Cultural Norms
- Define the terms “culture” and “cultural norms”.
Culture is a very complex concept that may be used to describe food, eating habits, clothing, communication, religion etc.
¨Surface Culture¨ are those things that are very obvious (food, clothing etc)
¨Deep Culture¨ are those things that not so visible (beliefs, attitudes and values)
Lonner (1995) - Culture is common rules that regulate interactions and behaviour is a group, as well as a number of shared values and attitudes in the group.
Hofstede (2002) – Culture is ¨Mental Software¨ or cultural schemes that have been internalized so that they influence thinking, emotion and behaviour. This mental software is shared by the group, and learned through interactions with the group.
Matsumoto (2004) – Culture is a dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit, established by groups to ensure their survival, involving attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and behaviours.
Etic – An approach to psychology which aims to find general rules for behaviour which can be applied to all cultures around the world. Behaviour can therefore be compared across cultures.
Emic – Looks at behaviours which are specific to a particular culture
Cultural Norms - Behaviour patterns that are typical of specific groups. They are often passed down from generation to generation by ¨gatekeepers¨-parents, teachers, religious leaders and peers.
¨Surface Culture¨ are those things that are very obvious (food, clothing etc)
¨Deep Culture¨ are those things that not so visible (beliefs, attitudes and values)
Lonner (1995) - Culture is common rules that regulate interactions and behaviour is a group, as well as a number of shared values and attitudes in the group.
Hofstede (2002) – Culture is ¨Mental Software¨ or cultural schemes that have been internalized so that they influence thinking, emotion and behaviour. This mental software is shared by the group, and learned through interactions with the group.
Matsumoto (2004) – Culture is a dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit, established by groups to ensure their survival, involving attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and behaviours.
Etic – An approach to psychology which aims to find general rules for behaviour which can be applied to all cultures around the world. Behaviour can therefore be compared across cultures.
Emic – Looks at behaviours which are specific to a particular culture
Cultural Norms - Behaviour patterns that are typical of specific groups. They are often passed down from generation to generation by ¨gatekeepers¨-parents, teachers, religious leaders and peers.
- Examine the role of two cultural dimensions on behaviour (for example, individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, Confucian dynamism, masculinity/femininity).
- Dimensions- The perspectives of a culture based on values and cultural norms.
- Individualism- Everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family.
- Collectivism- In collectivism societies, from birth onwards people are integrated intro strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents)
- Markus and Kitayama (1991)- characterized the difference between US and Japanese cultures by citing two of their proverbs: “ In America, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, in Japan, the nail that stands out gets pounded down” Markus and Kitayama argue that perceiving a boundary between the individual and the social environment is distinctly western in its cultural orientation, and that non-western cultures tend towards connectedness.
- Uncertainty VS. Avoidance- Deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members its members to feels either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Uncertainty- avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules.
- Bond (1988) argues that Chinese culture replaces the uncertainty-avoidance dimension with Confucian work dynamism. Instead of focusing on truth, some cultures focus on virtue.
- Ecological fallacy- when one looks and two different cultures, it should not be assumed that two members from two different cultures must be different from one another.
- Using one or more examples, explain “emic” and “etic” concepts.
Understanding the role of culture in human behavior is essential in a diverse, multicultural world. Many of the founding theorists of psychology attempted to find universal behavior that could be applied to all cultures around the world. This is an etic approach to psychology. Etic approaches are typically taken within cross-cultural psychology where behavior is compared across specific cultures. Etic study involves drawing on the notion of universal properties of cultures, which share common perceptual, cognitive, and emotional structures.
The emic approach looks at behaviors that are culturally specific. Emics have challenged psychologists to re-examine their ideas of “truth” with regard to culture. In most cases, truth may be relative, based on the culture in which one is raised. It is important for psychologists to recognize these cultural variations in order to best understand members of other cultural groups.
Example. The anthropologist Mead documented many instances of cultural variations in gender in her study of three different cultures living close to each other in New Guinea. The Arapesh people were characterized by women and men having the same sensitive and non-aggressive behavior, as well as “feminine” personalities; among the Mundugamor, both men and women were ruthless, unpleasant and “masculine”; in the Tchambuli community, women were dominant and men were more emotional and concerned about personal appearance – an apparent reversal of western norms. Mead’s demonstration of cultural differences – while perhaps exaggerated – is in many respects a valid indication of how society can powerfully influence gender-role development, which has been shown in many other
The emic approach looks at behaviors that are culturally specific. Emics have challenged psychologists to re-examine their ideas of “truth” with regard to culture. In most cases, truth may be relative, based on the culture in which one is raised. It is important for psychologists to recognize these cultural variations in order to best understand members of other cultural groups.
Example. The anthropologist Mead documented many instances of cultural variations in gender in her study of three different cultures living close to each other in New Guinea. The Arapesh people were characterized by women and men having the same sensitive and non-aggressive behavior, as well as “feminine” personalities; among the Mundugamor, both men and women were ruthless, unpleasant and “masculine”; in the Tchambuli community, women were dominant and men were more emotional and concerned about personal appearance – an apparent reversal of western norms. Mead’s demonstration of cultural differences – while perhaps exaggerated – is in many respects a valid indication of how society can powerfully influence gender-role development, which has been shown in many other