterate societies, coordination skills like archery might be valued, while in more developed, literate societies, intelligence is often associated with different abilities.
evaluate culture bias
1/5
culturally biased research, such as the us army’s iq test used before ww1, can reinforce damaging stereotypes. this tests bias towards the white majority resulted in african americans being negatively portrayed on the iq scale. this highlights the negative impact of culturally biased research on society
evaluate culture bias
2/5
recognising cultural bias when it occurs is crucial in dealing with it. smiths and bond’s 1998 survey of european social psychology textbooks highlighted an imbalance, with only 66% studies being american, 32% european and 2% from the rest of the world. this indicates that conducting more culturally diverse psychological research can help improve its representativeness and validity
evaluate culture bias
3/5
contemporary psychologists are considerably more open and culturally aware compared to the past, as they are often more well traveled and open minded. their increased exposure to other cultures, both personally and professionally, has been facilitated by international psychology conferences for example. the exchange of ideas has helped to reduce ethnocentrism within the field, enabling a deeper understanding and appreciation of cultural relativism
evaluate culture bias
4/5
this heightened awareness of cultural diversity has led to the development of indigenous psychologies, which draw on the unique experiences of people from different cultural contexts. one example is afrocentrism, which emphasises recognising the african roots of black people to understand their behaviour and values. this represents an emic approach, which highlights the importance of looking at behaviour within a specific cultural system. indigenous psychologies aim to produce theories relevant to diverse cultures around the world, and its development is often viewed as a strength of cultural relativism. there are however still questions surrounding whether or not afrocentric theories are completely unbiased
evaluate culture bias
5/5
progress has been made in diagnosing mental disorders, particularly in terms of disorders that are prevalent in non-american cultures which early versions of the american dsm largely ignored. DSM-IV in 1994 acknowledged this issue by including a brief appendix on culture-bound syndromes worldwide, but critics like kleinman and cohen (1997) dismissed it as insufficient. they argued that extensive research in non-western cultures had uncovered multiple disorders ignored by DSM-IV, such as pa-fend in china, amafufunyana in south africa, and brain fag in west africa
what is universality?
when a theory can apply to all people, irrespective of gender and culture
