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Question 1

What is cultural bias in psychology?

Answer 1

The tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all behaviour through the lens of one’s own culture.

Question 2

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 2

Judging other cultures by the standards of your own; often results in misinterpretation or pathologising of behaviour.

Question 3

What is cultural relativism?

Answer 3

The idea that behaviour can only be understood within its cultural context; challenges universalist assumptions.

Question 4

Give an example of cultural bias in a classic study.

Answer 4

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation judged attachment through Western values, mislabelling Japanese children as insecure-resistant.

Question 5

How does Ainsworth’s study show imposed etic?

Answer 5

It applied Western attachment norms to non-Western cultures, assuming independence as a sign of secure attachment.

Question 6

What is the real-world impact of cultural bias in IQ testing?

Answer 6

Led to misclassification of non-Western immigrants as less intelligent, influencing discriminatory policies (e.g. US immigration).

Question 7

How is psychology addressing cultural bias today?

Answer 7

Through cross-cultural research and the development of indigenous psychologies (e.g. Afrocentrism).

Question 8

What’s a criticism of cultural relativism?

Answer 8

It may ignore universal behaviours like facial expressions, suggesting some psychological concepts are biologically rooted.