WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY  

TOPICS Definitions of culture/cross-culture psychology History of the discipline Methodological debates Issues in cross-cultural psychology Etics, emics, stereotypes, ethnosentrism, Miscellaneous

Definition CULTURE Shiraev and Levy (2004) – …as a set of attitudes, behaviours, and symbols shared by a large group of people and usually communicated from one generation to the next. …the shared conglomeration of attitudes, values, behaviours and beliefs comm frm 1 gen to the next via language (Matsumoto & Juang, 2004) Harry Triandis (1996, in Hall & Barongan, 2002) …as shared attitudes, beliefs, norms, roles, and self-definitions.

Definition (contd) Stanley Sue (1991) –… the variability that exists between groups and societies. Culture involves behaviour patterns, knowledge, attitudes, values and achievements which are transmitted thru norms, rules, institutions, socialization practices, and communication patterns. Hope Landrine (1992) - …the unwritten social and psychiatric dictionary that we have each memorised and repressed.

Definition (cont.) Attitude = beliefs (political, ideological, religious, moral, etc), values, general knowledge, opinions, supersitions, and stereotypes. Behaviour = norms, roles, customs, traditions, habits, practices and fashions. Symbols (represents things and ideas) = material object, colour, sound, slogan, building, etc

Definition (cont.) There is no exact rule or a yardstick to define culture and the persons who live in that culture. Culture is very much a socio-psychological construct (e.g. values, attitudes, beleiefs, and behaviours) Culture is not biologically rooted, hence, it is not race. Not ethnic, nation or nationality per se.

Definition (contd.) Individuals from various ethnic background, if experience the same socialization process, may be experiencing the same acculturation process.

Definition of Cross-cultural Psychology Triandis (1994) : “…a systematic study on behaviours and experiences of human being from different cultural background. Segall, Dason, Berry, & Poortinga (1990) : “…scientific study of the ways in which social and cultural forces shape human behaviour”. Cross-cultural psychology is a branch discipline in psychology to study the limitations of knowledge of human beings, by studying people from different culture.

Goals To apply and to test existing theories n various cultural setting to validate their applicability (boleh diaplikasikan) and generalisability (boleh digeneralisasikan). To make conclusion about human’s behaviour. To explore and establish understanding of the deeply-rooted psychology in particular cultural contexts.

Scope The scope of this discipline is not topic-specific. Interest of cc psychologists shall include a wide range of behavioural phenomena, such as perception, language, child-rearing – psychopatology.

History CC Psych. existed in 1960s (when it was already 110 yrs.) 1970 – Journal Of CC Psych was established 1950-1969 = 127 publications on CCPsych and Culture Serious interest/concerns on the need of CC Psych when : Debates on “nature vs. nurture” Reliability and validity tests Experiments mostly done in the West

Indigenous Psychology (Psikologi Pribumi) Kim & Berry (1993) – Indigenous psy is a scientific study of human behaviour (or the mind) that is native, that is not transported from other region, and that is designed for its people. Indi. Psy looks at aspects of ecology, philosophy, ‘culture’, local history, with a perspective which might be different than traditional/mainstream/conventional perspective of psychology.

Indigenous Psychology (cont.) The goal of indi psych is not to condemn other people’s culture, but to preserve the existing culture, by understanding it and respect for what it is. Therefore indi psy is not bounded by any methods (to study people from various background). E.g. : Psikologi Melayu (Abd. Halim Othman, ed, 1993), New Zealand Psychology (Sutherland & Beaglehole, 1940s)

Etics, Emics, Stereotypes Berry (1969) – Etics – aspects of life that are relatively consistent/similar in different cultures – universalism principle. e.g. 1st year students are wearing traditional dress, such as baju kurung to school or college/uni in Malaysia. Emics – aspects of life that are relatively different in various culture – cultural-specific principle. e.g. A Bangladeshi is found wearing a Punjabi dress to almost everywhere in Kota Kinabalu.

Etics, Emics, Stereotypes (cont.) Etics sometimes clashes with emics, e.g. eye-contact. Stereotypes – attitudes, beliefs, and general opinions about other people from different culture, which are formed by previous facts and the individual’s perception. Combination of facts and fictions  GENERALISASTION  stereotypes

Ethnocentrism and culture filter Culture functions as a filter to one’s thinkings and actions. Individuals have the tendency to judge people from their perspective/ way of thinking/belief/values (culture), and react accordingly = CULTURE FILTER. Ethnocentrism happens when one person judge the other from different culture as being less superior than people from his/her culture. Why ? Individual’s thinking is mostly governs by the culture filter.

Methodological debates Issues : Operational/working definition of culture Sampling Equivalance Statement of problem, measurement, interpretation of data. Language Research environment

Methodological issues Operational definitions Size of sampling Generalisability of sampling Equivalance in cross cultural research -confounding variables Research environment Back-translation Culture-bound in developing measurement instruments Homogenous sample Response set