Culture bias

• Americans and students are over- represented in research:

  • Review found that 68% of research participants were from United states.
  • Another review found that 80% of research participants were undergraduate students studying psychology.
• What does weird stand for?

  W – Westernised

  E – Educated

  I – Industrialised

  R – Rich

  D – Democracies
• What does WEIRD describe?

  • The group of people most likely to be studied by psychologists.
  • The norm for particular behaviours is set by WEIRD people.
  • So behaviour of people from non western, less educated, agricultural, poorer cultures are seen as abnormal / inferior.
• Ethnocentrism:

  • Form of culture bias
  • Superiority of own culture
  • View that any behavior which doesn’t conform to European/American standards is abnormal or underdeveloped.
• Example of ethnocentrism:

  Strange situation

  • Reflects norms of US cultures on attachment type.
  • Suggest that ideal attachment (secure) was defined by baby showing moderate distress when left alone by mother figure.
  • Led to misinterpretation of child rearing practices in other countries which deviated from US norm.
  • E.g. Japan showed extreme distress on separation – many classed as insecurely attached (IR) - it was assumed that mothers aren’t sensitive enough and child rearing practices and wrong , but this isn't abnormal this is actually normal in Japan because children are rarely ever separated from mother.
• Cultural relativism:

  • Recognising that research findings only make sense in the culture they were discovered in.
  • Helps avoid cultural bias.
• What is the etic approach:

  • Looks at behaviour from outside a given culture and identifies behaviours that are universal.
• What is the emic approach:

  • looks at behaviours inside a culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture.
• What is the imposed etic approach:

  • Studying behaviour inside a single culture and assuming these behaviours are universal so generalising them across cultures.
  • E.g. Ainsworth – looked at behaviours inside America only and assumed that American ideal attachment type can be applied universally.
• What is a limitation of culture bias in psychology? (1)

  Can lead to prejudice against groups of people:

  • During World war 1 IQ, tests given to US army recruits.
  • Majority of questions were ethnocentric (based on American culture e.g. name US presidents).
  • African American soldiers or recruits from outside the US performed poorly and were deemed genetically inferior.
  • Cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice and discrimination.
• What is a limitation of culture bias in psychology? (2)

  Many classical studies are culturally biased:

  • Asch + Milgram – conducted with white, middle class US participants.
  • Replication of their studies in different countries produced different results.
  • When Asch’s research was replicated in collectivist cultures they found significantly higher rates of conformity than in USA (an individualistic country).
  • Suggests that our understanding of common topics e.g. social influence should only be applied to individualistic cultured.

  ✅ COUNTERPOINT:

  • individualism-collectivism distinction may no longer apply due to increasing global media so cultural bias is less of an issue in more recent psychological research.
• What is a strength of culture bias in psychology? (1)

  Knowledge on culture bias has led to the emergence of cultural psychology:

  • Cultural psychology: Study of how people shape and are shaped by their cultural experiences
  • In cultural psychology the research conducted inside a culture is done using local researchers and culturally based techniques.
  • Findings are being generalised to this specific culture only.
  • Moderns psychologists are becoming aware of the dangers of cultural bias and are taking steps to avoid it.