Psyc 354 – Culture and Psychology
Cultural Autobiography Paper
A paper that describes your cultural roots and heritage, considering ethnic, racial, gender, socioeconomic, and religious/spiritual
experiences. Describe the impact that background variables have had on your own values and worldview, as well as how these impact
the way the student views and relates to others and their values systems. Use information from your own personal experiences,
cultural dimensions and values surveys, the textbook, and other resources provided by the instructor.
50 points
Due Week 4
Parameters:
 Typed 2-3 pages, 1” margins, double space.
 Your paper must be in paragraphs – NO BULLETED LISTS.
 It MUST be in APA format. See APA section at the end.
What to put in your paper:

Your paper will have 7 Sections plus a reference list.

Section 1: About you




o
Put a title at the top of this section (Something descriptive, like this: “Section 1: My Ethnic Background”).
o
Write 1-2 paragraphs that answer these questions: Where were you born? (city and country), What generation are
you in that country? What country do you consider to be your “home” country? How do you describe yourself in
terms of belonging to an ethnic or cultural group? In other words, what label would you give yourself? It is okay to
use hyphens to combine groups (e.g., Chinese-American). What culture-based activities, traditions, or practices do
you do? Examples are folk music or dance, festivals, sports, religious events, go certain places or do certain things
(e.g., 4th of July picnic).
Section 2: About your culture
o
Put a title at the top of the section. (Something descriptive, like this: “Section 2: About the ______ Culture”).
o
Write 1-2 paragraphs that answer these questions: Describe the style of architecture (of buildings, houses), What do
people your age wear? What do people eat? What are typical greetings? What are two major holidays and why are
they holidays? What are the norms or rituals around weddings, or births, or deaths? How important is hierarchy, to
respect those in charge? How do people define success?
Section 3: Your Hofestede Scores
o
o
Put a title at the top of the section.
Write one-paragraph that has all of your Hofestede scores (7 from the handout) and whether they are high, medium,
or low on the scale. Do NOT put your opinion of the scores.
o
Write another paragraph that very briefly defines two (2) of the Hofestede dimensions that are most important to
you. Also say how these 2 dimensions are the same or different than the what Hofestede reports on his website for
your country. Do NOT put your opinion in this paragraph. Paraphrase and cite Hofestede’s descriptions in this
paragraph.
Section 4: Your Cultural Value Dimensions
o
o
Put a title at the top of the section.
Write one-paragraph that has all of your scores (10 from the handout) and whether they are high, medium, or low on
the scale. Do NOT put your opinion of the scores.
o
Write another paragraph that very briefly defines two or three (2 or 3) of the values that are most important to you.
Do NOT put your opinion in this paragraph. Paraphrase and cite Schwartz’ descriptions in this paragraph.
o
You may include a Value Diagram in this section. Low scores (put a dot for that value towards the center of the
circle). High scores (put a dot for that value towards the outside of the circle). Middle scores (put a dot in-between).
Connect the dots with a line.
Section 5: World Factbook for your country



o
Put a title at the top of the section.
o
Write 1-2 paragraphs that answer these questions: Briefly describe the National Culture and Gender roles and
statuses. What is your country’s Age structure? What is the country’s urban population percentage? What are the
main ethnic groups? What are the main religions? What is the School life expectancy (SLE) for boys and girls?
o
Paraphrase and cite the World Factbook.
Section 6: That’s interesting
o
Put a title at the top.
o
Write one (1) paragraph that includes anything else that you want to include, but was not in the items above.
Examples are language, politics, etiquette, religion, or even a good website or other resource for people interested in
culture. See Kwintessential link below for ideas. CAUTION: Resist talking about other countries. That is part of the
next paper.
Section 7: Last one
o
Put a title at the top.
o
Write one (1) paragraph with your thoughts and opinions. They MUST be based on what you reported (i.e.,
something that you wrote in one of your paragraphs). Do not use or cite outside sources of information in this
paragraph.
Reference list:
o
Use a separate piece of paper. Put a title at the top called “References”
o
Use a minimum of six (6) sources. Three (3) of them must be:
o

Hofestede (see link below)

Schwartz (see link below)

The World Factbook (see link below)
Cite your sources of information in the body of your paper and in your reference page. That means that every source
in your reference list must be cited in the body of the report and vice versa. It is okay to you the textbook as a
source.
Resources for your paper ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You can use these resources in your report. Most everything you need is in them. Citation examples are provided for some sources.
Geert Hofstede – http://geert-hofstede.com
Schwartz, S.H. (2005). Basic Human Values: An Overview - www.unienna.it/scienzepsicologiche/doc/tirocinio/Schwartz_paper.pdf
The World Factbook - https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
 Example In text citation: (CIA, 2010)
 Example In reference list: Central Intelligence Agency. (2010). Argentina. In The World Factbook. Retrieved from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ar.html
Country profiles from Kwintessential - www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-profiles.html
 Example In text:
(Kwintessential, n.d.)
 Example In reference list: Kwintessential. (n.d.). Iraq - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette. In International Etiquette
Guide. Retrieved from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/iraq.html.
U.S. State Department, Fact sheets - www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/index.htm
 Example In text: (Dept .of State, 2010)
 Example In reference list: U.S. Department of State (2010). Argentina. Retrieved from
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26516.htm.
E.T. Hall – High vs Low Context, very good summary of Hall’s work
 http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/hall_culture.htm
 http://www.culture-at-work.com/highlow.html
Country Profiles from BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
Cross-culture communication from Univ of Northern Iowa - www.cba.uni.edu/buscomm/InternationalBusComm/Crosscultural.html
Types of cultures from Univ of Northern Illinois - www.cba.uni.edu/buscomm/InternationalBusComm/Characteristics.htm
Freedom House - An excellent online resource for students researching the degree of freedom and democracy in countries around the
world. Library of Congress Country Studies - www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=1
ReligionFacts - free, reliable information on a wide variety of world religions - www.religionfacts.com/
The Elements of Culture - http://faculty.mdc.edu/jmcnair/Joe4pages/elements_of_culture.htm
Religion And Culture - www.mesacc.edu/dept/d10/asb/religion/index.html
How to Paraphrase ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Change words and word order. Break 1 sentence into 2 sentences. Put many sentences into one sentence by taking the main word or
words and use commas.
A quote – not recommended:
The study found that “…children who were highly active and who had problems controlling their behavior had more conflict
with mothers than less active children and children who did not have trouble controlling their behavior.” (Sciencedaily, 2008,
para. 4).
Paraphrased – better– broken into 2 sentences:
One study (Sciencedaily, 2008) found that that amount of conflict was related to a child’s temperament. Children who
showed the most conflict with their mothers also tended to be more active and to have more behavior control problems than
other children.
APA Style ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Need help with APA? The 2 BEST sources of information are …

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/ - or Google OWL APA. Look at the tabs on the left.

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch09_s1-0002.html. Select the type of source you have (in the middle
of the screen). Also shows how to do all sorts of in-text citations (see tab at left).
Citing one article that is in another article
It’s called Citing Indirect Sources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
If you want use a source that is cited in an article, name the original source in your sentence. Put the secondary source (the
article you are reading) AND the page number in your sentence as follows.
Example: Johnson (as cited in Goldstein, 2010, p. 102) stated that ... .
Then put Goldstein in your reference list.
Grading ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For an “A”
o
Meet all formatting requirements (paragraphs, titles, APA, summary, etc.)
o
Extra sources of information are peer reviewed scientific articles
o
Have more than 6 sources of information
o
Use paraphrased examples, not quotes, from your sources.