1. WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION

2. Cultural diversity brings challenges to humankind.  negative - confusion, misunderstanding and conflicts.  positive - opportunities; enriching environment  Complexities in today’s society due to a change in lifestyle, modernity, socio-emotion or political system may affect intercultural relations.

3.  The goal of psychology:  1. to build body of knowledge about people (to describe, explain, predict behaviours)  2. apply the knowledge to intervene in people’s lives in order to have better life - Because of individuals vary across culture, there is a need to have a methodology that compares one culture to another on an observable psychological phenomenon.

4. There is a great concern on cross-cultural research in the study of human beings as: most psychology textbooks have been published based on research done mostly in America and amongst college students, and often ignoring diversity aspect in human beings. Question asked: are the findings or theories discussed in the book true to all people?

5.  Cross-cultural research test the question by examining and testing (compare) it in people of different cultural background (at least 2 of different cultural groups).  Cross-cultural psychology is no different than any field of psychology, except that the methodology involves a parameter which involves inclusion of people of different cultural background.

6.  Cross-cultural psychology (CCP) not only tests similarities and differences in behaviours, but also possible limitations of traditional (from mainstream/textbook) knowledge by studying people of different culture.  In a broader sense, CCP tries to seek what are the truths that are true for all  UNIVERSALISM

7.  CCP is not topic-specific - broad range of topic  Findings may indicate that some behaviours are not universal, but culture-bounded.

8.  Common usage of the word “culture”.  May understood as race, nationality, ethnicity, trends in music and art, food and clothing, rituals, traditions and heritage.

9.  Berry, Poortinga, Segall, and Dasen (1992): ◦ Descriptive uses – types of behaviour associated with culture ◦ Historical definitions ◦ Normative uses ◦ Psychological descriptions ◦ Structural definitions ◦ Genetic

10.  Some other category of culture:  General characteristics  Food and clothing  Housing and technology  Economy and transportation  Individual and family activities  Community and government  Welfare, religion, and science  Sex and life cycle

11.  Is complex  Ambiguous and confusing  Abstract, but concrete enough in the manifestation of culture (differences in actions, thoughts, rituals, etc)  Is an explanatory concept to describe reasons we see differences in behaviours such as greetings.

12. Culture LabelingFeedbackReinforcingObserving Culture is dynamic and changing

13.  “…a dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit, established by groups in order to ensure their survival, involving attitudes, values,beliefs, norms and behaviours, shared by a group but harboured differentlyby each specific unit within the group, communicate across generations, relatively stable but with the potential to change across time

14.  Environment in where the culture exist, e.g. abundant of oil, drive big cars around.  Population density – perhaps hierarchy in the society is important in order to gain stability  Affluence – less reliant on others  Technology – becoming more individualistic as no reliance on other; can do things on your own  Climate – affect clothing, food choice, etc

15.  Individual differences in culture can be observed among people in the degree to which they adopt and engage in the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours that, by consensus constitute their culture.

16.  Culture is a conglomeration of attributes that are shared by other members of a cultural group; whilst personality is an individual trait  Culture is characterised by stability in social system, e.g. ensuring rituals, norms are communicated to younger generations. Whilst personality centres on individual traits within his/her lifetime.  Culture is a macro concept, involves social labeling, but not personality.

17.  Generally refers to trends in music, arts, other expressions  Does not necessarily involve a way of life  Popular culture is expressions that come and go within a few years; not stable like culture it self over time /generations

18.  Culture and race- race = biological determination, e.g. Negro, Caucasian, Hispanic However, it has become a socially constructed concept  being associated with human mobility such as socioeconomic mobility, geographic mobility.

19.  Culture and Ethnicity - characterised by common nationality, geographic origin, culture or language Phinney (1996) – ethnicity as important concept that needs attention. It is explained by its cultural norms and values, strength and salient, and meaning of ethnic identity, and attitudes associated with minority status

20.  Culture and nationality  Culture and gender  Culture and disability*  Culture and sexual orientation*

21.  Etics vs Emics  Etics = universal aspects of behavior  Emics = culture-specific