cultural bias

• cultural bias

  • Cultural bias occurs when researchers fail to consider cultural differences
  • often interpreting all phenomena through the lens of their own culture
  • alpha cultural bias = assumes inherent differences between cultures and often exaggerates these differences (can lead to stereotypes)
  • beta cultural bias = when researchers ignore the potential for cultural differences (can lead to ethnocentricism)
• Americans + students over-represented in research

  • Henrich et al = found that 68% of research participants came from the United States and 96% from industrialised nations
  • Arnett = found that 80% of research participants were undergraduates studying psychology
• WEIRD people set standard

  • what we know about human behaviour has a strong cultural bias
  • Henrich et al = coined the term WEIRD to describe the group of people most likely to be studied by psychologists - Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies
  • if the norm or standard for a particular behaviour is set by WEIRD people, then the behaviour from non-western, less educated, agricultural and poorer cultures are inevitably seen as 'abnormal', 'inferior' or 'unusual'
• ethnocentrism

  • a form of cultural bias
  • in psychological research this may be communicated through a view that any behaviour that does not conform to a European/American standard is somehow deficient or underdeveloped
  • superiority of own culture
• example of ethnocentrism

  • Ainsworth and Bell Strange Situation = their research on attachment type reflected the norms of US culture
  • suggested that ideal/secure attachment was defined by a baby showing moderate distress when left alone by their mother figure (led to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in countries deviating from US norm)
  • eg = Japanese babies who are rarely left on their own are more likely to be classed as insecurely attached as they showed distress on separation
  • eg = German parents labelled as cold rather than acknowledging their encouragement of independence
• cultural relativism

  • the idea that norms and values should be understood within their specific cultural context - helps to avoid cultural bias
  • the 'facts' that psychologists discover may only make sense from the perspective of the culture within which they were discovered
• universality vs cultural relativism

  • berry argues:
  • etic approach = looks at behaviours from the outside of a given culture and attempts to identify behaviours that can be generalised (universal behaviours)
  • epmic approach = functions within certain cultures, aiming to identify behaviours relative/specific to that culture
  • Ainsworth and Bells research = illustrates and imposed etic
  • they studied behaviours inside a single culture and then assumed their ideal attachment type could be applied universally
• limitation = many classic studies are culturally-biased

  • both Asch's and Milgram's original studies were conducted with white middle-class US participants - replications of these studies in different counties produced very different results
  • Asch-type experiments in collectivist cultures found significantly higher rates of conformity than the original studies in the US (an individualist culture)
  • suggests our understanding of topics (such as social influence) should only be applied to individualist cultures
• counterpoint to classic studies being culturally bias

  • individualism-collectivism distinction may no longer apply due to increasing global media
  • Takano and Osaka = found 14/15 studies comparing the US and Japan found no evidence of individualist vs collectivist differences
  • => cultural bias in research maybe less of an issue in more recent psychological research
• strength = emergence of cultural psychology

  • cultural psychology = the study of how people shape and are shaped by their cultural experience - an emerging field that takes an emic approach
  • research is conducted from inside a culture - often alongside local researchers using culturally based techniques
  • fewer cultures are considered when comparing differences (usually just 2)
  • suggests modern psychologists are mindful of the dangers of cultural bias and are taking steps to avoid it
• limitation = ethnic stereotyping

  • Gould = explained how the first intelligence tests led to eugenic social policies in America - during ww2 psychologists gave IQ tests to 1.75 million army recruits
  • many test items were ethnocentric (eg name US presidents) so recruits from south-eastern Europe and African-Americans scored lowest and were deemed genetically inferior
  • illustrates how cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice and discrimination towards ethnic and cultural groups
• extra evaluation = relativism vs universality

  • cross-cultural research can challenge dominant individualist ways of thinking and viewing the world - may provide us with a better understanding of human nature
  • BUT = research suggests that facial expressions for emotions (such as disgust) are the same all over the world, so some behaviours are universal
  • suggests a full understanding of human behaviour requires both (but too long the universal view dominated)
• Cultural bias link to history a level

  • ethnocentrism has led to the colonisation of countries because more powerful countries believe they are more superior….. link British empire