Culture

• Cultural Influences: Mead et al.


  studies 3 tribes in papa new ginuea

  • found each tribe had different gender roles
  • name of tribes:  Arapesh, Mundagamoor and Tchambuli
• limitations of Mead et al.'s study

  •   Its validity may have been reduced by the fact that researchers might have viewed the tribes from a Western viewpoint. (ethnocentric)
  • Participants may have been affected by demand characteristics.
  • Participants may have been influenced by investigator effects.
• Cultural Similarities: Williams and Best

  • looked at cultural differences in 26 different countries
  • asked participants to look at 300 different words describing behaviour e.g. dominant, active
  • say whether associated with men/women
  • Found more similarities than differences
  • suggests influence of culture on gender roles is weak