Sciocultural approach

Question 1

What is social identity theory?

Answer 1

Social identity theory is a key theory in the sociocultural approach. The theory argues that we divide the world into “in-groups” and “out-groups” through social categorization. We decide which groups we identify with based on common traits and/or goals. When we join a group, we go through a process of social identification. This is when we conform to the norms of that group and adopt their behaviours. Once we have categorised ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then compare our group to other groups. If our self-esteem is to be maintained our group needs to compare favourably with other groups - what Tajfel called “positive distinctiveness.” SIT argues that our social identities play a key role in our behaviour and cognition.

Studies
Hillard and Liben

Question 2

What is social cognitive theory

Answer 2

Social cognitive theory was proposed by Albert Bandura. It suggests that human behaviour can be learned through observation, from watching models and imitating their behaviour. Effective modeling requires attention, retention and motivation. In order for the learning to happen, attention must be paid to the model; this can be affected by the authority, attractiveness or the desirability of the models behaviour or the outcome of said behaviour. If the model is seen as being rewarded for a behaviour, the observer will also want to receive such a reward. This is known as vicarious reinforcement. Following the observation, the learner must be able to retain and remember the behaviour. Finally, the learner must have the motivation to repeat the behaviour based on the outcome expectancy. Several factors affect the learner’s motivation to replicate behaviour, such as the likeability of the model, identification with the model and the consistency of the behaviour. In addition, the individual must feel that he can actually do what the model can do - in other words, there must be a feeling of self-efficacy.

Studies
Hillard and Liben & Bandura

Question 3

Formation of stereotypes + theory

Answer 3

DEFINITION OF STEREOTYPES
A stereotype is defined as a social perception of an individual in terms of their group membership or physical attributes. It is a generalization that is made about a group and then attributed to members of that group. Such a generalization may be either positive or negative.

THE EXPLANATION/THEORY: SIT
One theory, among others, that can explain stereotyping is SIT.
Social identity theory argues that our identity and behavior are influenced by the groups we belong to. We choose groups we belong to (called in-groups) based on traits that we think are similar to our own and stereotypes are formed based on this natural process of social categorization.. SIT argues that we divide the world into in-groups and out-groups. We identify with our group and begin to conform to the norms of our group. This is called social identification. We also compare our in-group to the out-group. This is called social comparison. We tend to see our in-group as superior, which means that we engage in something called downward comparison. We also see the out-group as all sharing common traits. This is called out-group homogeneity and this is the basis for stereotyping. Often these traits are negative. This is a way of justifying that our in-group is better than the out-group and raises our self-esteem

Studies
Hillard and Liben

Question 4

Effects of stereotypes

Answer 4

DEFINITION OF STEREOTYPES
A stereotype is defined as a social perception of an individual in terms of their group membership or physical attributes. It is a generalization that is made about a group and then attributed to members of that group. Such a generalization may be either positive or negative. One effect of stereotypes is memory distortion.

THE EXPLANATION/THEORY: SIT
One theory, among others, that can explain stereotyping is SIT.
Social identity theory argues that our identity and behavior are influenced by the groups we belong to. We choose groups we belong to (called in-groups) based on traits that we think are similar to our own and stereotypes are formed based on this natural process of social categorization.. SIT argues that we divide the world into in-groups and out-groups. We identify with our group and begin to conform to the norms of our group. This is called social identification. We also compare our in-group to the out-group. This is called social comparison. We tend to see our in-group as superior, which means that we engage in something called downward comparison. We also see the out-group as all sharing common traits. This is called out-group homogeneity and this is the basis for stereotyping. Often these traits are negative. This is a way of justifying that our in-group is better than the out-group and raises our self-esteem

Studies
Allport and Postman

Question 5

Experiments

The individual and the group

Answer 5

Drury, Bandura

Field
Hillard and Liben

Question 6

Culture and cognition

Kulkofsky in answer (not really sure tbh)

Answer 6

Cultures are made up of a dynamic set of attitudes, behaviors, and rules established and shared by a large group of people, and usually communicated from one generation to the next. One cognitive process that can be influenced by culture is memory. Research by Kuklofsky has shown that certain cultures are more prone to forming flashbulb memories. Flashbulb memories are vivid and long-lasting memories of surprising and emotional events.

Studies
Kulkofsky & Kearins

Question 7

What is one cultural dimension?

Answer 7

A cultural dimension is a proposition of cultural variability used to explain differences between cultures
A cultural dimension is a perspective of a culture based on values and cultural norms
Cultures around the world differ on these dimensions.
Cultural dimensions are used to
classify cultures
explain, predict and interpret the differences between cultures without relying on stereotypes, personal anecdotes, or impressions
Example: conformity is seen as a positive behavior in some (collectivist) cultures and levels of conformity are also higher in those cultures.

Studies
Kulkofsky, Levine & Cian and Blizinsky

Question 8

Correlations

Cultural origins of cognition and behaviour

Answer 8

Levine & Blizinsky

Question 9

Questionnaries

Answer 9

Kulkofsky & Hofstede

Question 10

What is enculturation?

Answer 10

A significant part of the development of our personal identity is the learning and maintenance of the behaviors and norms of our own culture. This is a process called enculturation. Enculturation can occur through direct tuition – that is, your parents tell you what you are supposed to do. In addition, as we have discussed earlier in this unit, Social Cognitive Theory – or observational learning – plays a key part in this development. Finally, what psychologists call participatory learning is also important. In this type of learning, children engage in an activity and then transfer that learning to later situations.

Studies
Fagot & Hillard and Liben

Question 11

What is acculturation?

Answer 11

Acculturation is the cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between two or more cultural groups. When moving to another culture, individuals make choices, both consciously and unconsciously, to what extent they will maintain their own culture versus adopting the culture of their new home country. Berry argued that there are different acculturation strategies. One is assimilation – when a person adopts the cultural behaviours and values of the new culture. If they do this while maintaining their original culture as well, this is called integration. If a person fails to integrate into their new culture and maintains their own culture, this is a form of isolation in society. This is called separation. If the person fails to integrate into the new culture and also loses contact with their home culture, they can experience what Berry called marginalization.

Studies
Berry, Miranda and Matheny & Lueck and Wilson

Question 12

Interviews

Cultural influences

Answer 12

Semi-structured Lueck and Wilson

Question 13

Questionnaires

Cultural influences

Answer 13

Miranda and Methany

Question 14

Naturalistic observations

Cultural influence

Answer 14

Fagot

Question 15

Drury

Answer 15

Drury London fire simulation Drury investigated whether making one’s social identity salient would lead to increased helping behavior in a simulation of a fire. He carried out an experiment using a virtual reality simulation of a fire in the London underground. Participants could either push people out of the way to get out as quickly as possible, or they could help others, but this would slow their escape from the fire. In one condition, the participants were given a “shared identity” – for example, all fans of the same football team. In the other condition, they were not given a shared identity – for example, “you are on your way back from buying a pair of shoes.” The team found that those who shared a common identity were more likely to help one another, even at risk to their own safety.

Question 16

Levine

Answer 16

Levine et al (2005) carried out a study to see the effect of in-group bias on helping. The study was carried out on a group of 45 male students who were self-identified Manchester United fans. When arriving for the experiment, they were told that the experiment had to be moved to a larger room across campus. As they walked to the other room, a confederate ran down a grassy hill, slipped, and fell over, holding onto his ankle and shouting out in pain. The confederate was either wearing a Manchester United team shirt, a Liverpool FC team shirt, or a plain t-shirt. The students were most likely to help another Manchester United fan - and were less likely to help a plain-shirt or Liverpool fan. The difference between the other two conditions is minimal, showing that it does not matter that they liked the arch-rival, Liverpool - it was more influential that the confederate was a member of their in-group.

Question 17

Hillard and Liben

Answer 17

One study that investigated the role of SIT in the development of stereotypes was Hilliard and Liben. The study took place at two preschools with a total of 57 US children. Both preschools had a policy to avoid gendered language. Each child completed a gender attitude test to measure their “gender flexibility.” They were shown pictures of activities or occupations, and for each item asked if boys, girls, or both boys and girls ‘‘should’’ perform it. There was no significant difference between the average gender flexibility in the two preschools. The schools were then randomly allocated to one of two conditions. In the high salience conditions, the children were made aware of their gender by having them line up by sex, posting separate boys’ and girls’ bulletin boards, and the teachers’ use of gender-specific language. In the low salience condition, there was no change in the school’s daily practice. After two weeks, the children again were tested for gender flexibility. The children in the high salience condition showed a significant increase in gender stereotypes. In addition, in the high-salience group, the amount of time spent playing with the “out-group” changed over a period of two weeks.

Question 18

Bandura

Answer 18

The aim was to determine whether children would learn aggressive behaviour by imitating an adult model. The study was made up of 3 - 5 year old children. They were first evaluated to determine
their level of aggression.There were three
independent variables in this study: whether the children were exposed to violence or not,
the gender of the child, and the gender of the model. The children then watched either a
male or a female model either act aggressively (bashing the Bobo with a baseball bat and
yelling at the Bobo), act passively (assembling toys), or they had no model. This served as
the control group to see what children would do when simply but with the Bobo.
The children were then individually invited into a room full of toys. After they saw all the
toys, they were told that they were not allowed to play with them since they were for other
children. The results were that all of the children showed some level of aggression against the Bobo.However, the group that saw the aggressive model were the most aggressive. Those that saw the control were second; and those what saw the passive model showed the least
aggression. In addition, the boys were the most violent. They tended to imitate both the
male and the female models, though they commented that the woman’s behaviour was not
acceptable, saying “Ladies should not behave that way.”

Question 19

Park and Rothbart

Answer 19

An experiment which aimed to investigate the homogeneity effect. 3 sorosities got a questionnaire wheter they were asked how similair the members in their/second/third sorority was on a scale from 0-9. The results shoed that they believed that the other 2 sororities are more similair than own sorority.

Question 20

Allport and Postman

Answer 20

In a classic experiment done in 1947, Allport & Postman wanted to see the effect of stereotyping on recall. The researchers showed a participant a drawing of a white man holding a razor and threatening a black man on the subway. The participant was then asked to describe what he had seen to another participant – a process called serial reproduction, one of the same strategies used by Bartlett in his classic War of the Ghosts study. The process was repeated for up to seven participants. The researchers found that in over half of the experiments, at some stage the story was retold so that the black man was threatening the white man. It appears that stereotypes of blacks as being more violent affected the retelling of the story.

Question 21

Martin and Halverson

Answer 21

Aimed to see if gender stereotypes influence recall. The particants, who were 5-6 y/o, were shown 16 pictures of a child involved in either a gender consistent activity or a gender inconstisten activity. They were asked to identify the gender of the children on the pictures. After 1 week they got tested on the gender in the pictures. The results showed that it was easier for the children to remember a picture were a gender consistent activity was shown. However, boys who behaved inconsistently were remembered more than girls who behaved inconstistently.

Question 22

Kearins

Answer 22

The researchers used a sample of Aboriginal and white Australians. The memory test that the children were given was given outdoors. Kearins placed 20 objects on a board divided into 20 squares. Aboriginal and white Australian children were told to study the board for 30 seconds. Then all the objects were removed from the board and put into a pile. The children were asked to replace the items in their original locations.The Aboriginal children correctly relocated more objects than did white Australian children. 18% of the white Australian children had one perfect score, but none had two or more perfect scores. 75% of the aboriginal children had at least one perfect score and 40% had at least two perfect scores. Kearins argued that the Aboriginal culture which developed in the deserts required better visual and spatial memory than the white Australian culture. The need for this skill for survival and the consistent interaction with the environment could have had biological consequences such as the development of the posterior hippocampus.

Question 23

Miranda and Methany

Answer 23

Aimed to see which factors most affect acculturative stress in Latino immigrants in the USA. They used a sample of 200 immigrants and had them complete a questionnaire to test their level of acculturative stress and several factors that might influence it. The study found that immigrants with effective coping strategies, good proficiency in English and a strong family structure were less likely to experience acculturative stress. The study shows that there are many protective factors that influence the extent to which a person acculturates effectively. This would then have a positive effect on their mental health.

Question 24

Lueck and Wilson

Answer 24

Aimed to see what factors would decrease the level of acculturative stress in Asian immigrants to the USA. The sample consisted of 2095 immigrants (1271 first generation and the rest were born in the US). They used semi-structured interviews to measure the participants’ level of acculturative stress. They also measured the impact of language proficiency, language preference, discrimination, social networks, family cohesion and socioeconomic status on acculturative stress. 70% were found to have acculturative stress. Those who were bilingual had low acculturative stress. The preference for only speaking English was a predictor of high acculturative stress and Asians who were able to use both languages equally with their friends were able to build up networks of support within and outside their community. They concluded that stress may arise when Asian Americans do not know the native language well enough to discuss sensitive issues with family members at home or in the native country who may have limited or no abilities in English. Negative treatment also lead to acculturative stress, while sharing values with one’s family lead to lower acculturative stress. Those who were economically satisfied had lower acculturative stress.

Question 25

Fagot

Answer 25

This study looked at how parents directly influence gender identity, which is although dependent on biological sex, is shaped by cultural norms. The aim of this study was to observe parental reactions to behaviour that wasn’t deemed appropriate for the child’s gender, at least according to American culture at the time. Fagot carried out naturalistic observations among 24 families, 12 families with boys and 12 with girls. They found that parents acted more favourably towards their child when they acted according to their gender norms and expectations. Boys were encouraged to play with toys that build strength while girls were encouraged to play with dolls or dress up.