Personality part 4.2 Flashcards
(41 cards)
The Cultural Domain
Some personality traits are highly variable across cultures
→ That means attitudes, values, and how people see themselves (self-concept) can be very different depending on the culture.
Other traits are universal, shared across all humans
→ These are common features that show up everywhere, regardless of cultural background (like basic emotions or the need for belonging).
Big Question:
🧠 “How do people from different cultures differ in personality, and how are they the same?”
This is the central question of cross-cultural personality psychology — understanding both cultural variation and shared human nature.
What is Culture?
💡 Definition of Culture:
“A set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group and passed down across generations.”
Think of culture like a “mental operating system” that shapes how people think, feel, and behave — and it’s learned mainly early in life through enculturation.
Enculturation:
The process of learning your culture, especially in childhood (how you’re taught what’s “normal”).
Cultural variations:
People within one culture tend to think alike, but big differences exist between cultures.
Examples:
Some cultures value individualism (e.g., USA), others value collectivism (e.g., Japan).
Some express emotions openly, others more subtly.
🌐 “Personality is expressed and emotion is experienced differently across cultures.”
Key Terms: Enculturation and Cultural variations
Enculturation:
The process of learning your culture, especially in childhood (how you’re taught what’s “normal”). (the process of socialization through which an individual acquires his or
her native culture, mainly early in life.)
Cultural variations:
People within one culture tend to think alike, but big differences exist between cultures. (Humans everywhere show striking patterns of local within-group
similarity in their behaviour and thought, accompanied by profound intergroup differences)
Psychology’s Sampling Problem
⚠️ Warning about Representativeness:
About 80% of participants in psychology studies come from WEIRD countries:
Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic
But they only represent 12% of the world’s population.
So, a lot of what psychology “knows” is based on a small, unrepresentative group!
What is Transmitted Culture? (Moral behaviour included)
Transmitted culture refers to ideas, values, attitudes, and beliefs that originate in one person’s mind and are passed on to others through social interaction.
Moral Behaviour:
Refers to psychological rules that guide what people believe is right or wrong.
These are core to personality, shaping how we act toward others and what we consider acceptable or taboo.
Cultural differences?
“Cultures clearly differ in their views of what is right and wrong, sometimes in seemingly arbitrary ways.”
Example:
Among the Semang people of Malaysia:
It’s wrong to comb hair during a thunderstorm, watch dogs mate, or kill a sacred wasp.
These seem strange from an outsider’s view, but within their cultural logic, such actions may be believed to bring bad luck or anger spirits.
Contrast!!!!!:
There are some things considered wrong almost worldwide (or nearly universal taboos):
Murder without cause
Incest (though even here, there are exceptions like in royal dynasties for preserving bloodlines)
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Dimension: Power Distance
What it means: Acceptance of unequal power (e.g., teacher-student, boss-employee hierarchy)
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Dimension: Collectivism vs. Individualism
What it means:Whether the group or the individual is more valued
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Dimension: Femininity vs. Masculinity
What it means: Whether society emphasizes nurturing roles vs. achievement and traditional gender roles
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Dimension: Uncertainty Avoidance
What it means: Preference for structure, rules, and predictability vs. comfort with ambiguity
(Cultures with a high score in this dimension prefer rules in order to feel comfortable. Those with lower scores are more likely to take risks and accept change)
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Dimension: Short vs. Long-Term Orientation
What it means: Future-focused planning and perseverance vs. valuing tradition and face-saving
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Dimension: Restraint vs. Indulgence
What it means: Control of gratification of desires vs. allowing free expression and enjoyment
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What is the Cultural Differences in Self-Concept?
Collectivistic Cultures:
Emphasize connection, interdependence, and group harmony.
Identity is defined in relation to others (e.g., “I’m a daughter,” “I’m a member of my community”).
Use “we” more than “I”.
Examples: Japan, China, India.
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Individualistic Cultures:
Emphasize independence, uniqueness, and self-sufficiency.
Identity is defined by internal traits (e.g., “I’m creative, honest, confident”). Descriptions: abstract internal
characteristics: e.g., smart,
stable, dependable, openminded.
Use “I” more than “we”.
Example: United States.
Transmitted Cultural differences in the Self-concept (Why?) Information processing
Collectivistic:
- Think holistically (see whole picture)
- Consider context
- Accept contradictions — people can hold opposing traits depending on the context (e.g., shy with strangers, talkative with friends). This reflects a flexible, context-dependent self.
Individualistic:
- Think analytically (break into parts)
- Focus on objects in isolation
- Prefer logical consistency — traits are seen as stable and coherent (e.g., you’re either shy or talkative, not both). This reflects a fixed, trait-based self.
Dichotomic!!!!
Transmitted Cultural differences in the Self-concept (Why?) Motivation
Collectivistic:
- Motivated to avoid losing face or respect within the group (failure avoidance)!!!!!
- Doing better as a group is key
Individualistic:
- Motivated by personal achievement and standing out (success seeking)
- Doing better for oneself is more important
Transmitted Cultural differences in the Self-concept (Why?) Emotions
Collectivistic:
- Experience more other-focused emotions (e.g., sympathy)
- Emotions reflect social value and reputation
Individualistic:
- Experience more self-focused emotions (e.g., anger)
- Emotions reflect personal experience and internal states (subjective)
Criticisms of These Cultural Models
Cultural models (like collectivism vs. individualism) are not absolute—they are a matter of degree.
People can have both independent and interdependent identities depending on context (e.g., you may be more collectivist with family but individualist at work).
Overgeneralizing cultures into either/or categories is too simplistic.
Personality Across Cultures (McCrae Study)
Study across 50 cultures, nearly 12,000 participants.
Used the Big Five Personality Traits (OCEAN model).
Finding: Despite cultural differences, people across the world show remarkably similar patterns on the Big Five.
🌐 The punchline:
People are more psychologically similar across cultures than different.
Cultural Universals
These are traits and behaviors that appear to be found in all human societies, such as:
Avoiding incest
Basic emotional expressions (e.g., happiness, anger)
Favoritism toward kin and in-groups
Division of labor by sex
Revenge, jealousy, love
Universality of the Five-Factor Model
When questionnaires are translated and tested globally, most cultures fit the Big Five model well.
One exception is Openness/Intellect, which doesn’t always translate well.
Cross-cultural evidence for the five-factor model is not limited to self-report data but extends
to observer-based data as well.
Universality of HEXACO Model:
An improvement over the Big Five, based on language use across cultures.
Adds a 6th factor: Honesty–Humility.
Better cross-cultural fit because it is developed within each language context rather than translated.
Cross-cultural research using the lexical approach
has found compelling evidence for six factors, rather
than five.
* Instead of translating and testing, developing
again using the same process. (Better approach)
What determines behaviour?
B = f(S): This equation means that behaviour (B) is a function of the situation (S).
Situationism: The idea that our actions depend more on the current context than on stable personality traits.
If behaviour changes from situation to situation, the situation—not personality—is the cause.
👉 Think of a person who is quiet at work but lively with friends. According to situationism, this is because the environment triggers different behaviours, not because the person’s personality changed.
🧠 Person-Situation Interaction (combined)
🧠 Person-Situation Interaction
📌 New Equation: B = f(S × P)
Behaviour = a function of the interaction between Situation (S) and Personality traits (P).
This is more nuanced: It doesn’t say it’s all situation or all personality—but how they combine.
📘 Three Types of Learning (that shape behaviour & personality)
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Observational Conditioning
Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian)
Behaviour learned by association between a neutral stimulus and a significant one.
Famous example: Pavlov’s dog hears a bell (neutral) before food (stimulus) → starts salivating to the bell.
🔧 Personality Example: If someone experiences anxiety every time they’re scolded in public, they might start to feel anxious whenever they’re in public—associating social spaces with stress.
🔹 2. Operant Conditioning (Skinnerian)
Behaviour is shaped by its consequences:
Reinforcement → increases the behaviour (reward).
Punishment → decreases the behaviour (negative outcome).
🔧 Personality Example: A child who is constantly rewarded for being helpful grows into a kind and giving adult. A person punished for expressing anger may suppress their feelings, becoming reserved.
🔹 3. Observational Conditioning (Bandura’s social learning)
We learn by watching others and noticing what happens to them.
“Models” are the people we learn from—parents, peers, media figures, etc.
Two forms:
Live modelling: Seeing it firsthand.
Symbolic modelling: Seeing it through stories, books, movies.
🔧 Personality Example: A child watches their older sibling get praised for being brave. That child may imitate the same brave behaviour to get approval.
Social Learning Theory (Bandura)
Social factors shape personality.
We’re not just shaped by what happens to us directly—but also by observing what happens to others.
This theory expanded behaviourism by adding the social component.
🔁 Three mechanisms for shaping personality:
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Modelling / Observational learning
📽️ Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment:
Children watched adults act aggressively toward a doll.
They copied that behaviour—even if the adult was just shown in a film.
👉 Demonstrated the power of indirect learning.
Vicarious Consequences
This is the core insight of social learning:
✅ Vicarious Reinforcement
You watch someone get rewarded for a behavior.
So you think: “If I do the same thing, maybe I’ll get that reward too.”
E.g., a friend is admired for being funny → You try to be funny too.
❌ Vicarious Punishment
You see someone get punished for something.
You avoid doing it — even though it didn’t happen to you.
E.g., a classmate gets scolded for challenging the teacher → You stay silent next time.
🧠 Note: “Vicarious punishment is more likely to be forgotten than reinforcement.”
We’re more tuned into rewards than we are into punishments (dopamine bias).
