Chapter 16: Culture
Culture-bound = theory and data conditioned by a specific cultural background.
Culture-blind = theory and data untested outside the host culture.
Cross-cultural psychologists sought answers to three questions:
1. Are Western psychological theories valid in other cultures?
2. Are there psychological constructs that are culture-specific?
3. How can we evolve a psychology with universal relevance?
People, including psychologists, often use their own cultural standards to interpret the
behavior of people from different cultural backgrounds.
Etic-emic distinction = contrast between psychological constructs that are relatively
culture-universal and those that are relatively culture-specific.
Entitativity = the property of a group that makes it seem like a cohort, distinct and unitary
entity.
Cultures vary considerably in social behavior, including cognitive processes and
attributional style. Norms that govern conformity and aggression also differ across cultures.
Subculture of violence = a subgroup of society in which a higher level of violence is
accepted as the norm.
Culture of honor = a culture that endorses male violence as a way of addressing threats to
social reputation or economic position.
Machismo = a code in which challenges, abuse and even differences of opinion must be
met with fists or other weapons.
2 different culturally patterned social systems, or psyches: European American
(Western) and East Asian (Eastern).
Western cultures have an independent self-concept and people in Eastern cultures have an
interdependent self-concept.
Independent self = a self that is relatively separate, internal and unique.
Interdependent self = a self that is relatively dependent on social relations and has more
fuzzy boundaries.
Values = a higher-order concept thought to provide a structure for organizing attitudes.
Level of explanation = the types of concepts, mechanisms and language used to explain a
phenomenon.
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Culture-bound = theory and data conditioned by a specific cultural background.
Culture-blind = theory and data untested outside the host culture.
Cross-cultural psychologists sought answers to three questions:
1. Are Western psychological theories valid in other cultures?
2. Are there psychological constructs that are culture-specific?
3. How can we evolve a psychology with universal relevance?
People, including psychologists, often use their own cultural standards to interpret the
behavior of people from different cultural backgrounds.
Etic-emic distinction = contrast between psychological constructs that are relatively
culture-universal and those that are relatively culture-specific.
Entitativity = the property of a group that makes it seem like a cohort, distinct and unitary
entity.
Cultures vary considerably in social behavior, including cognitive processes and
attributional style. Norms that govern conformity and aggression also differ across cultures.
Subculture of violence = a subgroup of society in which a higher level of violence is
accepted as the norm.
Culture of honor = a culture that endorses male violence as a way of addressing threats to
social reputation or economic position.
Machismo = a code in which challenges, abuse and even differences of opinion must be
met with fists or other weapons.
2 different culturally patterned social systems, or psyches: European American
(Western) and East Asian (Eastern).
Western cultures have an independent self-concept and people in Eastern cultures have an
interdependent self-concept.
Independent self = a self that is relatively separate, internal and unique.
Interdependent self = a self that is relatively dependent on social relations and has more
fuzzy boundaries.
Values = a higher-order concept thought to provide a structure for organizing attitudes.
Level of explanation = the types of concepts, mechanisms and language used to explain a
phenomenon.
68
