Lecture 1: Culture & Cross- Cultural psychology
What is culture?
The book on culture (p. 5) defines culture as any kind of information that is acquired from
other members of one’s species through social learning that is capable of affecting individual
behaviors. Culture is always shared by a group of individuals.
Culture as defined in this course: Culture is a set of practices, symbols, values, and ideals that
are constructed and shared by a community, transmitted from one generation to the next,
constantly renegotiated and subjected to change, and operating at the individual and
societal level (Causadias, Vitriol & Atkin, 2018).
Individuals vary within cultures, too. Cultural averages hide enormous diversity within
groups. There’re also similarities between multiple cultures.
Culture is just one important aspect of explaining behaviors of individuals/ social identity.
That’s why intersectionality is important. It views individual’s multiple social identities than
simply as, for example, women, black, poor, religious, etc. Intersectionality allows people to
understand one another on a broader spectrum, instead of by one trait (culture).
Culture ≠ Nationality
Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation. Much recent research on
culture and psychology can be characterized as more “cross-national” than “cross-cultural”.
Nations (e.g., Netherlands) may have a dominant culture, but also many subcultures.
Culture ≠ Ethnicity
Ethnicity is a belief in a common origin that signifies participation in group-specific practices,
that promotes a sense of identity and belonging based on common culture. Culture makes
ethnic group differences meaningful. “Onomastic fallacy”: using the label of the ethnic group
to explain cultural variables (Georgas, Van de Vijver, & Berry, 2004).
Culture ≠ Race
Race is a social construct rather than a biological essential. Culture is learned behavior, race
is not. Culture as a functional psychological phenomenon determines what is psychologically
meaningful and important for different races. Culture is what gives race its meaning.
Origins and (in)stability
Cultures are evoked and transmitted (Heine, 2020).
• Evoked: biologically based behavioral repertoires are ‘elicited’ by environments.
• Transmitted: behavioral repertoires are acquired via social learning.
Berry’s eco-cultural model (2010) -> explains how culture shapes behavior. Explains cultural
adaptation and biological adaptation.
Evoked culture
• Adaptations to environments -> ecological contexts and social political contexts
, • Similar environments may elicit similar cultures. Example: agriculture may lead to
more conformism; hunting/gathering may lead to more independence.
• Different environments within the same culture may elicit different cultures.
Example: more interdependence in rice-growing versus wheat-growing regions in
China.
Transmitted culture
Culture can be learned through imitation, explicit instruction, and communication of ideas.
There’s a relative independence from environment.
• Stability: ‘Functional autonomy’ of cultures
- Self-affirming and ‘immune’ to ‘external’ influences (e.g., migration)
• Change: exposure to new ideas
- Contact between cultures: Borrowing and assimilation.
Biological explanations for cultural differences
Biological differences between cultural groups are highly contested: Racism is still
widespread Still, there’re some genetic differences between groups (e.g., related to physical
health, book Chapter 13). Despite evidence for variation within groups and difficulties of
drawing group boundaries.
Biological explanations for common behaviors
As a species humans have common genes (the human genome) that evolved due to common
evolutionary pressures related to survival and procreation. Thus, biological explanations can
(partly) account for similarities in, for example, parent-child attachment (week 3) and
emotion recognition (week 5).
How can we understand the influence of culture on human behavior and mental processes?
Approaches to studying culture and psychology:
• Cross-cultural psychology (dominant discipline): focuses on comparing specific
behaviors across cultures, with the goal of identifying universal principles of human
behavior.
• Cultural psychology: focuses on understanding how culture and mind co-construct
each other, how practices and psychological processes are shaped locally.
• Indigenous, Decolonial, and Transnational Psychologies: focuses on local knowledge
systems and methods that arise from within the culture of interest with greater
relevance to the needs of communities with Global south/majority world. Uses
traditional theories and methods.
Psychological universals (processes, emotions, cognitions) (book p. 19)
Different levels/ understanding of universality:
• Non-universal: the idea that psychological process does not exist in all cultures but
are unique to a specific environment. Example: specific calculation strategies.
• Existential universal: the idea that a psychological process exists in multiple cultures
but serves different functions or is triggered differently. Example: emotion
suppression.
• Functional universal: the idea that a psychological process exists and serves the
same function, but to different degrees/frequencies. Example: social support seeking.
, • Accessibility universal: the idea that certain psychological processes are
psychologically identical across cultures. Example: facial emotion recognition.
What are the focal points of the different approaches?
• Cross- cultural psychology: functional universals & accessibility universal.
• Cultural psychology: non- universals & existential universals.
• Indigenous, Decolonial, and Transnational Psychologies: non- universals &
existential universals.
Can we really talk about accessibility universal? Can we really achieve it? No
“When I mention a psychological subject, I mean a subject from a western industrialized
culture; and not only from a western industrialized culture, but an American; and not only
an American, but a college student” (Jahoda, 1970, p. 2). These studies focus on specific
groups that can’t be generalized to the world, it’s mostly from one part of the world, where
the majority part is ignored.
WEIRD (Heine, 2010): Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic.
Traditional social science approaches (epistemological positions). (see pp)
• Empiricists/ positivist approach (natural sciences): causal law about the workings of
the mind and senses -> experimental method.
• Interpretivist approach (humanities) -> human experience within sociocultural-
historical context -> interpretive analysis.
What is the right approach?
No “either-or” answers. Nowadays there’s a consensus: culture is an integral part of human
nature. Human development is a process of enculturation. Culture and mind are
complementary “Psychological agents generate culture, but culture too shapes the agents’
minds”.
Three positions (Berry et al., 1992)
1. Absolutism: idea that people from different cultures can be meaningfully compared:
psychological phenomena are similar across cultures, but their quantities differ.
E.g., meaningful quantitative comparisons of personality or intelligence without
reservation. -> positivist.
2. Relativism: idea that quantitative comparisons are meaningless because they are
culturally biased. The researchers always rely on concepts from one culture. People
should be understood in their own terms. Only qualitative descriptions are
meaningful. -> interpretivist.
3. Universalism: idea that all people share basic psychological processes, but their
manifestations differ across cultures. Cross-cultural comparisons can be made after
these manifestation differences have been taken into account. -> post- positivist/
realist.
This course: (critical) universalism: comparisons are possible once differences in
manifestation are taken into account.
What is culture?
The book on culture (p. 5) defines culture as any kind of information that is acquired from
other members of one’s species through social learning that is capable of affecting individual
behaviors. Culture is always shared by a group of individuals.
Culture as defined in this course: Culture is a set of practices, symbols, values, and ideals that
are constructed and shared by a community, transmitted from one generation to the next,
constantly renegotiated and subjected to change, and operating at the individual and
societal level (Causadias, Vitriol & Atkin, 2018).
Individuals vary within cultures, too. Cultural averages hide enormous diversity within
groups. There’re also similarities between multiple cultures.
Culture is just one important aspect of explaining behaviors of individuals/ social identity.
That’s why intersectionality is important. It views individual’s multiple social identities than
simply as, for example, women, black, poor, religious, etc. Intersectionality allows people to
understand one another on a broader spectrum, instead of by one trait (culture).
Culture ≠ Nationality
Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation. Much recent research on
culture and psychology can be characterized as more “cross-national” than “cross-cultural”.
Nations (e.g., Netherlands) may have a dominant culture, but also many subcultures.
Culture ≠ Ethnicity
Ethnicity is a belief in a common origin that signifies participation in group-specific practices,
that promotes a sense of identity and belonging based on common culture. Culture makes
ethnic group differences meaningful. “Onomastic fallacy”: using the label of the ethnic group
to explain cultural variables (Georgas, Van de Vijver, & Berry, 2004).
Culture ≠ Race
Race is a social construct rather than a biological essential. Culture is learned behavior, race
is not. Culture as a functional psychological phenomenon determines what is psychologically
meaningful and important for different races. Culture is what gives race its meaning.
Origins and (in)stability
Cultures are evoked and transmitted (Heine, 2020).
• Evoked: biologically based behavioral repertoires are ‘elicited’ by environments.
• Transmitted: behavioral repertoires are acquired via social learning.
Berry’s eco-cultural model (2010) -> explains how culture shapes behavior. Explains cultural
adaptation and biological adaptation.
Evoked culture
• Adaptations to environments -> ecological contexts and social political contexts
, • Similar environments may elicit similar cultures. Example: agriculture may lead to
more conformism; hunting/gathering may lead to more independence.
• Different environments within the same culture may elicit different cultures.
Example: more interdependence in rice-growing versus wheat-growing regions in
China.
Transmitted culture
Culture can be learned through imitation, explicit instruction, and communication of ideas.
There’s a relative independence from environment.
• Stability: ‘Functional autonomy’ of cultures
- Self-affirming and ‘immune’ to ‘external’ influences (e.g., migration)
• Change: exposure to new ideas
- Contact between cultures: Borrowing and assimilation.
Biological explanations for cultural differences
Biological differences between cultural groups are highly contested: Racism is still
widespread Still, there’re some genetic differences between groups (e.g., related to physical
health, book Chapter 13). Despite evidence for variation within groups and difficulties of
drawing group boundaries.
Biological explanations for common behaviors
As a species humans have common genes (the human genome) that evolved due to common
evolutionary pressures related to survival and procreation. Thus, biological explanations can
(partly) account for similarities in, for example, parent-child attachment (week 3) and
emotion recognition (week 5).
How can we understand the influence of culture on human behavior and mental processes?
Approaches to studying culture and psychology:
• Cross-cultural psychology (dominant discipline): focuses on comparing specific
behaviors across cultures, with the goal of identifying universal principles of human
behavior.
• Cultural psychology: focuses on understanding how culture and mind co-construct
each other, how practices and psychological processes are shaped locally.
• Indigenous, Decolonial, and Transnational Psychologies: focuses on local knowledge
systems and methods that arise from within the culture of interest with greater
relevance to the needs of communities with Global south/majority world. Uses
traditional theories and methods.
Psychological universals (processes, emotions, cognitions) (book p. 19)
Different levels/ understanding of universality:
• Non-universal: the idea that psychological process does not exist in all cultures but
are unique to a specific environment. Example: specific calculation strategies.
• Existential universal: the idea that a psychological process exists in multiple cultures
but serves different functions or is triggered differently. Example: emotion
suppression.
• Functional universal: the idea that a psychological process exists and serves the
same function, but to different degrees/frequencies. Example: social support seeking.
, • Accessibility universal: the idea that certain psychological processes are
psychologically identical across cultures. Example: facial emotion recognition.
What are the focal points of the different approaches?
• Cross- cultural psychology: functional universals & accessibility universal.
• Cultural psychology: non- universals & existential universals.
• Indigenous, Decolonial, and Transnational Psychologies: non- universals &
existential universals.
Can we really talk about accessibility universal? Can we really achieve it? No
“When I mention a psychological subject, I mean a subject from a western industrialized
culture; and not only from a western industrialized culture, but an American; and not only
an American, but a college student” (Jahoda, 1970, p. 2). These studies focus on specific
groups that can’t be generalized to the world, it’s mostly from one part of the world, where
the majority part is ignored.
WEIRD (Heine, 2010): Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic.
Traditional social science approaches (epistemological positions). (see pp)
• Empiricists/ positivist approach (natural sciences): causal law about the workings of
the mind and senses -> experimental method.
• Interpretivist approach (humanities) -> human experience within sociocultural-
historical context -> interpretive analysis.
What is the right approach?
No “either-or” answers. Nowadays there’s a consensus: culture is an integral part of human
nature. Human development is a process of enculturation. Culture and mind are
complementary “Psychological agents generate culture, but culture too shapes the agents’
minds”.
Three positions (Berry et al., 1992)
1. Absolutism: idea that people from different cultures can be meaningfully compared:
psychological phenomena are similar across cultures, but their quantities differ.
E.g., meaningful quantitative comparisons of personality or intelligence without
reservation. -> positivist.
2. Relativism: idea that quantitative comparisons are meaningless because they are
culturally biased. The researchers always rely on concepts from one culture. People
should be understood in their own terms. Only qualitative descriptions are
meaningful. -> interpretivist.
3. Universalism: idea that all people share basic psychological processes, but their
manifestations differ across cultures. Cross-cultural comparisons can be made after
these manifestation differences have been taken into account. -> post- positivist/
realist.
This course: (critical) universalism: comparisons are possible once differences in
manifestation are taken into account.
