Transcript IB Chapter 4: Sociocultural Level of Analysis

IB Chapter 4: Sociocultural
Level of Analysis
Ms. Freeman
IB Psychology
Ethics of Sociocultural Research
1) Social Psychology often involves deception
2) Informed consent is desired, but if using deception,
informed consent might negatively influence study
outcomes
3) Participants may be debriefed at the end of the study
4) Be careful not to lower someone’s self- efficacy
Define the Terms “Culture” and
“Cultural Norms”
• Matsumoto and Juang define culture as “ a unique meaning
and information system, shared by a group and transmitted
across generations that allows the group to meet basic survival,
pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life”
• Heider says that culture is learned and shared; it is not inherited
• Enculturation– how children go about learning the practices of a culture; narratives
are the primary way children learn about their culture
• Ethnocentrism– people treat their own culture as if it was the model by which all
cultures should be judged
•Cultural Relativism— helps minimize ethnocentrism; does not mean accept everything
or think all cultural practices are correct. Others can be right
Who and Where do you learn cultural norms?
Using 1 or more examples, explain
“Etics” and “Emics”
Etics– universal behaviors
Emics – cultural specific behaviors
Research Study
• Rashda Tabassum and colleagues (2000) conducted an interview study where they
compared emic definitions of depressive symptoms from Pakistanis living in the United
Kingdom with the existing predominant etic descriptions used by Western psychiatrists
treating them
• The study explored women’s mental health needs and clarified inconsistencies about
the frequency of mental disorder, attitudes toward mental disorder, and attributions
contributing to attitudes about mental illness. There was a concern that Western etics
dominated how data was collected in the past and dictated how Pakistanis were viewed
either mentally healthy or unhealthy
Using 1 or more examples, explain
“Etics” and “Emics”
Research Study cont….
• 1st and 2nd generation Pakistani women who lived in poor UK
• 3 different languages; English, Urdu, Punjabi
• Hard to get sample because interviews would meet in family group settings
(males would not typically let females meet alone with researcher)
•Only 7 families would allow researcher to record, making transcription difficult
• Questions about: perception of causes fro mental disorder, help- seeking
behavior, family perceptions and reaction to mental disorder, and the
community status of people with a mental disorder
•Difficulty in translating the questions because Western symptoms did not
always directly translate and the Pakistani culture had some different ways of
conceptualizing mental disorder
Using 1 or more examples, explain
“Etics” and “Emics”
Tabassum and colleagues results
• Participants were fairly knowledgeable about Western etic mental health models
•63% viewed aggression as a main symptom of abnormality
• Pakistani culture is collectivist and emphasize politeness in social behavior, so
aggressive displays are viewed as abnormal, more important than anxious or depressed
symptoms
•Many of the other identified causes of mental disorder were similar to those from
Western models, with 63% emphasizing stress as a primary factor.
•Remember: stress is an etic, though there are emic features of how the Pakistani
display stress
• 25% attributed mental disorders to super natural causes and 35% believed in faith
healers
•Families should cope with mental health; hospitalization was a last resort
•Reluctant to discuss intimate family matters
Describe the Role of Situational and
Dispositional Factors in Explaining
Behavior
Dispositional Factors– mood, personality traits,
values, intentions; internal. People
automatically try and create stable unchanging
explanations about behavior.
Situational Factors– external; physical, role, rule,
norm, and law constraints.
Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment
Discuss 2 Errors in Attributions
Attributions– help us understand others’ intentions; is
essential to how people explain things that happen, it
gives us a sense of order and control
Correspondence Bias
• Elliot Aronson and colleagues write that the most common schema people have to
judge anothers’ behavior is a correspondence bias, that behavior matches a person’s
disposition.
•Correspondence bias also known as the “fundamental attribution error”
How can we explain correspondence bias?
• We tend to focus on the person rather than a situation, called perceptual salience;
perceptual salience refers to one’s visual point of view
•Salience– the most important or striking feature
•It is possible to see the person aqnd infer from how they look, speak, and behave.
Discuss 2 Errors in Attributions
Correspondence Bias: Anchoring and
Adjustment Heuristic
• Attributions begin with an anchoring position, which is generally the focus of
their immediate attention; what is perceptually salient. But as more information
becomes available, people should adjust their opinions.
•Another reason is that expectations can distort perception, leading to a
correspondence bias
•Lastly, another cause is unrealistic expectations, where comparisons are made
between what an individual thinks might happen in a situation with what
someone else has done
• Aronson and colleagues believe that attributions happen in a 2- step process
• First impressions are anchored in dispositions, but then adjustments are
made
Discuss 2 Errors in Attributions
Self Serving Bias
Self- Serving Bias– people are more likely to attribute success to themselves, but place
blame for failures on the situation
When do you use self- serving bias?
• When self worth is threatened
•Impression Management; we behave in order to maximize the chance that we will make
good impressions
•When information is limited; without clear information about a situation, it is easier, and
probably automatic, to make a dispositional judgment
•People will protect themselves when necessary
Explain the Formation of
Stereotypes and Their Effect on
Behavior
• Having a stereotype does not directly lead to prejudice or
discrimination.
• Discrimination is the behavior that comes from prejudice.
Fiske and Taylor divide stereotyping into 2 types blatant and
subtle stereotyping
Blatant Stereotyping– primarily controlled and conscious
• Occurs when people identify with their in-group with controlled conscious social
thinking
•We have biases toward an in group and biases against out groups
•Taken to the extreme, identifying with an in-group can lead to intense competition
and aggression
Explain the Formation of Stereotypes
and Their Effect on Behavior
Subtle Stereotyping– come from interpersonal conflicts;
challenges our notions that all stereotypes reflect deliberate
prejudice