CULTURE AND PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
What do we mean by ‘culture’?
> Culture is an individual psychological variable as well as a macular construct. I.e. culture exists inside every person as well as to groups.
We all have culture but when we are a member of the dominant culture, we don’t see it. We only see culture when we travel and see other cultures.
DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE
> Culture is pervasive – its everywhere
Culture is integrated
Culture comprises shared ideas and beliefs
Culture contains values and ideals
Culture has explicit and implicit rules – some things are clear but others are hidden and we only become aware when someone violates them
Culture is transmitted through language and symbols – we live through what we say and how we say it – symbols = architecture, signs etc.
Culture provides the group with a framework of meaning
Culture is dynamic AND continuous – not fixed – it responds to major influences
Culture is learned – we are not born with this
Culture includes taken-for-granted ideas as well as ideologies
WHERE DO CULTURES COME FROM?
> A big factor is the physical environment we live in.
All people manage group life, we need to manage living with other people as we are social creatures.
We need to be ab le to cope as a group with what is available in terms of resources.
Group life
How much contact do we have with other cultures
Environments
History – who has lived here before ( who has invaded and who have we been taken over by) + physical environment
How many people live there and how close together are they?
What cultures lived here before
> Resources
How many are competing with recourses?
Arable land – land we can use to grow food?
What kinds of diseases exist e.g. malaria in tropical climates
How easy is it to grow food?
> The evolved human mind
The things we have in common as a species, we all have certain needs and motives, basic fundamental human needs.
Food shelter safety waster sex
Higher needs > education
Higher mind > cognitive abilities, emotions and personal traits.
WHAT IS AUSTRALIAN CULTURE?
We can think about it through dimensions. Can we considered through indigenous and or the modern Australian culture.
STUDY > Phillips & Smith (2000)
>People
Bryan Brown, Cathy Freeman, Paul Hogan, Don Bradman, Bo Hawke, Elle Macpherson
>Places
Uluru, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Sydney opera House, Great Barrier Reef, the bush
>Activities & Events
BBQ, Australia Day, Anzac Day, swimming at the beach, bushwalking, sport (AFL, NRL)
>Values and beliefs
Fair-go, mateship, easy-going, giving it a go, ‘she’ll be right, freedom and democracy
We endorse individualist values
Individualism Index Values (Hofstede, 2001, p.215)
Countries with high individualist values >
USA, Au, UK, Canada, Netherland, NZ
Some Asian and some Latin American countries tend to be very low on individualism, for example Taiwan, Pakistan, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala.
Mid-ranked countries included Jamaica, Brazil, Turkey and Greece.
Countries which are low in the rankings are what we could consider to be ‘collectivist’ cultures.
INDIVIDUALISM
> Individual is most important unit of society
Personal goals are all-important
Values include independence, autonomy, self-reliance
Loose social structure, multiple in-groups > social gps tennis gp, bowling
Emphasis on ‘I’ – we use I a lot!
> Key distinction between the individual and the group/society
COLLECTIVISM
> The group is the most important unit of society
Groups include the family, work groups, ethnic groups, social class
Personal identity linked to relationships with others
Values include interdependence, group solidarity, relatedness to others
Emphasis on ‘we’
Relationships with others more stable, deeper
The ingroup is of high importance
Key distinction between the ingroup and the outgroup
Tighter social structure therefore relationships tend to be more stable.
Why is learning about culture important?
We live in a diverse world
Why is learning about culture important in psychology?
> psychology has evolved within a western individualist framework, dominated by the US, UK and Europe. That’s informed the way we have developed and the way we interpret research. Research has been based on very restricted samples.
WEIRDOS»_space;> Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic
i.e. weve developed research based on the narrow base of WEIRDOS and applied this to the general population. > it’s a problem in psychology
Culture is a huge factor influencing the we we act, think and feel and psychology needs to take that on board
CULTURE AND IDENTIY
> Identity is heavily influenced by culture
It has different components which are:
> personal,(me)
>collective (my social gps)and
>relational. (im a friend, sister, daughter etc)
Cultural reaffirmation effect – after leaving ones culture and going to new one. The person hangs on to their culture and makes it a bit stronger and makes it more polished in what it means to be from their original culture. E.g. Asian migrating here would be more Asian upon living here.
MODELS OF ETHNIC IDENTIY
Phinney’s Model 3 STAGES
Stage 1: Unexamined >Lack of exploration
Stage 2: Exploration Search >Often results from significant experience -‘encounter’ >what it means to be you in your culture
Stage 3: Achieved Committed >Clear, confident sense of own ethnicity
Not necessarily sequential .
Can move between stages and can go backward and forward.
Can also recur during adult life
Alternative ways of ‘measuring’ cultural identity
Comes from an interesting book written by FINE and SIRIN.
>). Muslim American youth: Understanding hyphenated identities through multiple methods
>Muslims have hyphenated identities as they are Muslim but also the values from their religion/culture
Culture and concepts of health and illness
> Culture, place and time influences what we think is abnormal and normal behaviour
Cultural syndromes of distress
Anorexia > previously thought to be only in western affluent cultures > recent research shows that this has spread to other cultures – not sure why just yet.
Witiko are evil man-eating giants of Cree mythology > Icelandic culture
Cultural explanations of distress
If you have different ideas of causes of psychological distress you might use a different approach to treat the illness
WESTERN APPROACH
Biomedical model
Symptomatic approach, physically related only
OTHER APPROACHES MORE WHOLISTIC/SPIRITUAL
>Belief that disease is result of disharmony between self (body and mind) and nature
Native American cultures
>Indigenous Australians – connection to Country; holistic sense of health – no distinguishing between mind and body
>Asian cultures > Beliefs in balance; Yin and Yang
Importance of social harmony
>Spiritual causes of psychological; distress – e.g. exorcism.
Cultural factors in psychotherapy
> Key factor in successful treatment is having commonality in belief about where the illness has come from
Cultural norms and beliefs form part of therapists’ and clients’ understanding of the problem
