Samenvatting: Culturele psychologie
Module 1.1 - What is culture?
Definition:
- Culture (= a unique defining and informative system shared by a group and
transmitted across generations that enables the group to meet basic needs for
survival, pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life).
- Functional (cognitive) definition. How do people use culture? Culture is like a pair of
glasses we constantly use to look through a framework that helps us evaluate and
organize information.
Goals of cross-cultural psychology
1. To gain a broader understanding of our knowledge about people.
- The ultimate aim is to transfer our tested hypotheses and findings to other
cultural contexts.
- To study cultures in order to discover psychological similarities and
differences.
- To integrate findings into a more universal view of psychology.
2. To have a positive impact on people’s lives. Ethical considerations must therefore be
included.
Why do we need cross-cultural psychology?
- Because most research is conducted on and by WEIRD (= western, educated,
industrial, rich and democratic) people. This is not representative of humanity, and
there are significant cultural differences. Research shows that 96% of psychological
samples come from countries that represent only 12% of the world’s population. This
indicates sampling bias.
Future:
- Cross-cultural psychology is growing, for example journals are asking for more
diverse samples, but this still seems difficult to achieve. Even then, it will be hard to
generalize findings to all of humanity.
- One problem is ethnocentrism (= the tendency to view the world through one’s own
cultural filters, because this is what we are used to). Researchers also put on their
own “glasses” when thinking about culture. This is not inherently bad, but it becomes
problematic if one forgets to include other groups and only prioritizes one’s own.
How does culture develop?
- The environment plays an important role. Culture can, for example, be shaped by
the climate in which a group lives. This influences clothing trends, but also factors
such as population density and a country's resources.
- An example is the historical rice fields in China. When people depend on rice fields,
for example for income, they are more likely to cooperate with institutions and value
group norms. This has divided China into dependent areas (with rice fields) and less
dependent areas (without rice fields). This laid the foundation for the cultures we see
today in those regions.
- Natural disasters can also shape a country’s culture according to latitudinal
psychology. The effect differs depending on wealth: In wealthier countries, the impact
, on well-being is less. Research also shows that countries farther from the equator
(and thus less affected by natural disasters) tend to be more creative.
Theories on cultural similarities and differences:
1. Absolutism (= psychology is the same everywhere)
2. Relativism (= underlying processes differ across cultures)
3. Universalism (= underlying processes are the same, but their expression looks
different) > Different ways of greeting.
- Etics (= universal psychological processes or behavior) > Like the purpose of
greeting is the same across cultures.
- Emics (= culture-specific processes or behaviors) > Like bowing as a form of
greeting.
Key concepts:
- Society or community (= a system or structure of relationships between individuals
and groups). This is not the same as culture, culture is about the value we attach to
such relationships. Example: The firstborn son can be seen as a relationship
(society), but has very different meanings across cultures.
- Culture is not the same as countries. Many subcultures exist within countries or
regions.
- Race has become more of a social concept than a biological one. It does not need to
be included in research unless its underlying meaning is considered. For example,
racial categories have changed over time, not by themselves, but due to the social
environment. Race also means different things in different cultures. Some countries
do not see it as a category, but as determined by income or residence.
- Ethnicity (= a term used for people of the same nationality, birthplace, language, or
culture). Ethnicity is often mistakenly used as a synonym for race, but it includes
more cultural aspects.
Module 1.2 - The content of culture
Elements of culture:
- Objective elements (= things we commonly refer to when talking about culture and
that are directly observable, such as food, music, clothing, or architecture).
- Subjective elements (= the internal elements of culture, such as norms and values).
Values:
- Theory of Hofstede: The four dimensions of culture
1. Power distance
2. Individualism / collectivism
3. Masculinity / femininity
4. Uncertainty avoidance
5. (2010) Long-term vs. short-term orientation
6. (2010) Indulgence
- Individualism and collectivism refers to whether people see themselves primarily
as individuals or as part of a group. Examples: China (extremely collectivist), United
States (extremely individualist) and Brazilië (in between).
Beliefs:
, - Bond & Leung’s theory social axioms.
- Social axioms (= broad general beliefs and assumptions about ourselves, our social
and physical environment, and the spiritual world, they are statements about the
association between two or more entities or concepts). Research identifies two broad
social axioms:
1. Dynamic external beliefs (= beliefs in external forces, such as hope, higher
powers, or spirituality) > Example: “God gives my life meaning”.
2. Social cynicism (= general concerns or pessimism about the world) >
Example > “Good people always have bad luck”.
- There is overlap between collectivist countries (dynamic external) and
individualist countries (social cynicism), but they are not the same. For
example, the United States is individualist but scores closer to
dynamic external beliefs.
Norms:
- Gelfand’s theory of tightness-looseness.
1. Countries with tight norms accept less deviant behavior.
2. Countries with loss norms accept deviant behavior more easily.
- In tight countries, ecological and historical threats, combined with strict
government, lead to tighter norms. These countries often have high population
density, histories of conflict, natural disasters, or disease outbreaks. The more threats
a country faces, the stricter the politics, and the more people lose personal freedom.
Example: People are less likely to spit in public because of stricter rules. The daily
adaptations eventually lead to psychological adjustments, such as learning to
regulate emotions.
, - Examples of tight countries: Pakistan, Malaysia, India and Singapore. Examples of
loose countries: Ukraine, Hungary, Israel and the Netherlands.
- Research shows that fewer people died from COVID-19 in countries with strong
norms.
Worldviews:
- Markus & Kitayama’s theory of independent and interdependent self.
- The idea is that self-concept differs across cultures:
1. Independent self-concept (= important things are part of the self, with other
people seen as separate).
2. Interdependent self-concept (= the relationships with others are central, with
overlap between self and others).
Module 2.1 - Methods in cross-cultural research:
Types of studies:
1. Exploratory studies (= examines the existence of cross-cultural similarities or
differences):
- Strength: Broad scope for identifying similarities and differences.
- Weakness: Limited capability to solve the causes of differences.
2. Hypothesis-testing studies (= examines why cultural differences exist). Inferences
promote cross-cultural biases and inequivalence (example: researchers look at SES
to say something about the child institutions in different cultures).
What are we looking for?
- Structure-oriented studies (= comparison of a culture’s constructs, structures, or
relationships among constructs with those of another culture). Such as comparing
IQ-scores among cultures.
At what level are we doing research?
1. Individual-level studies (= individual participants provide data and are the unit of
analysis).
2. Ecological (cultural) studies (= countries or cultures are the units of analysis). For
example Hofstede used countries as his data for research.
3. Multilevel studies (= involve data collection at multiple levels of analysis). For
example educational psychology that can look at students individually or students in
a group.
Distinguishing levels is important:
Module 1.1 - What is culture?
Definition:
- Culture (= a unique defining and informative system shared by a group and
transmitted across generations that enables the group to meet basic needs for
survival, pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life).
- Functional (cognitive) definition. How do people use culture? Culture is like a pair of
glasses we constantly use to look through a framework that helps us evaluate and
organize information.
Goals of cross-cultural psychology
1. To gain a broader understanding of our knowledge about people.
- The ultimate aim is to transfer our tested hypotheses and findings to other
cultural contexts.
- To study cultures in order to discover psychological similarities and
differences.
- To integrate findings into a more universal view of psychology.
2. To have a positive impact on people’s lives. Ethical considerations must therefore be
included.
Why do we need cross-cultural psychology?
- Because most research is conducted on and by WEIRD (= western, educated,
industrial, rich and democratic) people. This is not representative of humanity, and
there are significant cultural differences. Research shows that 96% of psychological
samples come from countries that represent only 12% of the world’s population. This
indicates sampling bias.
Future:
- Cross-cultural psychology is growing, for example journals are asking for more
diverse samples, but this still seems difficult to achieve. Even then, it will be hard to
generalize findings to all of humanity.
- One problem is ethnocentrism (= the tendency to view the world through one’s own
cultural filters, because this is what we are used to). Researchers also put on their
own “glasses” when thinking about culture. This is not inherently bad, but it becomes
problematic if one forgets to include other groups and only prioritizes one’s own.
How does culture develop?
- The environment plays an important role. Culture can, for example, be shaped by
the climate in which a group lives. This influences clothing trends, but also factors
such as population density and a country's resources.
- An example is the historical rice fields in China. When people depend on rice fields,
for example for income, they are more likely to cooperate with institutions and value
group norms. This has divided China into dependent areas (with rice fields) and less
dependent areas (without rice fields). This laid the foundation for the cultures we see
today in those regions.
- Natural disasters can also shape a country’s culture according to latitudinal
psychology. The effect differs depending on wealth: In wealthier countries, the impact
, on well-being is less. Research also shows that countries farther from the equator
(and thus less affected by natural disasters) tend to be more creative.
Theories on cultural similarities and differences:
1. Absolutism (= psychology is the same everywhere)
2. Relativism (= underlying processes differ across cultures)
3. Universalism (= underlying processes are the same, but their expression looks
different) > Different ways of greeting.
- Etics (= universal psychological processes or behavior) > Like the purpose of
greeting is the same across cultures.
- Emics (= culture-specific processes or behaviors) > Like bowing as a form of
greeting.
Key concepts:
- Society or community (= a system or structure of relationships between individuals
and groups). This is not the same as culture, culture is about the value we attach to
such relationships. Example: The firstborn son can be seen as a relationship
(society), but has very different meanings across cultures.
- Culture is not the same as countries. Many subcultures exist within countries or
regions.
- Race has become more of a social concept than a biological one. It does not need to
be included in research unless its underlying meaning is considered. For example,
racial categories have changed over time, not by themselves, but due to the social
environment. Race also means different things in different cultures. Some countries
do not see it as a category, but as determined by income or residence.
- Ethnicity (= a term used for people of the same nationality, birthplace, language, or
culture). Ethnicity is often mistakenly used as a synonym for race, but it includes
more cultural aspects.
Module 1.2 - The content of culture
Elements of culture:
- Objective elements (= things we commonly refer to when talking about culture and
that are directly observable, such as food, music, clothing, or architecture).
- Subjective elements (= the internal elements of culture, such as norms and values).
Values:
- Theory of Hofstede: The four dimensions of culture
1. Power distance
2. Individualism / collectivism
3. Masculinity / femininity
4. Uncertainty avoidance
5. (2010) Long-term vs. short-term orientation
6. (2010) Indulgence
- Individualism and collectivism refers to whether people see themselves primarily
as individuals or as part of a group. Examples: China (extremely collectivist), United
States (extremely individualist) and Brazilië (in between).
Beliefs:
, - Bond & Leung’s theory social axioms.
- Social axioms (= broad general beliefs and assumptions about ourselves, our social
and physical environment, and the spiritual world, they are statements about the
association between two or more entities or concepts). Research identifies two broad
social axioms:
1. Dynamic external beliefs (= beliefs in external forces, such as hope, higher
powers, or spirituality) > Example: “God gives my life meaning”.
2. Social cynicism (= general concerns or pessimism about the world) >
Example > “Good people always have bad luck”.
- There is overlap between collectivist countries (dynamic external) and
individualist countries (social cynicism), but they are not the same. For
example, the United States is individualist but scores closer to
dynamic external beliefs.
Norms:
- Gelfand’s theory of tightness-looseness.
1. Countries with tight norms accept less deviant behavior.
2. Countries with loss norms accept deviant behavior more easily.
- In tight countries, ecological and historical threats, combined with strict
government, lead to tighter norms. These countries often have high population
density, histories of conflict, natural disasters, or disease outbreaks. The more threats
a country faces, the stricter the politics, and the more people lose personal freedom.
Example: People are less likely to spit in public because of stricter rules. The daily
adaptations eventually lead to psychological adjustments, such as learning to
regulate emotions.
, - Examples of tight countries: Pakistan, Malaysia, India and Singapore. Examples of
loose countries: Ukraine, Hungary, Israel and the Netherlands.
- Research shows that fewer people died from COVID-19 in countries with strong
norms.
Worldviews:
- Markus & Kitayama’s theory of independent and interdependent self.
- The idea is that self-concept differs across cultures:
1. Independent self-concept (= important things are part of the self, with other
people seen as separate).
2. Interdependent self-concept (= the relationships with others are central, with
overlap between self and others).
Module 2.1 - Methods in cross-cultural research:
Types of studies:
1. Exploratory studies (= examines the existence of cross-cultural similarities or
differences):
- Strength: Broad scope for identifying similarities and differences.
- Weakness: Limited capability to solve the causes of differences.
2. Hypothesis-testing studies (= examines why cultural differences exist). Inferences
promote cross-cultural biases and inequivalence (example: researchers look at SES
to say something about the child institutions in different cultures).
What are we looking for?
- Structure-oriented studies (= comparison of a culture’s constructs, structures, or
relationships among constructs with those of another culture). Such as comparing
IQ-scores among cultures.
At what level are we doing research?
1. Individual-level studies (= individual participants provide data and are the unit of
analysis).
2. Ecological (cultural) studies (= countries or cultures are the units of analysis). For
example Hofstede used countries as his data for research.
3. Multilevel studies (= involve data collection at multiple levels of analysis). For
example educational psychology that can look at students individually or students in
a group.
Distinguishing levels is important:
