Sociocultural Approach

Question 1

Social Identity Theory (study)

Answer 1

Tajfel

Question 2

Social Cognitive Theory (study)

Answer 2

Bandura

Question 3

Formation of Stereotypes (study)

Answer 3

Rogers and Frantz

Question 4

Effects of Stereotypes (study)

Answer 4

Steele and Aronson

Question 5

Culture (study)

Answer 5

Kulkofsky

Question 6

Cultural Dimensions (study)

Answer 6

Kulkofsky

Question 7

Cultural Norms (study)

Answer 7

Kulkofsky

Question 8

Enculturation (study)

Answer 8

Fagot

Question 9

Acculturation (study)

Answer 9

Joy et al

Question 10

Social Identity Theory (info)

Answer 10

social identity: a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s)
the in group will discriminate against the outgroup to enhance self image
the groups that we belong to are important for pride and self esteem
positive distinctiveness: show favouritism for our in-group and potentially discriminate against the out-group
social identification: process of adopting norms of the group to fit in
social categorisation: process of classifying people based on perceived group memberships
social comparison: we increase our self esteem by comparing ingroup vs outgroup
permeability: ability to move between groups

Question 11

Social Cognitive Theory (info)

Answer 11

socialisation: process of becoming a member of a social group, learning all the norms that make you a part of that group
primary socialisation: parents and close group members
secondary socialisation: what we learn from the wider society
social learning can happen both directly (we perform the task) or indirectly (we see someone else do it)
social cognitive theory suggests that behaviour is learned from the environment through modelling and reinforcement
modelling: learning through the observation of other people → imitation if it leads to desirable consequences
through vicarious reinforcement
four processes of learning behaviour (ARRM)
attention, observers must pay attention to the modelled behaviour
retention: observes must be able to remember the features of the behaviour
reproduction: observers must be able to physically/mentally reproduce the behaviour
motivation: there must be motivation for replication to occur (desirable consequences)
behaviour must be reinforced through reward or punishment
self efficacy→ the belief that you can learn
there must also be a similarity between the observer and the model for it to work

Question 12

Formation of Stereotypes (info)

Answer 12

stereotypes: a cognitive representation of a social group that helps simplify the social world and allows assumptions to be made based on limited information
type of schema that is applied to all members of a group
system or categorization, way to simplify the world, we can predict the behaviour of others
false predictions
acquired indirectly, not from personal experience
schemas that help us understand the world
can be positive or negative
tend to be very general
prone to confirmation bias
can lead to memory distortion
prejudice: when we make a judgement about individuals with very little information about them except their group membership, usually negative
discrimination: when a behaviour is based on stereotyping and prejudice
the origin of stereotype can be due to 4 different phenomenon
SIT, we assume everyone in the out group is the same
conformity: we follow the norms even if they discriminate
illusory correlations: we see correlations where there are none
confirmation bias: we stop gathering information once we find some that confirms what we already know
grain of truth hypothesis: experiences are generalised and passed onto groups, as a result of an experience shared with an individual from that group that we stereotype

Question 13

Effects of Stereotypes (info)

Answer 13

stereotypes: a cognitive representation of a social group that helps simplify the social world and allows assumptions to be made based on limited information
type of schema that is applied to all members of a group
system or categorization, way to simplify the world, we can predict the behaviour of others
false predictions
acquired indirectly, not from personal experience
schemas that help us understand the world
can be positive or negative
tend to be very general
prone to confirmation bias
can lead to memory distortion
prejudice: when we make a judgement about individuals with very little information about them except their group membership, usually negative
discrimination: when a behaviour is based on stereotyping and prejudice
stereotype threat: situation in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about their own social groups → “spotlight anxiety” that might undermine experience
stereotypes can also affect our memory
memory distortion, we only remember it if it fits within our stereotypes

Question 14

Culture (info)

Answer 14

Common rules that regulate interactions and behaviour in a group as well as a number of shared values and attitudes in the group. Culture can be defined as a collective mental programming.
Deep culture: What we can’t see, what shapes our values and attitudes
Surface culture: What we can see; food, festivals, etc

Question 15

Cultural Dimensions (info)

Answer 15

cultural dimensions are differences in mental programming that are due to difference in cultures
individualism vs collectivism
power distance index
how less powerful members of a group accept the unequal distribution of power
how societies tolerate inequalities
high PDI score→ high tolerance for inequalities
masculinity vs femininity
achievement, autonomy, competition vs caring, compassion, cooperation
uncertainty avoidance index
how comfortable with ambiguity, with an uncertain future
high score→ intolerance for unconventional, less risk taking
indulgence vs restraint
low score→ more retrained in terms of personal gratification
long term vs short term orientation
low score→ more traditional/conservative

Question 16

Cultural Norms (info)

Answer 16

common rules that regulate interactions and behaviours in a group as well as a number of shared values and attitudes in the group
collective mental programming
surface culture
food
clothes
holidays
deep culture
morals
behaviour
can create conflict
perception of time
norms are rules specific groups use for stating what is seen as appropriate/inappropriate behaviours, values, beliefs and attitudes

Question 17

Enculturation (info)

Answer 17

skills and norms in the context of their cultures, the way they learn to be part of the group
enculturation is a constant process of learning
behaviours
thinking
there is also gender enculturation, how do we learn our gender
difficult to experiment and measure gender enculturation

Question 18

Acculturation (info)

Answer 18

how we can adapt to a new culture, a result of the interactions with other cultures
assimilation: accept the new culture, become accepted
separation: focus on keeping your own culture and avoiding contact with the new culture
integration: holding on to your own aspects but accepting some from the other culture
marginalisation: neither keeping nor learning a culture
acculturative stress: psychological shock of adapting to a new culture “culture shock”
reverse culture shock: when people return to their home culture after spending time out of it - disorientation
acculturation gaps: differences in understandings and values between parents and children as they go through acculturation

Question 19

Tajfel

Answer 19

Aim: To see how one’s social identity may affect behaviour; to investigate if intergroup discrimination would take place based on being put into different groups.
Participants: 48 boys aged 14-15
Method:
Boys were asked to rate 12 paintings by two artists
Boys were put into two groups based on their ratings
Each boy was asked to allocate points to two other boys, one from the same group, another from the other group
Two point allocation systems:
First one: To test if the boys would favour their in-group and try to benefit their own group
Second one: To test if the boys would try to harm the other out-group
Results: Boys showed that they would favour their in-group, and were also willing to sacrifice their own points to award less points to the out-group.

Question 20

Bandura

Answer 20

Aim: To demonstrate that if children are passive witnesses to an aggressive display by an adult, they will imitate this aggressive behaviour when given the opportunity.
Participants: 36 boys and 36 girls aged 37-69 months old. 1 male and 1 female adult
Method:
Three conditions:
Control
Aggressive model
Passive model
Each child was assigned to one condition and either a male or female adult
6 girls with female adult -> control
6 girls with female adult -> aggressive
6 girls with female adult -> passive
6 girls with male adult -> control
6 girls with male adult -> aggressive
6 girls with male adult -> passive
6 boys with female adult -> control
6 boys with female adult -> aggressive
6 boys with female adult -> passive
6 boys with male adult -> control
6 boys with male adult -> aggressive
6 boys with male adult -> passive
Each child watched their adult perform either control, aggressive, or passive motions to a bobo doll
Each child (on their own) then went into their own room with a bobo doll and other toys
Researchers watched kids covertly and rated their levels of aggression as well as what they did
Each child was subjected to “mild aggression arousal.” The child was taken to a room with attractive toys, but after starting to play with them, the child was told that these were the experimenter’s very best toys and she had decided to reserve them for the other children
Each child was taken into another room for 20 minutes with non-aggressive toys (teddy bears, blocks, etc) and aggressive toys (guns, darts, etc)
Researchers watched the kids through a one way mirror and observations were made in 5 second intervals
Results:
The children who saw the aggressive model made more aggressive acts than the children who saw the non-aggressive model;
Boys made more aggressive acts than girls;
The boys in the aggressive conditions showed more aggression if the model was male
The girls in the aggressive conditions also showed more physical aggression if the model was male but more verbal aggression if the model was female
The exception to this general pattern was the observation of how often they punched Bobo, and in this case, the effects of gender were reversed.

Question 21

Rogers and Frantz

Answer 21

Aim: To see whether stereotypes could be the result of conformity to group norms.
Participants: Sample of 500 Europeans aged 20 and over living in Rhodesia for a period of less than 5 years our over 40 years (Stratified sampling)
Method:
Survey containing sixty-six examples of laws and customs in which White Europeans and Africans were treated differently
This included the use of racially segregated lands, lack of political representation, the use of public facilities, and cross-racial sexual relations
Four response choices – 0 = very important to maintain that law, 6 = very important to discontinue the law
Results: Mean score = 2.45, most Europeans in Rhodesia were in favour of maintaining the status quo. The Europeans who supported the status quo least strongly were those who had been living in Southern Rhodesia for fewer than five years.

Question 22

Steele and Aronson

Answer 22

Aim: To show how stereotype threat may affect an individual’s test performance.
Participants: 76 male and female, black and white undergraduates from Stanford University.
Method:
The participants were given a standardised test of verbal ability and were told one of two things:
It is a test to diagnose your intellectual ability
It is a test of your problem-solving skills;
In the first condition, the focus was on “verbal ability”, in the second two conditions, it was on “problem-solving.”
Participants were randomly assigned to one of the conditions; however, they made sure that there were equal numbers of participants in each condition.
Results: African Americans did poorly when they believed that the test was a test of their ability, but did just as well as the white Americans when they believed that it was a test of their problem-solving skills. African American participants performed less well than their white counterparts in the stereotype threat condition, but in the non-threat condition, their performance equaled that of their white counterparts.

Question 23

Kulkofsky

Answer 23

Aim: To see if there was any difference in the rate of flashbulb memories in collectivistic and individualistic cultures.
Participants: 274 adults from five different countries (middle class)
Method:
Participants were given five minutes to recall as many memories about public events as they could (events had to have occurred at least one year ago)
Researchers created a “memory questionnaire” and also asked them personal questions about the events
Results:
In collectivist cultures: Personal importance and intensity of emotion played less of a role in predicting FBM
In individualistic cultures: Placed greater importance on personal experiences and individual emotions

Question 24

Fagot

Answer 24

Aim: Look at the role that parents may play in gender-role development.
Participants: 24 families (12 with a boy, 12 with a girl). Each family had one child between the ages of 20 and 24 months. Both parents stayed at home and aged between 20 and 30 years old. All families were white.
Method:
Observers had an observation checklist of 46 child behaviours and 19 reactions from parents
There were 5 60 minute observations for each family over a 5 week period
After the observations were made, each parent was asked to rate the 46 behaviours as more appropriate for girls, neutral, or for boys
Each parents also filled out a questionnaire on the socialisation of sex roles
Results:
Parents reacted significantly more favourably to the child when the child was engaged in same-sex preferred behaviour; children were more likely to receive negative responses to cross-sex-preferred behaviours. Parents gave girls more positive responses when they engaged in adult-oriented, dependent behaviour.

Question 25

Joy et al