Culture and Personality
• What
is cultural psychology?
• Why should we study it?
• Different research approaches
• Structural framework
• Self-Ways (Markus)
Cultural Psychology
Interdependence of personality
and sociocultural context:
• Concepts of personality in specific cultures
• Cross-cultural comparisons of personality
• Search for universal aspects of personality
Psychodynamic Approach
• Content of the superego
• Societal norms for the development of
psychosexual stages
• Societally accepted defense mechanisms
• Role of the unconscious (societal norms for
making it conscious)
Biological Approaches
• Interaction between universal “nature” and
cultural differences in “nurture”
• Search for human universals
• Influence of environment on cultural
practices
(Jared Diamond: Guns, germs, and steel)
Trait Approach
• Differences in factorial structure across cultures
• Differences in stability of factorial structure
across cultures
• Differences in the nature of traits across cultures
Etic Approach
• Universal
• Objective
• Outsider’s view
Emic Approach
• Specific
• Subjective
• Insider’s view
Etic Approach
• Translation & back-translation of existing
questionnaires into new language
• Reliability and validity checks
• Confirmatory factor analysis
• Yang et al (1990) Chinese “Big Five” don’t
map completely on Western Factors
• McCrae et al. (2000) translated Big Five
into Filipino  all five factors revealed
Emic Approach
• Use indigenous sources (e.g. dictionary,
literature, open ended responses)
• Exploratory factor analysis to reveal new
factors
• Cheung et al. (1997) created Chinese
Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI)
– Factor “openness” not in CPAI
– Factor “chinese tradition” not in Big Five
A Structural Framework of
Cultural Psychology
•
•
•
•
Historical background
Cultural practices
Specific social episodes
Psychological tendencies
 Example:
Video of pre-schools in Japan and USA
Structural Framework - USA
Historical
Background
Cultural
Practices
Religion:
Protestantism:
Personal god
Linguistics:
Decontextualized "I"
Philosophy
Descartes:
I think, therefore I am.
Advertisements:
"Just do it",
"Different is
good"
"Have it your
Politics
way, right
-Declaration of
away"
Independence
-Bill of Rights Legal System:
- Free will
- Reponsibility
Specific
Episodes
Guests told to
"help themselves"
Children have
own rooms,
choose their
own clothing
Compliments
to colleagues
"Are you
happy/having
fun?"
Psychological
Tendencies
- Individual
control and
responsibility
- Consistency
- Positive and
unique self
Structural Framework - Japan
Historical
Background
Religion:
- Buddhism
(compassion,
Nirvana)
Cultural
Practices
Specific
Episodes
Linguistics:
Host decides
Word for "self" for the guest.
= "my share"
Children eat,
Proverbs:
sleep, learn in
- Confucianism "a nail that
groups.
(roles, respect stands out is
Compliments
for ancestors) hammered
are refused.
down"
"Aren't you
Legal System:
ashamed?"
- duty
- remorse
Psychological
Tendencies
- Focus on
group context
- Self is context
dependent
- Improvement
"Fitting in"
Self-Ways
“Cultural and social groups in every historical period
are associated with characteristic patterns of
sociocultural participation or, more specifically,
with characteristic ways of being a person in the
world … these culturally constructed patterns,
including ways of thinking, feeling, wanting, and
doing, arise from living one’s life in particular
sociocultural contexts - that is, contexts structured
according to certain meanings, practices and
institutions.”
-- Markus & Kitayama
In other words, self-ways are ways of being a self.
TST - Twenty Statements Test
• Twenty answers to the question “Who am I?”
• Cross cultural comparisons reveal differences
in relative frequency of response categories
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Psychological attributes (I am outgoing.)
Physical attributes (I am tall.)
Preferences/Interests (I like to cook.)
Goals (I want to get an A in this class.)
Attitudes (I am not a racist.)
Activities (I have a part time job.)
Social Roles (I am a student./I am a father.)
TST: Japan vs. USA
Kanagawa, Cross, & Markus, 1998
18
16
14
12
10
8
Japan
USA
6
4
2
0
ps
ph
yc
ys
ho
ica
lo
l
gi
ca
l
in
at
te
tit
re
ud
st
es
s
go
ac
tiv
al
s
iti
es
Independent Self
Father
Mother
X
Sibling
X
Self
X
Co-Worker
X
Friend
Friend
Friend
Interdependent Self
Father
Mother
X
X
Self
Sibling
X
Friend
X
Friend
Co-Worker
Friend
Independent vs. Interdependent Self-Ways
• Independent - USA
–
–
–
–
Individual as fundamental societal unit
Positive, independent, unrestrained self
Choice, self-efficacy
Consistency over time
• Interdependent - Japan
–
–
–
–
Relationships as fundamental societal unit
Connected, harmonic, restrained self
Obligation, duty
Flexibility and improvement over time
Summary
• Cultural psychology studies the influence of
cultural factors on people’s personality.
• Every approach to personality research needs
to account for cross-cultural differences.
• Global cross-cultural differences do not imply
uniformity within each culture.