Cultural bias

• what is culture bias?

  if the ‘norm’ or ‘standard’ for a particular behaviour is judged only from the standpoint of one culture, then any cultural differences in behaviour that depart from that standard will inevitably be seen as abnormal and inferior.
• what is an example of culture bias?

  Jahoda's 1958 criteria for ideal mental health emphasises several western ideals including ‘self-actualisation’ and ‘personal autonomy’. Both of these are specific to Western European and North American ideals, which are culturally specific to individualistic culture.
• what is ethnocentrism? 


  the act of judging another culture and believing that the values and standards of one's own culture are superior
• what is an example of ethnocentrism?

  Ainsworth's 1970 ‘Strange Situation’ is an example of ethnocentrism as her study was made for American families and used American families as participants. She then applied the findings across to multiple cultures which led to misinterpretation in other child rearing practices outside of the American ‘norm’.
• what is cultural relativism?

  the principle of regarding the beliefs, standards, values and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself. The idea that a behaviour can only be properly understood in the context of the norms and values of the society or culture in which it occurs.
• what is an example of cultural relativism?

  when diagnosing schizophrenia, it is vital to acknowledge the culture norms – hearing voices is socially acceptable in some African cultures but would be seen as a sign of abnormality in the UK such as a symptom of schizophrenia.
• what is imposed etic?

  looks at behaviour from outside a given culture and attempts to describe behaviours that are universals resulting in ethnocentrism and cultural bias. E.g. Ainsworth’s study.
• what is imposed emic?

  functions from within certain cultures and identified behaviours that are specific to that culture. E.g. ethnographic research.
• evaluation of Cultural Bias:

  1.Reflexivity

  • many modern psychologists are beginning to recognise the effect of their own values and assumptions on the nature of their work. Rather than seeing such bias as a problem that my threaten the validity and objectivity of their research, they embrace it as a crucial and critical aspect of the research process in general.
• evaluation of Cultural Bias:

  2.Practical application of culture bias.

  • there is a heightened awareness of cultural diversity has led to the development of ‘indigenous psychologies’.
  • Afrocentrism, a movement which suggests that because all black people have their roots in Africa, theories about them must recognises the African context of behaviours and attitudes.
• evaluation of cultural bias

  3.social sensitivity implications.

  • Yerkes IQ test was culturally biased as it asked Americanised questions and showed that African-American cultures had inferior genetics that were the cause of low intelligence.
  • This is socially sensitive because the culture bias in this research can have significant real-world effects such as amplifying and validating damaging cultural stereotypes.