Sociocultural Approach Flashcards
(14 cards)
Social Identity Theory (minimal groups paradigm)
Tajfel et al. (1971)
Aim: To investigate the minimal groups paradigm and its relevance to the social identity theory.
Procedure: Adolescent male students in an experiment were falsely told they were grouped based on their art preferences. They were then asked to allocate virtual money to anonymous members of their supposed in-group or an out-group. Their allocation choices (maximum joint profit, maximum in-group profit, or maximum difference) were recorded.
Results: Participanst tended to favour their ingroup members by often selecting options that maximised the profit difference between the groups, even at the expense of potential maximum joint profit.
Conclusion: In-group favoritism and out-group discrimination can arise from trivial group distinction. In-group favoritism can be manipulated via minimal groups paradigm, in which participants use social categorization.
Social Identity Theory (self-esteem and group)
Cialdini (1976)
Aim: To investigate the role of social identity in self-esteem.
Procedure: A field study was carried out on campuses of 7 American universities with popular football teams. Researchers observed students’ clothing choices after a football game and recorded the frequency of students wearing collage-branded clothing after a win or loss. Researchers also asked students about their team’s performance.
Results: Students were more likely to wear collage-branded clothing after a victory. When asked about their teams’ performance students were more likely to use first person pronouns ‘we’ after a victory as opposed to third person ‘they’ after a loss.
Conclusion:To maintain a strong sense of self-esteem, people tend to closely associate themselves with a group when it’s successful and establish distance from it when it fails.
Social Cognitive Theory (observational learning)
Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961)
Aim: To investigate observational learning in children when confronted with an aggressive adult role model.
Procedure: Preschool age children were rated on their level of aggression and put into a matched pairs design. They were then observed with either an aggressive adult, a non-aggressive adult, or no adult interacting with a Bobo doll for around 10 minutes. Children then were exposed to a frustrating situation, by being denied access to attractive toys. Finally, they were put in a room where they had access to toys, including a Bobo doll and were observed through a one-way mirror. Same-sex and opposite-sex models were used equally across conditions.
Results: Children exposed to an aggressive model exhibited significantly more aggressive behaviours than other groups.
Same-sex models led to higher imitation rates.
Boys were more likely to imitate physical aggression, while girls verbal aggression.
Conclusion: Exposure to an aggressive role model can lead to imitative aggressive behaviour in children. Highlighting the role of observational learning.
Social Cognitive Theory (self-efficacy)
Perry, Perry and Rasmussen (1986)
Aim: To explore the relationship between percieved self-efficacy and reinforcement in aggressive behaviour in children/
Procedure: Elementary school children were categorized as either ‘aggressive’ or ‘non-aggressive’. They were then given two questionares, one measuring perceptions of self-efficacy in avoiding aggressive action and one measuring their outcome expectations (whether they expected a reward or punishment).
Results: ‘Aggressive’ children found it easier to engage in aggressive behaviour and more difficult to control those impulses. They were also more confident that aggressive behaviour would result in a reward rather than punishment.
Conclusion: Self-efficacy and percieved reinforcement are important cognitive determinants of social learning in relation to anti-social behaviour and aggression.
Stereotypes (Self-fulfilling prophecy)
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)
Aim: To investigate the role of self-fulfilling prophecy in regards to teachers’ expectations and students’ intelectual performance.
Procedure: Teachers were told that certain students were likely to be ‘intelectual bloomers’ based on a test. That test was not acctually conducted and ‘bloomers’ were chosen at radom. The researchers observed the classroom dynamics and at the end of the year students were given an IQ test.
Results: ‘Bloomers’ scored higher on the IQ test than their peers.
Conclusion: Teachers’ expectations altered the way students were being treated which affected their abilities, creating a self-fulfilling propehcy.
Stereotypes (Stereotype threat)
Steele and Aronson (1995)
Aim: To investigate the role of stereotype threat on intelectual test performance in African-American students.
Procedure: Stanford undergraduate students were given a verabal test. There were three conditions, in one researchers emphasized the tests diagnostic nature (stereotype threat condition), in the second one emphasis was put on problem-solving and for the third test participants were told it was unrelated with their intelectual ability.
Results: African-American students perforemed worse than their white peers in the stereotype threat condition but matched in others.
Conclusion: Being aware of a negative stereotype or expectation can lead to anxiety that decreases performance.
Cultural Dimensions (individualism vs collectivism and conformity)
Berry and Katz (1967)
Aim: To investigate whether individualism and collectivism influence conformity.
Procedure: Using a modified Asch paradigm, participants from Temne (collectivist) and Inuit (individualist) were asked to match line lengths after being given a hint of what others from their culture supposedly chose.
Results: Participants from the collectivist culture showed higher levels of conformity.
Conclusion: Cultural dimensions affect conformity behaviour, with collectivist cultures showing more conformity than individualistic ones.
Enculturation (parenting styles and delayed gratification)
Culture and behaviour(how different cultural values can have an influence on behaviour)
Lamm et al. (2018)
Aim: To investigate the role of culture in children’s ability to delay gratification.
Procedure: German and Cameroonian preschoolers were presented with a marshmallow and were told that they would receive an additional one if they waited. Data on parental styles and values were gathered.
Results: 70% of Cameroonian children waited compared to 30% of German children. Cameroonian parenting emphasized hierarchical relational socialisation and obedience and German parenting encouraged autonomy and individuality.
Conclusion: Role of culture is highly influential in human behaviour, particularly in delaying gratification including the impact of parenting styles.
Enculturation (vicarious learning in non-Western societies)
Odden and Rochat 2004
Aim: To explore the role of vicarious learning in enculturation within non-Western societies, specifically among Samoan children.
Procedure: One researcher resided in a rural Samoan village for 20 months, observing children’s participation in daily life and cultural activities. Researchers also conducted semi-structured interviews with adults and collected parental belief questionnaires.
Results: Many childrens’ skills were acquired through observational learning. Specifically, young males taught themselves how to fish by the age of 12 through observing adults, receiving no direct instructions. Children also had a reasonably good understanding of their cultural concepts despite not being explicitly taught these.
Conclusion: Vicarious learning plays a significant role in enculturation. It appears it’s possible for children to learn the values, norms and behaviours of their culture by observation and imitation.
Acculturation (acculturation stress)
Lueck and Wilson (2010)
Aim: To investigate the factors affecting acculturation stress in Asian immigrants in America.
Procedure: Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with first-generation Asian immigrants and the children of first-generation immigrants. Participants were interviewed about their acculturation experience, including, impact of language proficiency, discrimination, social networks etc.
Results: 70% of participants reported feelings of acculturation stress. Fully bilingual participants had the lowest rates of acculturation stress. Experiences of discrimination, prejudice and stereotyping significantly increased acculturation stress.
Conclusion: Acculturation stress is very common among immigrants. Language proficiency, family cohesion, economic opportunities, and prejudice are all factors that affect acculturation stress.
Ethical considerations (concerns) in observations study.
Festingr et al. (1956)
Aim: To investigate how members of a doomsday cult would cope when their world-ending prophecy did not occur.
Procedure: Researchers conducted a covert participant naturalistic observation. They infiltrated a cult by pretending to be true believers. Researchers documented the members’ level of conviction, their preparations and actions as the doomsday approached. Researchers observed and secretly took notes on the groups’ behaviour before, during and after the predicted apocalypse.
Results: When the world did not end as predicted, the cult members initially showed shock. However, when the leader later claimed to have received a message that God had spared the world due to their devotion. Following this, the cult members, who had previously isolated themselves, began actively spreading their message and seeking new converts.
Conclusion: Cult members had rationalized the disconfirmation of their prophecy to reduce cognitive dissonance. By believing they had saved the world, they maintained their self-esteem and commitment to the cult despite the failed prediction.
Acculturation (dimensions of acculturation and positive psychological functioning)
Wang et al. (2010)
Aim: To investigate the relationship between dimensions of acculturation (relationship with Cuban and US culture and ethnic identification) and positive psychological functioning.
Procedure: Cuban-American university students completed an online survey with Likert-scale questions, measuring levels of depression, anxiety and self-esteem.
Results: Biculturalism was linked with more favourable outcomes such as higher self-esteem and lower levels of depression and anxiety.
Conclusion: Results suggest that maintaining a relationship with both heritage and host culture is associated with better psychological well being.
Cultural dimensions (individualism vs collectivism and the pace of life)
Levine and Norenzayan (1999)
Aim: To investigate the influence of individualism/collectivism on the pace of life in large cities across the world.
Procedure: Researchers observed the walking speed of pedestrians, speed of service at the post office and the accuracy of bank clocks in 31 countries with both individualistic and collectivist cultures.
Results: The study found that cities in individualistic countries generally had a faster pace of life, while cities in collectivist countries had a slower pace.
Conclusion: The individualistic/collectivist cultural dimension does appear to be a good predictor of pace of life in cities.
Globalisation.
Ogihara and Uchida
Aim: To investigate how a change in values might be influencing the subjective well-being of young Japanese students.
Procedure: Students from a Japanese and an American university filled out a questionnaire that measured: individualism, how many friends they had, subjective well-being (happiness), life satisfaction and physical and psychological emotional states.
Results: There was a negative correlation found between individualism in Japanese students and their overall subjective well-being (higher individualism, less happiness and satisfaction). The number of close friends a Japanese student had was a mediating variable – the inability to make friends is why the individualistic values led to being less happy and less content with life.
This correlation was not found in the American students.
Conclusion: The spread of Western values through globalization could have negative effects on people in collectivist cultures. This might be because they become more competitive and individualistic but lack the skills to establish strong friendships because they were not taught this from a young age.
