Culture bias

• Culture bias

  Is the tendency to judge people in terms of one's own cultural assumptions and ignoring the effect that cultural differences have on behaviour.
• W.E.I.R.D

  -The type of people often studied. It only represents only 12% of the worlds population.

  • Western
  • Educated
  • Industrialised
  • Rich
  • Democratic
• Cultural relativism

  -The idea that a behaviour can only be properly understood and only makes sense in the context of the norms and values of the society/culture in which it occurs.
• Ethnocentrism 


  -Emphasising the importance of the behaviour of ones own culture. It is the practice of regarding ones one ethnic, or social groups as the centre of cultures.
• Etic approach 


  -When research based on one culture is generalised and applied to all cultures. It looks at behaviour from the outside of a given culture and attempts to find trends that can be generalised.
• Emic approach 


  -Looks within/inside cultures and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture - approach has cultural relativism.
• Ethnocentrism

  -is a form of culture bias and refers to a belief or assumption of the superiority of one's own culture.

  -It is often the case that Western psychologists have presented an ethnocentric view of behaviour.

  -Western behaviours are superior and the norm and is the standard to what everything and everyone else in compare to.
• The strange situation

  -It reflects the values and norms of Western cultures.

  -Infants form different types of attachment and ideal type of secure. This assumes to be universal.

  -However, this resulted in a misinterpretation of childbearing practices and infant attachment in other cultures.

  -These assumptions are characterise to secure attachment meant that Japanese infants were more likely to be classified as having insecure resistant attachment. These behaviours reflected the unusualness of the situation for Japanese infants who are rarely separated from their mothers.
• Cultural relativism

  -This refers to the idea that norms, values and behaviours can only be meaningful and understood with the specific cultural content.

  -Berry draws a distinction between types of approaches - etic and emic.
• Etic approach to research


  is when research based on one culture is generalised and applied ti all cultures.

  -It looks at behaviour from outside a given culture and attempts to find trends that can be generalised.

  -e.g. Strange situation, Mary studied behaviour in the US and applied the 'ideal attachment type' in US to the rest of the world, leading to results affected by cultural bias as child rearing practices vary across the world.
• Emic approach to research 


  -Looks within/inside cultures and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture. Operating under this approach would see psychologists as truly emerging themselves in a specific culture, developing an understanding that cultures practices and developing research procedures, interpreting the findings with that culture in mind.
• How to avoid cultural bias

  • Do not attempt to extrapolate findings to culture that are not represented in the research.
  • Use researchers who are native to the culture been investigated.
  • Carry out cross cultural research rather than research with one culture.
  • Do not assume universal norms across different cultures.