Sociocultural cognition
Essential Questions

1. To what extent is our behavior determined by the
society in which we live?
2. How do psychologist study the effect of sociocultural factors on human behavior?
3. How does our social cognition influence our
behavior?
Human behavior is explained by the social
situation more than dispositional factors, such as
individual personality; We are social animals and
require others for our survival
4 Principles that define sociocultural
levels of analysis

1. Human Beings are social animals
2. Culture influences behavior.
3. Humans have a social self
4. Peoples views of the world are resistant to change
P1:Human Beings are social
animals

 Human behavior is explained by the social situation
more than dispositional factors, such as individual
personality;
 We are social animals and require others for our
survival.
 We have the need to belong
 Note group relationship:
 group effect ↔ individual effect
Example: Humans are Social
Animals

 Howarth (2002) focus group with adolescent girls in Brixton.
 Article: The Struggle for Recognition and Esteem in a Stigmatised
Community
 Aim: to study how the girls described and evaluated themselves.
 Method: The study consisted of 8 focus groups with a total of 44
teenagers between the ages of twelve and sixteen, and 5
interviews with the head teachers of Brixton’s secondary schools.
 Results: identity is constructed through and against the
representations held by others within particular social contexts
 girls had a positive view of “being from Brixton” which contrast to
view of people living outside Brixton.
 Positive social Identity is brought about through social support
 Conclusion: This can be seen as creating a positive “social
identity” based on belonging to a group.
“social relationships and the institutional cultures that permeate the
everyday experiences of these teenagers may help or hinder the development
of assertive, proud identities. The school and the family in particular play a
crucial role in encouraging critical reflection and positive self-esteem.
Significant adults can provide children with the symbolic resources to
confront and contest prejudice. What was clear from the research is that
some adolescents simply do not have the representational tools or social
support to acknowledge stigma, let alone develop oppositional
representations. As self-identity emerges intersubjectively, in relationship
with the ‘generalized other’, a child cannot develop the confidence and the
emotional strength to challenge stigma alone. In this way, the social
context, the social relationships and institutional cultures around the child
can help or hinder the co-construction of self-identity. Without
encouragement from family and from teachers, the identity and the selfesteem of children is at risk. When the child lives in a stigmatized area,
such as Brixton, the social psychological consequences of such neglect can
be severe.” Howarth (2002)
Culture influences behavior

 Culture = the norms and values defined by a society.
 Berry (1967)
 Aim: how does conformity
relate to culture
 Method: experimental
(version of the Asch
experiment )
 Temne people (agricultural)
– rely on cooperarion.
 Inuits (hunters & fishers)
must be able to track and
hunt on their own.
 Results: Inuits were almost
non-conforming whereas
the Temne were mostly
conforming
P2-Example:
Culture
influenced
Behavior
P3: Humans have a social self

 The social self is said to be a collective or social
identity.
 Example: when Princess Diana died people mourned
as if she were a member of their family.
 When the US Hockey Team won the gold, the
connections was so strong, you would have thought
each of us had a brother playing in the team!
P4: Peoples views of the
world are resistant to change

 World View:




The way the world is understood
How is it suppose to work
Why it works the way it does
What values are essential to the community
Be Reflective pg. 102

 As social animals, we belong to many different
groups. As individuals, we help to shape the
character of the group, and the groups also shapes
our character.
 Brainstorm a list of groups to which you belong.
How important are these groups to your personal
identity? What needs do these different groups fill in
your life?
Research Methods at the Sociocultural levels
of analysis Pg. 102 -103
How do people interact
with each other?

 Research: Qualitative in nature
 Naturalistic – research is done in the environments in
which the behavior is most likely to take place.
 Methods:
 Observations – researcher immerses themselves into the
situation (covert or overt) for period of time.
 Interviews
 Focus groups
*this provides only descriptive information – thus no cause
and effect can be demonstrated.
Qualitative Research Cont.,

 Why choose qualitative research for sociocultural
study?
 Ecological Validity
 Environment is more realistic to the behavior
 What kind of data is gathered?
 Descriptive data
 Does not show cause and effect
 How does this differ from Lab Experiments?
Participant Observation

 Participant observation attempts to view the world
through the eyes of the individual being studied.
 Two types of observation techniques
 Overt
 Require researcher to gain trust
 O’Reilly (2000) study of British expatriates on the island of
Costa del Sol.
 Covert
 Used to infiltrate groups that would not normally permit
observation.
 Researcher must gain trust – Done through deceit.
 No informed consent
 Relies on memory, thus data is open to distortion.
 NO interviews can be carried out!!!!!
Covert Research

 Leon Festinger et al’s. When Prophecy Fails (1956) pg 103
 Religious cult that believed the world was going to end
on Dec. 21.
 When the catastrophe occurred they would be rescued by
a flying saucer as long as they followed the prescribed
rituals and read the sacred text.
 Festinger and his team became members of the cult.
 Monitored the group members doubt. Debate and
rationalization of what had taken place.
 The group decided that God had not destroyed the world
because of their prayers.
Ethics

 Overt vs covert (Festinger, 1956)
 Use of Deception (Berry, Ach, Festinger)
 Harm to individual (Zombardo, Milgram)
Be a thinker

 If you were a reporter covering the study, what
questions would you ask Festinger and his team?
 Discuss the ethical concerns you would have with
this research.

pgs 103 - 106
Fritz Heider (1958)
Attribution Theory (3:21)

 Attribution is theory is based on the assumption that
people:
 Tend to look for cause and reason for others behavior
because they feel that there are motives behind most of
their own behavior.
 Are intuitive psychologist who construct their own
causal theories of human behavior.
 Construct causal theories because they want to
understand, predict, and control the environment
around them.
Attribution Theory

 Fritz Heider (1958), The Psychology of Interpersonal
Relationships
 Actor-observer effect
 Attribution about behavior based on whether the individual
is performing or observing someone else.
 Situational factor
 External factors associated when individual discussed
their own behavior.
 Dispositional factor
 Internal factors associated when an individual discusses
someone else's’ behavior.
 Attribution Theory Video (3:11)
4 Errors in Attribution

1. Fundamental attribution error
2. Self-serving bias (SSB)
 Modesty bias
 Defensive attribution
Errors in Attribition

 Fundamental attribution error: (3:55)
 When individual overestimate dispositional factors in someone's
behavior and underestimates situational factors.
 Example: the public tends to describe actors based upon the roles,
e.g. fun, loving, super hero (dispositional) that they have been
casted – it is all make believe. (situation – auditioned for).
 What may cause this behavior?
 Not enough information to create a balance decision, thus individual
attribute behavior based upon disposition.
 When assessing themselves, individuals tend to take into
consideration the situation or circumstances.
 Placing blame on others is a common western cultural practice.
 How do you think schema enters into this?????
Fundamental attribution
error: Ross et al. (1977)

 Aim: would students make the fundamental
attribution error knowing that all the actors were
simply playing a role?
 Method: experimental
 Procedure: Randomly placed in groups
 Game show host
 Designed their own questions
 Contestants
 Members of the audience
 Asked to rank the intelligence all involved.
Fundamental attribution
error: Ross et al. (1977)

 Result: they consistently ranked the game show host
the most intelligent.
 Conclusion: People overlook situational factors
when assessing attributes
 CONCERNS:
 Made up of students – may perceive the question
make with higher authority.
 Not a representation of the general population
Strengths and limitation FAE

 The theory has
promoted
understanding of
common errors in
explanation of what
happens in the world.
 The theory has proven
very robust and has
been supported by
many research studies
 The theory is culturally
biased with too much
focus on individualism.
 Much research has been
conducted in
laboratories and with
student samples.
Self Serving Bias (SSB)

 Self serving bias (3:25)
 one attributes success to disposition factors,
 and dissociate themselves from their failures
attributing them to situational factors.
 Greenberg et al., SSB is a way to protect our selfesteem. i.e. this is a form of self protection.
 Lau and Russel (1980)
 American football coaches and players attribute their
wins to internal factors (being in good shape, talent) - and their failures to external factors (weather, injuries,
fouls committed by the other team)
Cultural difference in SSB

 Kashima and Triandis (1986)
 U.S. and Japanese students
 Procedure: remember details of slides of scenes from
unfamiliar countries
 When asked to explain their success, American attributed to
their ability, while Japanese tended explain their failures in
terms of lack of ability.
 This is termed modesty
bias
 Conclusion: because of the more collective nature of
many Asian societies, people derive their self esteem not
from individual accomplishments but from group
identity. (less likely to use SSB)
Strengths and Limitations SSB

 The theory can explain
why some people
explain their failures as
being caused by
situation
 The theory is culturally
biased. It cannot
explain why some
cultures emphasize a
self-effacing attribution
(modesty bias).
Defensive Attribution

 Defensive Attribution is a subcategory of Self Serving Bias
 Explanations are made to avoid feelings of vulnerability and mortality.
 A tendency to blame victims for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be
victimized in a similar way.
 set of beliefs held by an individual that defend the individual from concern that
they will be the cause or victim of a mishap. Commonly, defensive attributions
are made when individuals witness or learn of a mishap happening to another
person
 Unrealistic optimism – positive events are more likely to happen to them than to their
peer, and that negative events are less likely to happen to them than their peers.
 Burglary victims can be blamed for their carelessness of protecting their house;
 poor people may be viewed as lazy.
 More responsibility will be attributed to the harm-doer (as opposed to
viewing the situation as an accident)
 The greater the consequence the more the attribution will be dispositional rather than
situational.
Pages 106 – 108
Social Identity 4:22
Henri TajFel’s
Social Identity Theory

 Individuals strive to improve their self image by
trying to enhance their self-esteem, based on:
 personal identity
 Personal achievement
 or various social identities
 Affiliation with a successful group.
 Cognitive Process = Social Categorizing
In-group (us) vs. out-group (them)

 In-group favoritism: When an individual gets selfesteem from being a member of a group and sees his/her
group as superior to others. Actions taken tend to benefit
the group.
 Level of self esteem is maintained by Social
Comparison
 Cialdini et al.,(1976) after a successful football match
college supporters were more likely to be wearing
logo/insignia than after the team lost a game.
 Tajfel “the establishment of positive distinctiveness”
In-group (us) vs. out-group (them)

 Out-group homogeneity: A result of social
categorization, this is when all members of the out-group
are seen to have the same characteristics. They are all
cheaters or rich or snobby or fashion unaware.
Tajfel et al. (1971)
Kandinsky vs. Klee experiment

 Boys were randomly assigned groups based
supposedly on their preference in art were more
likely to identify with the boys in their group and
were willing to give higher awards to members of
their group.
 The out-group was ranked as less likable, but was
never actually disliked.
 Conclusion: group identity alone does not account
for intergroup conflict. In the absence of competition,
social comparison does not necessarily produce
negative outcome.
Social Identity Learning Theory

 Downward comparison: In a study by Taylor, Wood &
Lichtman (1983), they found that breast cancer patients who
engaged in downward comparison (comparing themselves
to someone worse off than themselves) had better recovery
times and more positive self-esteem; those who engage in
upward comparison (comparing themselves to someone
better off than themselves) tended to have longer recovery
times and were more likely to suffer from depression.
Strengths and limitation of
social identity theory

 Good way of
understanding human
behavior, i.e.
ethnocentrism, favoritism,
conformity, serotyping.
 Assumes intergroup
conflict is not required for
discrimination to occur
(Tajfel, 1970)
 Established + of in-group
by establishing the – of
the out-group.
 Describes, but does not
accurately predict human
behavior.
 Why is our personal
identity stronger than
our group identity at
times?
 It fails to take into
account the environment
 Cultural expectations
 Rewards
 Social constraints
(poverty)
Social Representations

 Moscovici (1973) – group theory
 Social Representations – shared beliefs and
explanations held by the society in which we live.
 Social Representations create the foundation for
Social Cognition
 Cultural Schemas that are fundamental to identity
of the group
 Howarth (2002) Brixton focus group study
Social Schema

 Social Represenationa = Social Schema
 How do different cultures perceive:
 Beauty
 Intelligence
In –group/out-group

 How effective are these group based activities? Why
or Why not?
 Fall Fling/Spring Fling?
 Pep-rallies
 Group therapy
Pg 108 -110
Stereotyping

 Stereotype – a social perception of an individual in
terms of group membership or physical attributions.
 Positive/negative
 A form of social categorizing that affects the
behavior of those who hold the stereotype and those
that are labelled.
 A form of schema processing.
Stereotype threat: the effect of the
stereotypes on an individuals
performance

 Steele and Aronson (1995)
 Aim: to determine the affects stereotype has on
performance
 Method: lab experiment
 Procedure: Minority Group and European American
Group. When both were told it was a test for ability, the
minority group did poorly. When both were told it was a
‘lab test to study how certain problems were solved’ the
performance were not significantly different.
 Conclution: Stereotype threat can affect the members of
just bout any social or cultural groups, if the members
believe in the stereotype.
Spotlight Anxiety

 Steele (1997) argues, stereotype threat triggers
spotlight anxiety,
 Emotional distress and pressure that may undermine
performance
 Spencer et al., (1977)
 Assessed mathematical performance and literary
performance of men and women (both of which were
highly skilled in both areas).
 Women scored high on literary but not in the math.
 Spencer attributes this to stereotype threat and
spotlight anxiety.
What do you think?

 In 1994, a controversial book, The Bell Curve (by
Richard J. Hernstein) was published, discussing the
IQs of different ethnic groups. One stereotype it
perpetuated was that all Asians are very intelligent.
In spite of this being a rather “positive” stereotype,
how could this also be an example of stereotype
threat?
 What are the negative effects of such stereotype?
Formation of stereotypes

 Social categorization: The cognitive process of
allocating people to groups - either as an "in-group" to
which one belongs, or an "out-group.." This process helps
us to describe and predict the world more efficiently.
(Tajfel)
 Social comparison: Individuals evaluate their own
opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to others
in order to reduce uncertainty in these domains, and learn
how to define the self. It is a way to build self-esteem and a
way to resolve ambiguity
How Stereotypes Develop

 Campbell (1967): There are two key sources to
stereotypes
 Personal experience
 Individuals and groups
 Gatekeepers (media, parents other members of culture)
 Grain of Truth hypothesis: an experience with an
individual from a group will then be generalized to
the whole group.
Illusory correlation

 Hamilton and Gifford (1976) : Illusory correlation
 People see a relationship between two variable even when
there is none.
 Gender and culturally based prejudice about social groups
 Illusory correlation is an example of cognitive bias.
 *Attribution errors are also examples of cognitive bias.
 Once Illusory correlations are made, individuals will seek
information to remember/support = conformational bias
Conformational Bias

 Conformational Bias:




People seek information to support their bias
Overlook information that contradicts the belief
Results in rigidity – resistance to change.
Makes stereotypical thinking difficult to change
 Research on stereotype prejudice is very difficult due
to social desirability effect.
Snyder and Swann (1978)

 Aim: To see the role that stereotyping has on behavior.
 Procedure: they told female college students that they
would meet a person who was either introverted or
extroverted, and that they were to prepare a list of
questions for the person they were going to meet.
 Results: participants prepared questions that confirmed
there perception of introverts vs. extroverts.
 Conclusion: the questions asked confirmed the
participants stereotype of the personality type they
expected to meet.
Research

 What are the problems associated with research on
prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping?
 Social Desirability Effect: is a confounding variable
in which the participant behaves in a way that they
perceive is socially acceptable.
Homework

 Read 108-110
 Find 2 examples of stereotypes in the media
(newspaper, magazines, books, packaging, products,
posters or films). Bring the image to class, and
explain why the image represents a stereotype and
why you think this image persists.
Key evaluation strategies

 Many of the early studies lacked ecological validity,
but there are many studies that have been done in a
naturalistic environment.
 The theory does not look at dispositional factors.
Some people may be more competitive.
 The theory does not look at cultural factors.
Collectivistic societies tend to be less consistent in
this behavior.
 Has high heuristic validity – that is, it can be used to
explain a lot of things.
Key evaluation
strategies cont.,

 Overly theoretical and difficult to refute. For example,
Bem’s theory of sexuality.
 Cannot predict when someone’s individual identify will
supercede that of the group.
 Why does some out-group discrimination lead to
violence? Sherif said it was about limited resources. Is this
a valid claim?
 Environmental factors, such as war or poverty, may play
a greater role.
 Self-esteem may not play as great a role as once thought.
It may be an initial reason for identifying with a group,
but it does not appear to be sustainable.
Key Studies

 Abram’s et al on the role of SIT in conformity
 Bem’s theory on the origin of sexuality and SIT
 Cialdini on reaction to university sports team wins
 Howarth’s study of the Brixton girls
 LeVine’s research on crowd control
 Reicher & Haslam’s replication of the Stanford
Prison Experiment
 Sherif’s Robbers’ Cave experiment.
 Tajfel & Turner’s Klee & Kandinsky study

 In groups vs out group
 Football hooliganism. What does this have to do
with Social Identity Theory?
Pages 108 -110
Key Concepts

 Factors that are involved in social learning




Attention
Retention
Motor reproduction
Motivation
 Factors that influence whether social learning will take
place




Consistency
Identification with the model
Rewards/punishment
Liking the model
SCLOA research methods

 Case study: A long-term study of an individual or group.
The study is naturalistic and the researcher does not
manipulate any variables. Case studies use triangulation that is, more than one research method - in order to get a
holistic picture of the individual or group.
 Confederates: These are "participants" who are actually
working for the researcher. They play a role in helping to
deceive the "naive participant" who is unaware of the actual
nature of the study. A classic example was the use of
confederates in the Asch study.
SCLOA research
methods cont.,

 Correlational study: Correlations look for a statistical
relationship between two variables. The simplest forms of
correlation are that one variable increases, the other variable
increases (a positive correlation) or when one variable increases, the
other variable decreases (negative correlation). Correlations may
also be curvilinear in nature.
 Covert vs overt observation: Observations that are performed
with the knowledge of the participants are overt; those that are done
"under-cover" are covert. If the researcher is in a public place
observing people, this is not unethical, but carrying out a covert
observation in a participant's private space is considered unethical.
 Dependent variable: In an experiment, the variable that is
measured to see if there was an effect from the manipulation of the
independent variable.
SCLOA research
methods cont.,

 Experiment: A study done under strictly controlled conditions.
At least one independent variable is manipulated (or changed)
by the researcher and its effect on a dependent variable is
measured while attempting to keep extraneous variables
controlled. This is the only method that can establish a causeand-effect relationship between the IV and the DV.
 Independent variable: The variable that is manipulated by the
researcher in an experiment.
 Interview: A "conversation" between a researcher and a
participant or group of participants. Interviews may be highly
structured or unstructured. The goal is to obtain qualitative
data.
SCLOA research
methods cont.,

 Non-participant vs. participant observation: In a nonparticipant observation the researcher is observing participants
from outside the group; in a participant observation the researcher
becomes part of the group.
 Observation: Observations may take place either in a lab or in a
natural environment. The researcher may simply watch natural
behavior without manipulating any variables - Leg. watching
children play at recess; or the researcher may add a stimulus in
order to see how it affects behavior - eg. bringing a stranger into the
room and seeing how people react; exposing people to pictures of
their loved ones and watching how their brain reacts. The data that
is gathered is descriptive and there is no clear dependent variable
that is identified. Most brain scanning studies are observational in
nature.
How do I know which
research method the study is?

 Remember that on the IB exam you should choose from
the following research methods:





Experiments
Correlations
case studies
interviews and
These research methods are internationally recognized.
Please do not write about variations. For example, an essay
that writes about experiments and quasi-experiments will
only get credit for "experiments." So, stick to the magic list
of five research methods.
How do I know which research
method the study is? Cont.,

 In addition, do not write about the sample. Essays
based on "animal research" or "twin studies" do not
earn marks.
 It is clear on the exams that many students struggle
to identify which method a study actually is. You
should be aware that a lot of early research was
rather sloppily done. It is always best to avoid using
a study in an essay that you are unsure of. When
preparing for the exam, choose your two methods
and have your "exemplary model" of the research
method for that level of analysis prepared.
If in doubt, however, here are some good
tips on how to determine which method it
is:

 If more than one research method is used, then it is a
case study.
 In the case of HM, for example, the researchers carried
out interviews with him and his family, observed his
behavior on everyday tasks, carried out brain-scans,
and did memory and learning tasks with him. This is a
holistic approach based on a triangulation of methods.
No triangulation? Probably not a case study.
Correlational

 If you think that a study is correlational, you should
be able to fill in the following sentence:
 As x goes up, y goes up (or down). If you cannot fill in
that sentence, it is probably not correlational.
 So, when frightened by a strange animal the amygdala
is activated, this is not a correlation. There needs to be
a statistical relationship between the two variables in
order for correlation to be established.
Experiment

 If you think that something is an experiment, you
should be able to identify the IV and the DV.
 If you cannot determine that an IV was manipulated, it
is probably not an experiment. Just doing a procedure
does not make something experimental.
Interviews

 Interviews can be problematic because sometimes
they are the research method and sometimes they are
a technique. What do I mean by that?
 For example, in a case study it is often the case that
interviews are used as a way of gathering data. But
that does not mean that HM is an example of
interview research. If the interview is the only way in
which a study is carried out, then you can feel safe
saying that it is the research method.
Key concepts for
evaluation

 Bidirectional ambiguity: A problem with correlational
research. We cannot be sure whether variable A causes a
change in variable B or vice versa. It could also be that
there is not cause and effect relationship in either
direction, but that it is interactive or caused by another,
underdetermined "third variable."
 Demand characteristics: In an experiment, when
participants change their behavior because they know that
they are in an experiment. Demand characteristics include
expectancy effect, social desirability effect and the screwyou effect.
Prospective vs
retrospective studies

 : When carrying out a case study a lot of early research had not seen the
individual or group prior to their current situation. This is retrospective
research. For example, HM was only studies after his surgery. Therefore, the
data that is available from the time before his surgery is often unreliable - either
based on self-reported data or simply not available. For example, it may be
possible that there is no reliable measure of HM's memory prior to his surgery.
Many retrospective studies have problems with memory distortion. Prospective
studies - like the Whitehall study - measure the variables to be observed over a
period of time before the study begins. So, blood pressure and personality
factors are measured in 16 year-old males and then their cardiovascular health
is observed over a period of 30 years. These studies have a stronger ability to
establish a correlation, but they are also open to attrition - that is, a significant
number of participants may choose to drop out of the study over time.
Take on line quiz:
http://www.thinkib.net/psychology/page/15447/scloa-researchmethods-revision
Pages 125 - 127
Cultural Dimensions

 Learning objectives
 The attached notes are a teacher support for the following
learning objectives for the socio-cultural level of analysis.
 Explain how principles that define the socio-cultural level
of analysis may be demonstrated in research.
 Discuss how and why particular research methods are
used at the socio-cultural level of analysis.
 Define the terms "culture" and "cultural norms."
 Examine the role of two cultural dimensions on
behaviour.
Definitions

 Culture: A dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit, share by a group and
transmitted across generations, that allows the group to meet basic needs of survival,
pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life (Matsumoto &
Juang).
 Cultural norms: These are the rules which indicate the expected behaviour in a
group.
 Ethnocentrism: The inability to empathize with another culture; to assume that one's
own culture is the standard by which other cultures are assessed.
 Etics: an approach to studyging culture based on the premise that there are universal
properties of cultures which share common perceptual, cognitive and emotional
structures - typically employed in cross-cultural psychology where behaviours are
compared across cultures.
 Emics: An approach to studying culture with the idea that behaviours are culture
specific. This is also characterized as cultural relativism.
 Dimensions of culture: The perspective of a culture based on values and cultural
norms. Dimensions work on a continuum. The two that we will examine are
individualist vs. collectivist cultures and time orientation - monochronic vs.
polychronic cultures. For a more descriptive approach, see the attached notes.
Research: Individualist vs
collectivistc


The key study on cultural dimensions is the one by Hoefstede’s 1973 IBM study. In this study Hoefstede ad
employees fill in surveys about morale in the workplace. He then carried out a content analysis on the responses,
focusing on key differences of people from different countries. The trends he noticed he called dimensions.
Whiting (1979). Case study of Americans on Japanese baseball teams. Found that Americans who tried to “do their
best” were often ostracized by the team. Those who put the team above individual progress were seen as more
valuable players.
Domino & Hannah (1987) Studied Chinese and American children ages 11 - 13. Children were given a series of
story plots to complete - for example: John and Bill are playing ball and break a neighbor’s window, but no one sees
them do it. Content analysis of 700 stories. Chinese children emphasized family dishonor or embarrassment,
something that never occurred with the American children. The Chinese children emphasized good behaviour,
cooperation, and obedience.
Gabrenya, Wang & Latané (1985) found that social loafing is not a universal phenomenon. In Chinese groups they
found what they called “social striving.” On group performance tasks, Chinese students exerted a greater effort than
did American children.
Hamilton et al (1991) compared teaching styles of Japanese and American teachers in elementary classrooms.
American teachers directed their instruction to individual children during both full class instruction and private
time; Japanese teachers consistently addressed the group as a collective. Even when working with a student
individually, the Japanese teachers would check to make sure that all children were working on the same task.
Oyserman et al. (2002) conducted a meta-analysis of 83 studies. Found that IC had moderate effects on self-concept
and rationality, and large effects on attributions and cognitive styles. Individualist cultures tend to overemphasize
dispositional factors, whereas collectivist cultures tend to overemphasize situational factors.
Research: Time
consciousness


Jones & Brown (2004) carried out a correlational study on time orientation and academic
achievement. Found that African American students who were “future-oriented” were more
academically successful than those who were not.
Stratham et al (1994) found that future-oriented individuals are less likely to engage in risky
health behaviour.
Burnam et al ( 1975 ) 62 undergraduates were classified on their level of time-consciousness.
Results indicated that those who were highly time-conscious worked on a task at near maximum
capacity, irrespective of the presence or absence of a time deadline. Those with low timeconsciousness, by contrast, exerted more effort only when the task had an explicit deadline.
Glass et al (1974) Conducted an experiment with a total of 71 male undergraduates to examine
behavioral consequences of a sense of time urgency. Time-urgent participants became more
impatient and irritated than less time-urgent participants when both types were systematically
slowed down in their efforts to reach a solution on a joint decision-making task.
Cole et al (2001) investigated the association between a sense of time urgency and non-fatal
myocardial infarction [MI] in a study of 340 cases. They used a matched pairs design where the
groups had an equal distribution of age, sex, and personal habits - for example, smoking. They
concluded that a sense of time urgency was associated with a dose-response increase in risk of
non-fatal MI, independent of other risk factors - that is, as stressors increased, the risk of heartattack increased.
Evaluations on cultural
dimensions

 Hoefsted & Hoefstede (2001) have cited over 400 correlations of the IBM dimension
scores with other studies, claiming that the results obtained in the 1970’s are
consistent with scores obtained 30 years later. However, Hoefstede’s study was
originally meant to describe organizational cultures and not national cultures.
 Inductive content analysis depends on the trends that are identified by the
researcher. Researcher bias can play a significant role in which trends are noticed.
 There is a need for prospective studies with regard to time-orientation. The difficulty
with studying the effect of time-orientation on our health is that our health is multifactorial, and it is difficult to isolate the effects of time consciousness. This if further
complicated because time orientation in individuals can change over the life-span.
 We have to avoid the ecological fallacy - that is, that we cannot attribute these
characteristics to individuals, but use them to describe the general behaviour of the
group. There is some concern that the dimensions are simply a stereotypical view of
culture. Triandis argues that these labels may be more helpful at an individual level
than at a cultural level (Triandis)
 Much of the research is correlational and does not establish a cause-and-effect
relationship
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