Culture

Question 1

Culture, definition?

Answer 1

“Game rules”

Shared systems of meaning that provide the standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating, communicating, and acting among those who share a language, a historic period, and a geogrpahic loation

Question 2

Culture IS NOT the same as Race or Ethnicity

Answer 2

:)

Question 3

Modern cultural view?

Answer 3

Personality traits as products of biological and cultural evolution

Culture -> Personality

“Personality is completely interdependent with the
meanings and practices of particular sociocultural contexts.
People develop their personalities over time through their
active participation in the various social worlds in which they
engage. A cultural psychological perspective implies that
there is no personality without culture; there is only a
biological entity”.
(Markus & Kitayama, 1998)

Question 4

PERSONALITY -> CULTURE
… and there is no culture without personality.

Answer 4

Personality meaning resides in artifacts people use (e.g., living spaces, consumer preferences, preferred icons, etc.) and institutions they support (Hollywood, capitalism, etc.).
*Personality -> Culture

The use and availability of these cultural products, in turn, perpetuates particular behavioral, affective, and cognitive tendencies (personality).
*Culture -> personality

Question 5

Personality and Culture in everyday contexts: Personal Ads?

Answer 5

San Francisco Chronicle, focus on the indiviudal traits such as interests. Person seeking a partner that meets their needs.

India Tribune, focus on the family, culture and achivements (education, career). Family is seeking a partner that meets the family’s needs.

Question 6

Research on Cross-Cultural Differences in Personality, 1. Lexical approach?

Answer 6

Using natural language as a window to study cultural universals/differences in personality

Fundamental Lexical Hypothesis:
Those psychological constructus that are the most salient and socially relevant in people’s lives will eventually become encoded into their language; the moste important a construct is, (1) the more likely it is to be expressed as a single word and be over represented in the language; and (2) the more languages and cultures will have a word for it.

Question 7

Study - Do the Big 5 traits replicate across cultures?

Answer 7

Yes, in Spain - using translated American measure

Translation limitations! They would probably come up with other words that are more commonly used instead of the direct translations

Need for another study that:
1. Identifies these terms and how they formed clusters of the “most important traits”

Question 8

Combined etic/emic approach?

Answer 8

Emic Approach: Indigenous measure
self-reports on 299 indigenous Spanish personality adjectives from the dictionary

Etic Approach:
self-reports on Spanish-translated Big Five questionnaires

Question 9

7 Indigenous Spanish personality dimensions?

Answer 9

Positive Valence
Negative Valence
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Openness
Pleasantness
Engagement

Using different words to describe these categories than English speakers

Question 10

Pleasantness & Engagement: new Spanish factors?

Answer 10

Spaniards… passion is the seed that brings them forth, and passion is the flower they bear

Famous movies: Almodovar’s, A celebration of pleasure/pain and passion

Question 11

Overlap between the indigenous (emic) Spanish personality dimensions and imported (etic) Big 7 Inventory?

Answer 11

Many traits correlate

But extroversion correlates positively with pleasantness and engagement. Where as Neurtocism correlates negatively with pleasantness and positively with engagement

Question 12

Conclusion from the Indigenous Spanish personality study?

Answer 12

(1) There is considerable overlap between the Spanish Siete
Grandes and the American Big 7

(1b) Exceptions: Pleasantness and Engagement
Instead of Extraversion and Neuroticism
Also, Openness not quite the same

(2) Positive and Negative Valence seem fairly robust across
these two cultures.

Question 13

Individualism?

Answer 13

• Focus on what YOU want
• Minimize role of others in self’s behviours
• Use self-descriptive traits to describe self

Question 14

Collectivism?

Answer 14

• Emphasis on interconnectedness of group
• Goal: Fit in, promote group harmony
• Use interpersonal roles to describe self

Question 15

Independent self-system?

Answer 15

An independent sense of self. Your close relationships are close to you but you are your own entity.

Question 16

Interdependent self-system

Answer 16

An interdependent sense of self. The self is interdependent on the close relationships, your close relationships are part of who you are.

Question 17

Criticism of Collectivist/Individualist Approach?

Answer 17

What countries are we talking about?
- Almost all evidence of differences comes from studies comparing US and Japan

Overgeneralization
- People within each culture may be independent or interdependent
- May vary by context, ex at work vs. the dinner table

Question 18

Big Two Cultural Syndromes?

Answer 18

Individualism/Collectivism: extent to which the self is defined as bound and separeate (vs. fluid and interdependent on ohters around him/her)

Vertical/Horizontal Relationships:
emphasis on hierarchy and status versus equality; Egalitarianism

Question 19

Egalitarianism and Evoked Culture?

Answer 19

Evoked Culture: Culture differences that emerge as a result of different environments
- E.g., effects of geography, climate, means of subsistence

Egalitasiamosm (vertical vs. horizontal) is correlated with how variable the food supply is
- Highly variable food supply -> more horizontal culture
- Less variable food supply -> vertical culture

Question 20

Evoked Culture: Culture of Honor? (Nisbett 1993)

Answer 20

In cultures of honor, insults must be responded to with aggression

Depends on economics
- In cultures based on herding economics, must build reputation (honor) to prevent thievery
- In cultures based on agricultural (more settled), !!!!

Question 21

Evidence for Culture of Honor?

Answer 21

USA North vs. South

How do people respond to insults?
- Southerners favor violence more than Northerns
- Southern economy historically lined to herding
- Southern violence is specific to reputation insults

Supported by lab study in which people were actually insulated by confederate
- Southerners responded with higher cortisol and testosterone
- Southerners show higher implicit associations with violent words, more aggressive responses

Question 22

Additional Cultural Syndromes? “Big Four” Cultural Syndromes

Answer 22

1. Individualism vs. collectivism
2. Power distance (similar to vertical vs. horizontal)
3. Uncertainty avoidance
   - Tolerance for ambiguity and comfort in unstructured situations VERSUS strong belief in rules, codes of conduct, safety and security
4. Gender socialization
   - Men as dominant and competitive and women as nurturing and caring VERSUS lower differentiation between the sexes
   - “distribution of emotional roles”

Question 23

Research on Personality and Cultural Syndromes? Broad scope 33 nations

Answer 23

Each sample filled out a questionnaire assessing the Big 5

Research Question: How does personality (“national character”) correlate with the Big Four cultural syndromes?

Question 24

Cultural Syndromes Across Nations?

Answer 24

Individualism: developed and Western countries
Collectivism: developing and Eastern countries - Japan is mid-level

High Power distance: Latin, Asian, and African countries
Low Power distance: Germanic countries

High Uncertainty avoidance: Latin countries, Japan, Germanspeaking countries
Low Uncertainty avoidance: Anglo, Nordic, Chinese cultures

High Gender socialization: Japan, some European countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Moderate Gender socialization: English-speaking countries
Low Gender socialization: Nordic countries, Netherlands,
some Latin and Asian countries (Thailand)

Question 25

Cultural syndrome and personality? + conclusion?

Answer 25

Countries that are high in individualism -> individuals are on average higher in extraversion

High Power distance -> L extraversion, H contentious, H openness

High Gender differentiation -> H Openenss, H neuroticism, L agreeableness

High Uncertainty avoidance -> H neuroticism, L Agreeableness

Personality is linked to culture!

Question 26

Personality proflies of cultures project?

Answer 26

University students from 51 cultures rated someone they knew well on the NEO-PR-R measure of the Big Five

Two dimensions, Neurotism and Extraversion

Question 27

How does culture create national
personality differences? Transmitted Culture

Answer 27

Culture-specific ideas, values, and beliefs that are transmitted to others within the culture
- Taught to children early in life, through socialization

Moral behavior, is it ok to..
- Divorce?
- Sex outside of marriage?
- Homosexuality?

Question 28

Transmitted culture affects subjective well-being? (Rice & Steele 2004)

Answer 28

Compared SWB of citizens in 20 nations with SWB of Americans who has ancestors from those nations

General Social Survey (GSS): US survey was compared with World Values Survey (WVS) : 20 nations survey

To some extent, your Social Wellbeing is related to the culture of your ancestors

What causes this connection?
Church! The people who attended church more often have a higher correlation with their ancestors bc Chruch is a place where culture is transmitted (Jewish, Protestant etc)

Question 29

Biculturiasm? Overarching question?

Answer 29

How do individuals who have internalized more than one culture navigate between their different and (often opposing) cultural identities?

Question 30

Variations in the compatibility and fluidity (vs. conflict and dissociation) perceived between the ethnic and mainstream cultures? - Compatible Cultural identities?

Answer 30

• Unconflicted identites
• Co-exist
  “I am both”
  “ I am Mexican-American”
• Fluid view of culture
• Complementary
  Biculturalism as an asset “Gives a wider repertoire of behaviors”

Question 31

Variations in the compatibility and fluidity (vs. conflict and dissociation) perceived between the ethnic and mainstream cultures? - Compatible Cultural identities?

Answer 31

• Conflicting identities
• Choose one or the other
  “I am Chinese in America”
• Essentialist view of culture
• Dissociation
  Biculruam as burden “Having to choose and be hypervigilant how to behave”

Question 32

Do bicultural individuals average across their different cultural orientations? Switch between them? Or eventually simply adopt one and abandon the other?

Cognitive perspective approach to culture

Answer 32

Culture as shared meaning-systems
->
Individuals can possess more than one cultural meaning-system
->
Culture guides behavior only when the relevant meaning systems are cognitively available, accessible and also applicable

Ambiguous Social Event -> American meaning System -> Internal attribution (individualistic)

Ambiguous Social Event -> Chinese meaning System -> External attribution (collectivitis)

Question 33

Cultural frame switching in Biculturals? 4 studies, Chinese-American bicultural samples from Hong-Kong and US

Answer 33

Manipulation: Activation of US or Chinese cultural meaning system through priming

Dependent Variable: internal (individualistic) vs. external (collectivistic) explanations for an ambiguous social event

AFTER PICTURES:
“WRITE AN ESSAY ABOUT CHINESE (or AMERICAN) CULTURE”
-> to ensure activation of their Chinese or American cultural meaning system
- also, to facilitate accessibility of culture schemas

Explanation Task (ambiguous social event) “Is the fish a leader or being excluded?”

Question 34

Summary of bicultural study?

Answer 34

Biculturals have multiple cultural meaning systems and can move between them in response to cultural cues

Without priming, biculturals’ baseline cognitive attributions fall in between the American and Chinese primed versions