AO3 - Culture Bias

• Research into IQ tests provide a clear example of ethnocentrism. This is because they have been developed and tested in the western world, based on western views of intelligence, so are not suitable for other cultures. These have been misused to reinforce superiority of western cultures and has led to discrimination in immigration policy and sterilising individuals who do not meet western IQ expectations. However, research has shown that when using these IQ tests, cultural differences in scores do not exist, showing clear culture bias and the damaging consequences of ethnocentrism.
• However, critics are quick to point out that culture may also be an outdated concept. This is because viewing cultures as western or non-western is a lazy generalisation as there are many similarities between cultures due to increased globalisation and the effect of shared media influences. For example, Van Ijzendoorn has shown that there is greater variation within cultures than between cultures in attachment types. Therefore, suggesting that the concept of culture may lack validity and researchers should place more focus on social/economic pressures within society rather than culture.
• Much research within psychology can be criticized for lacking cultural relativism, for example when defining abnormality. Deviation from social norms is criticised for lacking cultural relativism as different cultures have different social norms and expectations of behaviour. For example, messages sent from spirits could be a symptom of Schizophrenia in a western culture but could be classed as a spiritual gift in non-western cultures. Therefore, due to culture bias, it may not be appropriate to use Western diagnostical manuals to diagnose mental health conditions in non-western cultures.