3.1 Cross-Cultural Psychology part 1 (minor) - Summary
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Course
3.1 Cross-Cultural Psychology
Institution
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR)
This is a summary of part 1 of the Cross-Cultural Psychology minor. Some of the literature might differ as this is based on literature used during covid and online tutorials.
Problem 1: Statements about self + politeness & respect
- Are there any differences in self-concept between different cultures? What are these
differences?
- How useful is the 20 statements test in assessing differences in culture? What does it
measure?
- How can you assess differences in cultures?
- Is looking at underlying assumptions / habits a good way to learn about cultures?
- Can the knowing of these help people to work together?
Article 1: Cultural psychology (Heine)
• INTRODUCTION:
o Humans = cultural species -> everything we do is done in a culturally
particular way
• How the mind is shaped by cultural learning -> challenge that lead to cultural
psychology
o Culture & mind = can’t look into one without the other
o Cultures = emerge through process by which humans interact with & seize
meanings / resources from them
o Mind / psychological processes = change across cultures
• Importance of studying culture in social psychology:
o Cultural differences found -> perception of fairness; attention; moral
reasoning; need for high self-esteem …
o Seems to be some universality -> facial expression; mating preferences (?);
sex differences in violence; personality …
§ Needs to be assessed through many samples
• L Large % of sample used in psychology = western countries (94%)
o Mostly psych undergraduates (67% of US & 80% of non-US)
o à American dominance = biggest in psych (larger than other sciences)
§ Means we don’t know if most psych phenomenon are universal
o Data used for psych research = not just not universal but unusual
§ Results used are outliers
§ 1) Industrialized societies ≠ response than small-scale societies
§ 2) Western industrialized societies (WIS) = more pronounced response
than non-Western
§ 3) Americans = more extreme than other WIS
§ 4) College students in US = even more extreme
• = ‘WEIRD sample’ -> Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich,
Democratic societies
• => Often outliers in psych
• J For research
• L For creating ‘universal’ theories
• Culture study can increase understanding of nature of some psych
processes
o E.g. Mueller-Lyer illusion:
§ Subsistence environment = no visible difference btw the
lines => being exposed to carpentered corners
1
, organizes visual system in a way that relies on angles of corners to
infer relative distance
o Learning about minds of other cultures helps us understand our own minds
Evidence for cultural variability:
• THE SELF-CONCEPT:
o Not born with self-concept -> depends on interactions with people (different
cultures lead to different self-concepts)
§ “We all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds of
life but end in the end having lived only one” (Clifford Geertz)
• Independent vs interdependent:
o The Twenty Statements Test (Kuhn & McPartland) => people freely describe
aspects of themselves
§ 1) Western cultures -> use statements that reflect their inner
psychological characteristics (e.g. attitudes; personality traits; abilities)
• -> ‘Independent self-concept’
• Stable across situations/lifespan + need to be consistent with
these + unique
§ 2) Non-Western -> indicate relational roles & memberships that they
possess
• -> ‘Interdependent self-concept’
• Behaviour depends on perception of other’s thoughts, feelings
… + social context
§ à This difference is already visible from kindergarten-aged children
=> V EARLY
o Similar to individualism vs collectivism
§ Linked to differences in psych processes (e.g. in motivation for
uniqueness; self-enhancement; emotional experience; perspective on
relationships; reasoning styles …)
§ -> Linked to most research in cultural psych
• Self-consistency vs flexibility:
o Self-consistency = linked to independent self-concept
§ Independent self -> autonomous; complete; unchanging; consistent ->
no change in presence of others
§ Less variability in emotions across situations
o Flexibility = linked to interdependent
§ Relationships & roles > abstract internalized attributes
§ Different roles = different experience of the self -> not consistent
across contexts
• E.g. Japanese self-description different sig depending on who
was in the room
§ (!) Difficulty -> self-concept changes based on context -> in what
context lies the real interdependent self?
§ !!! Not unstable S-C -> many stable S-C that are context specific
§ More contradictory self-views (e.g. introvert & extrovert)
• -> Effect on well-being in Westerners but not here
2
, • Non-Westerners aspire for consistency when considering
themselves in relation to others (e.g. rationalize decisions they
make for others, but not for self)
Independent self-concept Interdependent self-concept
Self-consistency J Western
Insider Phenomenological Inner psych attributes
Experience Stable/consistent
Unique
Own perspective
Flexibility J Non-Western
Outsider Relational roles &
membership
Context dependent
Each role = specific S-C
Contradictory self-views (+/-)
Perspective of audience
• Insider vs outsider Phenomenological Experience:
o Insider = own perspective -> independent
§ Inner attributes
o Outsider = take perspective of the audience -> interdependent
§ Need to adjust to groups => need to know perspective of others
§ Eat Asians were less impacted by presence of mirror during task + by
visual task where they needed to take the perspective of their partner
• Multicultural selves:
o How do people with multiple cultures present themselves?
o 1) Multiple self-concepts that are simultaneously accessible
§ Typical thoughts reflect a blend of these
o 2) Frame-switching => sequentially activate different self-concepts depending
on the situation
§ Likelihood depends on the biculture (e.g. integrated vs opposition)
§ à Proof people can have multiple knowledge structures (ideas that
link)
§ Also visible in monocultural people (though less extreme)
• -> Multi = clearly demarked ideas like in & interdependence
• Multi = more creative -> adapting to environments = more
flexible (even more for those with higher levels of identity
integration)
• MOTIVATION:
o Influenced by cultural experience
o Some motivations appear differently across cultures:
• Motivation for self-enhancement & self-esteem:
o Self-enhancement = desire to view self positively = higher in Westerners
§ Meta-analysis -> found higher effect size in Western sample (d=.86)
than in East Asian (d=-.02) – Asian-Americans in between (d=.33)
3
, •1) East Asians -> motivated to enhance group self > individual
self? (no support for enhanced group self)
• 2) East Asians -> self-enhance in specific domains à ‘Better-
than-Average Effect’ paradigm
o More critical for important traits
• 3) Present themselves critically but enhancing privately
o Found correlation between independence & self-esteem
§ -> Could be higher self-esteem in US cause more independent lifestyle
• Approach and avoidance motivations:
o Avoidance motivation = more in East Asians
§ Persist more after failure than success
§ More motivated by negative role models
§ Remember better when containing avoidance info
o Approach motivation = more in Westerners
• Agency and control:
o Incremental (world is flexible / responsive) & entity (world is fixed, beyond
our control) theories of self
§ 1) World is malleable & self is stable = sense of primary control –
shape existing realities to fit their perception
• Westerners -> changing world > self – primary control over self
§ 2) World is stable & self is malleable = secondary control – align with
existing realities
• East Asians -> more flexible view of self
o Making choices:
§ Look at groups > individuals => more willing to adjust their behaviour
when making choices (e.g. family chooses who you marry)
• Indians = slower to make choice; less likely to show or follow
their preferences; would rather have fewer choices
• Motivations to fit in or to stick out:
o Collectivistic = conform most -> to maintain strong relationships with others
(though everyone conforms to some extent)
o Individualistic = want to stick out/be unique
§ Working (> middle) class Americans -> more likely to emphasize
themes of connection
• Motivation for honour:
o US South = stronger honour motivation (protect reputation though
aggression)
§ Due to herding in the past? -> wealth – used to have more slavery
§ More likely to be angry when threat to honour
è Link between self-concept & behaviour
4
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