Culture Bias

• Culture bias is the tendency to ignore differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of ones own culture
• Berry (1969) argues that psychology has been guilty of imposing etics - pushing values onto other cultures, assuming they're universal
• Cultural relativism

  Behaviour can only be properly understood if we study it in the cultural context and take into account the cultural considerations of the people who live there
• Ethnocentrism

  Seeing the world from only ones own cultural perspective, and believing this perspective is normal and correct
• Alpha bias

  Occurs when a theory assumes that cultural groups are profoundly similar
• Beta Bias

  Occurs when real life differences are ignore or minimised, and all people are assumed to be the same
• AO3 - Meta-analysis of the strange situation - Van Ijzendoorn

  Separation anxiety varies cross-culturally

  • Germany - avoidant
  • Japan - Resistant

  Etic approach - judging them by US/UK standards, which led to damaging stereotypes

  German parents were more generally focused on independence, whereas, Japanese were more interdependent than US parenting

  They are the norm (secure) within their own context, but insecure according to US standards
• AO3 - US Army intelligence testing - Consequences of cultural bias

  Before WW1, the US army used an IQ test which contained questions about culture and sports that only the white majority would understand

  This meant that African Americans would come out with a lower score

  Implications:

  Damaging stereotypes, suggesting that intelligence is due to nature

  The tests are used to fit political agendas and sanction racist policy (eg restricting immigration)

  Could be seen as scientific justification to deny people from certain cultural opportunities
• Reflexivity

  The ability to acknowledge ones own cultural bias, and the effect it may have on research

  Partial solution as doesn't get rid of bias, just acknowledges its in the work

  Also tends to be in the subconscious - so not aware of any bias
• EMIC research

  Studies one culture alone to understand culture-specific behaviours

  Researchers attempt to study behaviour through they eye of the people who live in that culture
• reducing cultural bias

  • Do not attempt to extrapolate findings to culture that are not represented in the research sample
  • Use researchers who are native to/immersed in the culture being investigated
  • Be sensitive to cultural norms when designing research and tasks to use and when reporting findings and do not assume universal norms across different cultures
  • Study single culture to understand that culture (EMIC)
  • Carry out cross-cultural research rather than research with a sole culture
  • Taking a reflexive approach
• Universalism and the uses of an EMIC approach

  The problem with taking an EMIC approach is that we might go too far in our ideas of cultural relativism

  There are some universal behaviours, eg classical conditioning, biopsychology, reciprocity and interactional synchrony, schemas, memory