Transcript Introduction to Cross

Theoretical Foundations:
Important Constructs
and Definitions
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL
CONTENTS OF CULTURE
Issues with Cross-Cultural
Comparisons
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No valid measure of culture
 Researchers have tended to use race or ethnicity
instead.
 This produces stereotypic beliefs and opinions
(Zuckerman, 1990)
Are you really measuring differences in culture or
some other demographic variable?
 i.e. socioeconomic, education, social, etc.
Sampling Adequacy
 Is sampling African Americans from Texas the same
as sampling African Americans from Wisconsin? Can
these results be generalized to all African Americans?
Other Issues
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Validity and Reliability of variables across
cultures.
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Different cultures can define and measure constructs
differently (i.e. intelligence may not mean the same
thing in another country as it does in the U.S.)
Language and Translation
 Research environment, setting, and
procedures
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The U.S. uses Intro to Psych classes
So how do we measure
Culture?
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Traditionally culture has been broken into
subjective and objective elements (Triandis, 1972
& Kroeber & Kluckholn, 1952)
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Subjective elements have been categorized into:
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Domains: opinions, attitudes, values, behaviors, norms, etc.
Dimensions: Individualism, Collectivism, power distance,
uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, etc.
The challenge is to identify dimensions
for which the domains vary.
Hofstede’s Cultural
Dimensions
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Individualism, Collectivism
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Power Distance
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Uncertainty Avoidance
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Masculinity, Femininity
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Long, Short Term Orientation
Dimensions
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Individualism-Collectivism (IC) --(Hofstede,
1980: Kluckholn & Strodtbeck, 1961: Mead,
1961: Triandis, 1972)-Best known
--the degree to which a culture encourages,
fosters, and facilitates the needs, wishes,
desires, and values of the individual over those
of a group
--Members of individualistic cultures see
themselves as separate and autonomous
individuals, whereas members of collectivistic
cultures see themselves as fundamentally
connected to others.
Dimensions (cont.)
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Power Distance (PD) (Mulder, 1976,
1977;Hofstede, 1980, 1984)
 Inequality in power between less-powerful individual
and a more powerful individual.
 PD has to do with the degree to which different
cultures encourage and maintain power and status
differences among the members of an organization.
Dimensions (cont.)
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Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) (Hofstede,
1980, 1984)
 Degree to which cultures create institutions
and rituals to deal with anxiety created by
uncertainty.
Dimensions (Cont.)
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Masculinity (Hofstede, 1980, 1984)
 Degree to which cultures foster traditional
gender differences.
 --the degree to which cultures foster
traditional gender differences among their
members, e.g. drawing organizational
parallels between gender relations that are
present in the larger society.
Hofstede’s Cultural
Dimensions
Long, Short Term Orientation
Degree to which cultures encourage delayed
gratification of material, social, emotional
needs
HOW DOES CULTURE INFLUENCE
HUMAN BEHAVIORS AND MENTAL
PROCESSES?
Figure 1.5: How Does Culture Affect Behavior?
Ecological
Factors
Social
Factors
Enculturation
via
Culture
Family
Community
Biological
Factors
Institutions
Psychological
Processes
Attitudes
Values
Beliefs
Opinions
Worldviews
Norms
Behaviors
Cultural influences on behavior
and mental processes
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This system is dynamic and interrelated
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Although culture is an important factor
influencing behavior so are other factors like
personality, context
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Depending on context, cultural influences on
behavior may change
Understanding culture in perspective:
universals and culture-specifics
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Universals: psychological processes that are
found in all humans, but individual variability
may be present.
Ex) all humans make attributions about
reasons underlying human behavior
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Culture-specifics: some psychological
processes may be present only in a particular
culture or cultures due to non-universal, unique
environments and genetics.
Ex) different cultures may differ in the
way they make attributions
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Etics and Emics
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Universals are Etics
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Culture specifics are Emics
On psychological knowledge
and truths: A Recap
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Is the knowledge we learn in psychology
applicable to all or only to some people of
some culture?
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By asking this question, psychology can
move toward producing accurate knowledge
that applies to all humans or that is specific
to some humans.
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Psychology must incorporate the influence
of culture to become a true science.