Culture bias

• Cultural bias


  The tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through one's own culture
• Ethnocentrism


  Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one's own culture. The belief in the superiority of one's own culture which may lead to prejudice/discrimination towards other cultures
• Cultural relativism

  The idea that norms, values, ethics and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts
• Cultural bias example- Asch and Milgram

  • Studies of conformity and obedience were originally conducted with US ppts
  • When replicated in other parts of the world, results were very different
  • E.g. Kilham and Mann (1974) Australian replication
• Ethnocentrism example- Ainsworth's SS

  • Only studied US mothers and children but assumed findings were on a universal level
  • Suggested the ideal attachment was characterised by the infant showing moderate amounts of distress when alone
  • However, this lead to the misinterpretation of other child rearing styles (e.g. German mothers seen as cold and rejecting instead of promoting independence)
  • SS was an inappropriate measure for attachment type in non-US children
• Cultural relativism example- Ainsworth's SS

  • Is a form of imposed etic
  • Assumed the US-based model of classifying attachment was the norm
  • She imposed her own cultural understanding upon the rest of the world
  • Attachment types and child-rearing styles actually change depending on cultural contexts and social norms within a country
• Imposed etic 


  A type of cultural bias that occurs when a researcher assumes that a theoretical idea that is valid in one culture is also valid in another. Aims to find trends that can be generalised
• Imposed emic


  A type of cultural bias where the focus is within one culture/certain cultures to identify behaviours relative to that culture (internal approach)
• Who proposed a distinction between etic and emic approaches in psychology

  John Berry (1969)
• LIMITATION- research tradition (AO3)

  • Issues when conducting research based off of western cultures theories and concepts of behaviours results in the assumption that all participants have familiarity with the aims and objectives established
  • However knowledge may not be the same across cultures outside of a western viewpoint
  • As a result demand characteristics may be more likely/exaggerated when working with members of a local population
  • Calls into question validity of research
• • (AO3)STRENGTH
  • Psychologists have commonly referred to culture based on individualistic versus collectivist values
  • Indv. usually associated with western countries whilst collec. is usually asian
  • However as society has progressed we now have more interconnectedness between cultures in which only two identifiers of culture is invalid and an overly simplistic distinction
  • Supported by TAKANO and OSAKA who found 14/15 studies on USA vs Japan, there was no traditional distinction between the two categories
  • As a result culture bias may be less of an issue
• STRENGTH- cross culture

  • A strength of conducting cross-cultural research in which may risk cultural bias is that it challenges our individualistic ways of thinking/viewing the world
  • As a result findings from cross-cultural research may promote greater sensitivity to individual differences and cultural relavitism
  • This may counter scienfitic racism and conclusions contain higher validity
  • E.g. Van Izjendoorn and Kroonenberg's research of attachment type across cultures with 18 countries, helped us widen our understanding of attachment type and how secure isnt the universal norm as expected