Culture bias

• What is one way to counter ethnocentrism in psychology?

  Develop indigenous psychological theories
• What are indigenous psychological theories rooted in?

  Different cultures
• What does Afrocentrism propose about black people's roots?

  All black people have their roots in Africa
• Why must psychological theories concerning black people be African centred according to Afrocentrism?

  They must express African values
• Why is the concept of Afrocentrism significant in psychology?

  It disputes the view that European values are universally appropriate
• How have Eurocentric values impacted psychological theories and research?

  They have shaped theories that are irrelevant or detrimental to African descent
• What has been the result of addressing Eurocentric values in psychology?

  The development of theories relevant to the life and culture of people of African descent
• What criticism has been directed at Afrocentrism?

  Many Afrocentric scholars were based in the USA
• What implication does the USA-based research of Afrocentric scholars have?

  It may be more relevant to African-Americans than Africans
• Why might developing indigenous psychologies not always solve the problem of ethnocentrism?

  Because research may still be culturally biased
• What is one way to counter ethnocentrism in research?

  Using an etic approach
• What does the etic approach seek to identify?

  Universals of behaviour
• How did Buss et al. gather data for their study on mate preferences?

  By collecting data from 37 different cultures
• Why did Buss et al. use local researchers in their study?

  To study universal mate preferences without language barriers or bias
• What is the significance of Buss's findings on mate preferences?

  They are generalisable to different groups of people
• What does the etic approach help researchers avoid?

  Beta bias
• What are the advantages of using an etic approach in research?

  • Investigates universals of behaviour
  • Avoids language barriers
  • Reduces researcher bias from cultural values
• What is one method to counter ethnocentrism in research?

  Using studies with samples from different cultural groups
• What percentage of participants in studies were American psychology students according to Henrich et al. (2010)?

  67%
• Why is it problematic to generalize findings from studies primarily involving American participants?

  It may lead to beta bias where cultural differences are minimized
• How much more likely is a randomly selected American student to participate in a psychology study compared to a random non-Westerner?

  4,000 times more likely
• What is the consequence of developing ethnocentric theories of behavior?

  There is a need for research from samples from different cultural groups
• What is beta bias in psychological research?

  Minimizing cultural differences in findings
• What does ethnocentric theory imply about behavior?

  It suggests that behavior is primarily understood through a Western lens
• What is a real danger of culturally biased research?

  It helps to create or reinforce stereotypes.
• Why is the US Army IQ test considered an infamous example of cultural bias?

  It showed European immigrants and African Americans had lower IQ scores, reinforcing stereotypes.
• What groups were shown to have lower IQ scores in the US Army IQ test?

  European immigrants and African Americans.
• What was the effect of the data from the US Army IQ test on American attitudes?

  It had a profound effect on attitudes towards black people and people from southeastern Europe.
• What was the consequence of the US Army IQ test regarding ethnic groups?

  It led to enduring stereotypes concerning certain ethnic groups and their IQ.
• What was the lowest mental age indicated by the US Army IQ test?

  African Americans were indicated to have the lowest mental age.
• How did the US Army IQ test affect perceptions of black people and southeastern Europeans?

  It reinforced negative stereotypes about their intelligence.