Cultural bias

• cultural bias 


  refers to a tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the 'lens' of one's own culture
• ethnocentrism 


  judging other cultures by the standards and values of one's own culture.
• extreme ethnocentrism 


  the belief in the superiority of one's culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures
• 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
• etic 


  looks for universals in human behaviour

  • compare and contrast behaviours across cultures
  • research is conducted by an outsider to understand the culture from an external perspective
• etic approaches are a favoured science as they suggest objectivity and impartiality
• emic


  culture is studied 'from within'

  • looks at culture-specific behaviours from the perspective of local participants
  • researchers are often from the culture they study
• when researchers conduct emic research and apply it universally claiming objectivity this is called 'imposed etic'
• An imposed etic can happen if the researcher fails to recognise:

  • that they are not from the culture they are studying leading to ethnocentric bias - their conclusions are not objective and not neural
  • only looked at one culture and applied findings universally
• cultural bias examples:

  • schizophrenia diagnosis
  • schizophrenia symptoms
  • deviation from ideal mental health
• schizophrenia diagnosis - cultural bias

  • African-Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia due to diagnostic tools and manuals