culture bias

• define culture bias


  a tendency to interpret all phenomena through the lens of one's own culture, ignoring the effect cultural differences might have on behaviour
• define ethnocentrism


  judging others by ones own culture, in extreme cases, the belief in the superiority of one's culture may lead to prejudice & discrimination towards other cultures
• define cultural relativism


  the idea that norms and values, as well as ethics and moral standards, can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts
• what is etic construct

  looks at behaviours from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe behaviours that are universal
• what is emic construct

  looks within cultures and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture - psychologists emerge themselves in a specific culture to develop understanding of its practices in order to develop research procedures with them in minds
• what is an example of ethnocentrism

  - Ainsworth's strange situation > only reflects the norms of American culture

  -> SS assumes attachment behaviours have the same meanings across all cultures which leads to misinterpretation of child rearing practices in other cultures

  -> higher rates of IA in Germany > does'nt mean mothers are less sensitive, the culture encourages independence

  -> SS = imposed etic - a technique developed in one culture and imposed on another which reduces validity of findings
• what is an example of cultural relativism

  - Sternberg > co-ordination skills were essential to preliterate society (tribes shooting arrows) but seen as intelligence and skillful to modern society

  - reading and writing viewed as intelligence in preliterate society but normal in modern day

  - the only way to understand intelligence is by taking into account the cultural context
• a strength of culture bias is that cross cultural research challenges Western assumptions...

  - researchers travel more and have greater understanding of other cultures > academics meet to discuss and share ideas at institutional conferences which reduces ethnocentrism in psych > behaviours found in one culture may not be the same in another

  - strength because is mean conclusions psychologists draw are likely to have more validity if they recognise the role of culture in findings
• a strength of culture bias is the distinction between individualism and collectivism...

  - individualist cultures, e.g. US, value personal freedom & independence whereas collectivist cultures, e.g. China, emphasise interdependence and the needs of the group

  - however development of modern society has seen increased interconnectedness so the distinction largely does not apply > Osaka and Taxano (1999) found that 14/15 studies didn't show the distinction between individualism and collectivism

  - strength as individualism vs collectivism is less of an issue than it once was
• a weakness of culture bias is that cross cultural research is prone to demand characteristics...

  - conducting research in Western cultures means ppts have familiarity with the general aims of scientific research however in cultures without historical experience of research, ppts be more affected by demand characteristics

  - weakness because unfamiliarity with the research tradition threatens the validity of research findings
• a weakness of culture bias is the difficulty with the interpretation of variables...

  - the issue with conducting research in different cultures is that the variables under review may not be experienced in the same way by all ppts > emotions may give rise to diff behaviours with a native population compared to the West, e.g. China the invasion of personal space is normal whereas in Western culture, it can be seen as threatening or confrontational

  - weakness because issues like these may affect interactions between the researcher and ppts in cross cultural studies which could reduce the validity of results