Book summary: Cross-cultural psychology of health and illness
C1:
Because people in different cultures have different experiences, we can expect that there are
also differences in the ways people think, act, and feel. The very base of these processes are
neurological structures.
- To what extent do the people around the world have a similar brain structure with
similar psychological processes?
- What are the differences of the brain structure related to the cultural differences?
Culture = An idea, belief, technique, habit or practice through social learning of others.
Groups of people that exist within some kind of shared context.
Limitations when studying cultures:
- Boundaries of culture cannot be clearly defined
- They change over time
- Within culture great variation between individuals
Shweder: the brain can be seen as a central processing unit (CPU) which operates
independently of the content that is thinking about or of the context within which it is
thinking. > General psychologists
Important cultural variation in ways of thinking does not exist, bc cultures provide
variations in context and content > outside the underlying CPU.
Cultural psychologists: the mind does not operate completely independently of what it is
thinking about. Actions, thoughts and feelings are immersed in cultural information. Bc
cultures differ in the ideas, different networks of thoughts, behaviors and feelings will be
accessible in different cultures.
Believe that cultural meanings are entangled in our brains and we cannot consider the
mind to be completely separate from its culture.
: Difficult to agree on how the measure universal properties.
Universal properties levels (Norenzayan & Heine):
- Nonuniversal: Do not occur in all cultures
- Existential universal: phenomenon that exists in multiple cultures, but is not used to
solve the same problem, nor is it equally accessible across cultures.
- Functional universal: phenomena exist in multiple cultures, are used to solve the same
problems, but some universal functionalities are more accessible to people from some
cultures than others
- Accessibility universal: it exists in all cultures, is used to solve the same problem and
is accessible to the same degree across cultures. Like physical laws, social facilitation.
Limitation:
- Almost all the research is done in Western cultures > causes a generalization problem
to other cultures.
- The sample is not representative of the global population.
, Much research is done by and with WEIRD societies: Western, Educated,
Industrialized, Rich, and democratic societies.
Two approached are possible when dealing with cultural differences in a multicultural
society:
- Culture-blind: differences between groups are ignored and it is assumed that everyone
is the same. > it is better to emphasize differences and to bring out the best qualities of
each culture.
- Multicultural approach: focuses and respects these group differences
Ethnocentrism = we condemn people from other cultures by comparing them to the standard
of our own culture.
CH3
Where does cultural variation come from:
- Ecology > direct consequences + indirect effects
The harsher the environment and the scarcer the resources, the more manhood is
stressed as the inspiration and the goal
Causes:
- Proximate: have a direct and immediate relationship with the effects.
- Distal: are small differences that lead to longer-term effects, often due to indirect
relationships.
Geography:
- Evoked culture: all people have biologically coded behavioral repertoires that are
potentially accessible. Repertoires are addressed if the correct situational conditions
are present.
- Transmitted culture: people learn certain cultural habits through any form of social
learning. It travels with people when they move to new environments.
People make more use of transferred culture than evoked culture: when people are
placed in a completely different geo environment, they are often difficult to survive.
Biological evolution:
1. Natural selection: the survival of the fittest. > individual differences between members
> these traits are associated with different chances of survival > these traits have a
hereditary basis.
2. Sexual selection: the fertility of the sexiest: the individuals who can best lure or
attract a healthy partner have the greatest chance of surviving offspring.
Not identical to cultural evolution:
- In cultural evolution: copying errors are more common. Cultural ideas do not have to
wait before being mutated by chance.
- Cultural ideas can pass horizontally, and to many people in an instant. At a rapid pace.
- Cultural ideas do not have to be adaptive in order to become common
C1:
Because people in different cultures have different experiences, we can expect that there are
also differences in the ways people think, act, and feel. The very base of these processes are
neurological structures.
- To what extent do the people around the world have a similar brain structure with
similar psychological processes?
- What are the differences of the brain structure related to the cultural differences?
Culture = An idea, belief, technique, habit or practice through social learning of others.
Groups of people that exist within some kind of shared context.
Limitations when studying cultures:
- Boundaries of culture cannot be clearly defined
- They change over time
- Within culture great variation between individuals
Shweder: the brain can be seen as a central processing unit (CPU) which operates
independently of the content that is thinking about or of the context within which it is
thinking. > General psychologists
Important cultural variation in ways of thinking does not exist, bc cultures provide
variations in context and content > outside the underlying CPU.
Cultural psychologists: the mind does not operate completely independently of what it is
thinking about. Actions, thoughts and feelings are immersed in cultural information. Bc
cultures differ in the ideas, different networks of thoughts, behaviors and feelings will be
accessible in different cultures.
Believe that cultural meanings are entangled in our brains and we cannot consider the
mind to be completely separate from its culture.
: Difficult to agree on how the measure universal properties.
Universal properties levels (Norenzayan & Heine):
- Nonuniversal: Do not occur in all cultures
- Existential universal: phenomenon that exists in multiple cultures, but is not used to
solve the same problem, nor is it equally accessible across cultures.
- Functional universal: phenomena exist in multiple cultures, are used to solve the same
problems, but some universal functionalities are more accessible to people from some
cultures than others
- Accessibility universal: it exists in all cultures, is used to solve the same problem and
is accessible to the same degree across cultures. Like physical laws, social facilitation.
Limitation:
- Almost all the research is done in Western cultures > causes a generalization problem
to other cultures.
- The sample is not representative of the global population.
, Much research is done by and with WEIRD societies: Western, Educated,
Industrialized, Rich, and democratic societies.
Two approached are possible when dealing with cultural differences in a multicultural
society:
- Culture-blind: differences between groups are ignored and it is assumed that everyone
is the same. > it is better to emphasize differences and to bring out the best qualities of
each culture.
- Multicultural approach: focuses and respects these group differences
Ethnocentrism = we condemn people from other cultures by comparing them to the standard
of our own culture.
CH3
Where does cultural variation come from:
- Ecology > direct consequences + indirect effects
The harsher the environment and the scarcer the resources, the more manhood is
stressed as the inspiration and the goal
Causes:
- Proximate: have a direct and immediate relationship with the effects.
- Distal: are small differences that lead to longer-term effects, often due to indirect
relationships.
Geography:
- Evoked culture: all people have biologically coded behavioral repertoires that are
potentially accessible. Repertoires are addressed if the correct situational conditions
are present.
- Transmitted culture: people learn certain cultural habits through any form of social
learning. It travels with people when they move to new environments.
People make more use of transferred culture than evoked culture: when people are
placed in a completely different geo environment, they are often difficult to survive.
Biological evolution:
1. Natural selection: the survival of the fittest. > individual differences between members
> these traits are associated with different chances of survival > these traits have a
hereditary basis.
2. Sexual selection: the fertility of the sexiest: the individuals who can best lure or
attract a healthy partner have the greatest chance of surviving offspring.
Not identical to cultural evolution:
- In cultural evolution: copying errors are more common. Cultural ideas do not have to
wait before being mutated by chance.
- Cultural ideas can pass horizontally, and to many people in an instant. At a rapid pace.
- Cultural ideas do not have to be adaptive in order to become common
