4. Culture Dimension

Introduction:

Cultures are made up of a set of attitudes, behaviors, and symbols shared by a large group of people, and usually communicated from one generation to the next

Culture dimension: the values and norms within a culture that influence behavior and cognition. It describes the trends of behavior in each culture.

One of the culture dimensions is individualism and collectivism

·      Individualism: Focus on “I”, Emphasize personal identity, Loose tie between individuals

·      Collectivism: Focus on “We”, Emphasize social identity, Strong in-group bonds are formed.

 

Body:

Berry

Aim: if the I-C dimension plays a role on the level of conformity

Participants: 3 cultures (Temne, Inuits, Scots)

Procedure: 

·      Each participant was tested alone. Directions were given in their native language.

·      Use a version of Asch paradigm: show a series of lines and asked to pick the line that most closely matched a target line.

·      The participant was told, “Most Temne (or Inuit/Scots)” say that this line matches the line at the top. What do you think? (Some trials correct, some incorrect)

Result: Temne were more likely to conform to the incorrect answer than the Inuits.

Conclusion: Culture dimension plays a role in one’s level of conformity.

Linkback: Temne-social harmony, Inuits-independence, speaking one’s mind.

Evaluation-strength:

·      Test in native languages of the different groups, less confounding variable

·      Highly standardized-replicable-test reliability

Evaluation-limitation:

·      low ecological validity (Highly artificial)

·      Temporal validity (Inuit people’s living habit has changed)

 

Kulkofsky

Aim: to see if there was any difference in the rate of flashbulb memories in collectivistic and individualistic cultures

Participants: adult from five different countries

Procedure:

·      Recall events: five minutes to recall memories of public event

·      Memory questionnaire: answer a series of questions to determine the level of FBM

·      Answer questions about personal importance & emotional intensity of the event

Result: In a collectivistic culture like China, personal importance and intensity of emotion played less of a role in predicting FBM than individualistic cultures

Linkback:

·      Individualistic cultures: greater emphasis on an individual’s personal involvement and emotional experiences

·      Collectivistic cultures: de-emphasize personal experience and -less rehearsal-fewer FBM.

Evaluation-strength:

·      High ecological validity

·      Back translation of questionnaires to native languages: control confounding variable

Evaluation-limitation:

·      Self-report & retrospect: cannot verify the accuracy of memory, intensity of emotion when the event happened.

 

Conclusion:

·      Etic approach compare culture, use standardized tests developed in western culture to measure behavior in different culture.

·      Ecological fallacy: a trend in a culture rather than individuals, might lead to stereotypes.

·      Application: understand culture in the age of globalization.