© 2013 Cengage Learning
Outline

Cultural Psychology – Psychology with a
Cultural Perspective

The Goals of Psychology
 Cultural Psychology and Cross-Cultural Research
 The Contribution of the Study of Culture on
Psychological Truths
 The Contribution of the Study of Culture in Our Own
Lives
 The Growth of Cultural Psychology and CrossCultural Research
Outline (cont'd.)

What Is Culture?

Where Does Culture Come From?
 A Definition of Culture
 Is Culture a Uniquely Human Product?
 The Difference Between "Society" and "Culture"
 Groups That Have Cultures
 Contrasting Culture, Race, Personality, and Popular
Culture
Outline (cont'd.)

The Contents of Culture



How Does Culture Influence Human Behaviors
and Mental Processes?




Objective Elements
Subjective Elements
Understanding Culture In Perspective: Universals and
Culture-Specifics
Etics and Emics
Changing Culture
The Goal of This Book
CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY –
PSYCHOLOGY WITH A
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
The Goals of Psychology

Psychology is well-equipped to meet the
challenge of cultural diversity



First goal: build body of knowledge about people
Second goal: take body of knowledge and apply it to
intervene in people's lives
Applied psychologists engage in lifelong learning
process to help intervene in people's lives
 Theories tested for validity both in science and
on streets
Cultural Psychology and
Cross-Cultural Research

WEIRDOS (Western, educated, industrialized,
rich, and democratic cultures) are not
representative of all humans
 Is what we know about human behavior true for
all people?
 Cross-cultural research: tests cultural
parameters of psychological knowledge


Involves inclusion of people of different cultural
backgrounds
Cultural psychology: phenomenon of
understanding cultural influences on behavior
The Contribution of the Study of
Culture On Psychological Truths





Important to incorporate a cultural perspective in
mainstream psychology
Knowledge created in psychology should be
accurate and descriptive of all people
Cross-cultural research tests whether what is
true for some is also true for others
Cultural diversity in findings and cultural
differences in research are widespread
Multicultural psychology incorporates
psychologies of cultures around world
The Contribution of the Study of
Culture In Our Own Lives

Practicing cultural psychology is an exercise in
critical thinking:

Is what we know true for all people regardless of their
cultural backgrounds?
 Under what conditions do differences occur, and
why?
 What is it about culture that produces such
differences?
 What factors other than culture contribute to these
differences?
The Growth of Cultural Psychology
and Cross-Cultural Research





Cultural psychology has made substantial
impact in psychology worldwide
Popularity of cultural psychology due to
importance of culture on behavior
Intercultural conflicts led to much interest in
cross-cultural research
Theoretical models are increasingly
incorporating culture
Increased interest in cultural psychology is a
normal and healthy development
WHAT IS CULTURE?
What is Culture?

Many people use culture, race, nationality, and
ethnicity interchangeably
 Culture:

Describes activities or behaviors
 Refers to heritage or tradition
 Describes rules and norms
 Describes learning or problem solving
 Defines organization of group
 Refers to origins of a group
Where Does Culture Come From?





Ecology: types of places where people live has
major impact on how they live
Resources: natural and monetary affect culture
People: group living, needs, and motives
influence culture
Universal psychological toolkit: aptitude and
cognitive abilities help people adapt to
environment
Individuals differ in how much they have or use
their toolkits, but all have similar toolkits
A Definition of Culture

Function of culture:



Provides guidelines or roadmaps on what to do, how
to think, and what to feel
Ways of living take advantage of toolkits to meet
basic human needs
Definition of culture:

Unique information system, shared by group, and
transmitted across generations
 Allows group to meet basic needs, pursue well-being,
and derive meaning from life
Culture

Culture is the human-made part of the
environment.
 Plus a process for transmitting it to future
Generations
 Culture is to society what memory is to
individuals
 Therefore - Culture is a shared pattern of beliefs,
attitudes, norms, role perceptions, and values
Material and Subjective

Material culture – Objects: clothes, food, houses,
highways, tools, and machines.
Subjective culture – Rules: how to live properly,
how to
 behave in relation to objects and people.

Subjective culture

Language and economic, educational, political,
legal, philosophical and religious systems are
important elements of culture.
 Ideas about aesthetics, and people should value
and how they should live
Some Elements of Culture

Norms - ideas about behavior expected of
members of a group


Tight culture - people are expected to behave exactly
as specified by norms, are interdependent and
supervised closely
Loose cultures - one can deviate from norms.
Roles – Norms for correct behavior of people
who hold a position in a social group.
 Values – Guide behaviors and desirable states
of affairs.

Values

1. Self-direction: creativity, freedom, choosing own goals,
curious
 2. Stimulation: a varied life, an exciting life, daring
 3. Hedonism: pleasure, enjoying life.
 4. Achievement: ambitious, successful, capable
 5. Power: authority, wealth, social recognition
 6. Security: social order, clean, health, sense of belonging
 7. Conformity: obedient, self-disciplined, politeness
 8. Tradition: respect for tradition, humble, devout
 9. Benevolence: helpful, loyal, forgiving
 10. Universalism: broadminded, social justice, world of beauty
Is Culture a Uniquely Human
Product?





Many animals are social
In animal societies, clear social networks and
hierarchies exist
Many animals invent and use tools
Many animals communicate with each other
Characteristics of human life that differentiates it
from those of animals: complexity,
differentiation, and institutionalization
The Difference Between "Society"
and "Culture"





Society: system of interrelationships among
people
Human societies are complex
Culture: meanings and information that are
associated with social networks
Human cultures give concept of family own
unique meaning
Different human cultures assign different
meanings to family
Groups That Have Cultures






Nationality
Language
Ethnicity
Gender
Disability
Sexual orientation
Contrasting Culture, Race,
Personality, and Popular Culture





Race is more of social construction than
biological essential
“Racial" differences are of little scientific or
practical use
Personality: unique constellation of traits,
attributes, qualities, and characteristics
Culture is relatively stable across individuals,
whereas personality is vastly different
Popular culture does not involve sharing a wide
range of psychological attributes
THE CONTENTS OF CULTURE
The Contents of Culture

Objective elements



Subjective elements


Architecture, clothes, foods, art, and eating utensils
Mass media, music, Facebook, and Twitter
Values and beliefs
Norms: generally accepted standards of
behavior for cultural group
 Attitudes: evaluations of things occurring in
ongoing thoughts
 Worldviews: belief systems about world
HOW DOES CULTURE
INFLUENCE HUMAN
BEHAVIORS AND MENTAL
PROCESSES?
How Does Culture Influence Human
Behaviors And Mental Processes?





Culture influences psychological processes
Enculturation: process of learning about one’s
culture beginning at birth
Culture, situational context, and individual
factors influence mental processes
System by which culture influences mental
processes is dynamic
Relationship between culture and individual
behaviors is a reciprocal, dynamic one
Understanding Culture in Perspective:
Universals and Culture-Specifics





There are many psychological processes in
which all humans engage
Attributions: ability to recognize others as
intentional agents while drawing inferences
Because human cultures exist in unique
environments, differences exist among cultures
Making attributions is universal, but people may
differ in the way they make them
Same psychological process may be done
differently when comparing human cultures
Etics and Emics





Etics: universal psychological processes
Emics: culture-specific processes
Each culture has had different combinations of
geography, climate, resources, precious culture,
and contact with other cultures
People are very similar in their basic needs
Cultures have long histories of having worked
for many generations
The Goal of This Book





Raise questions about traditional, mainstream
knowledge of human behavior
Determine if human behavior is applicable to
people of all cultural backgrounds
Find better ways to understand differences
Impart flavor of evolution in science and
knowledge
Understand, appreciate, respect, and feel
cultural diversity and its influence on human
behavior