Culture and psychology textbook

11 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology Cultural diversity is one of the most important topics in the world today Here in the United States, we live, work, and play with an increasing number of people from all cultures, countries, and walks of life New immigrants alone make up 10% of the total U.S population, and that does not include all of the cultural diversity that has existed in this country for decades In many other countries as well—in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania—people of different countries and cultures come together more today than ever before While this increasingly diversifying world has created a wonderful environment for personal challenge and growth, it also brings with it an increased potential for misunderstandings that can lead to confusion and anger “Diversity” is a buzzword for “difference,” and conflicts and misunderstandings often arise because of these differences Cultural diversity is one of our biggest challenges Corporate America is attempting to address that challenge through workshops, seminars, and education in diversity throughout the workforce The educational system has addressed diversity by hiring and retaining faculty of color and infusing material related to different cultures throughout the curriculum Government has attempted to deal with diversity through policies such as equal employment opportunity and affirmative action At the same time, the challenges that face us in the name of cultural diversity and intercultural relations also represent our biggest opportunities If we can meet those challenges and turn them to our favor, we can actualize a potential in diversity and intercultural relations that will result in far more than the sum of the individual components that comprise that diverse universe This 1 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ Chapter sum will result in tremendous personal growth for many individuals, as well as positive social evolution It is in this belief that this book was written—to meet the challenge of diversity and turn that challenge into opportunity Doing so is not easy It requires each of us to take an honest look at our own cultural background and heritage, their merits and limitations Fear, rigidity, and sometimes stubborn pride come with any type of honest assessment Yet without that assessment, we cannot meet the challenge of diversity and improve intercultural relations In academia, that assessment brings with it fundamental questions about what is taught in our colleges and universities today To ask how cultural diversity colors the nature of the truths and principles of human behavior delivered in the halls of science is to question the pillars of much of our knowledge about the world and about human behavior From time to time, we need to shake those pillars to see just how sturdy they are This is especially true in the social sciences and particularly in psychology—the science specifically concerned with the mental processes and behavioral characteristics of people The Goals of Psychology No field is better equipped to meet the challenge of cultural diversity than psychology And in fact, psychology has met, and continues to meet, the challenge of culture through a subfield known as cross-cultural psychology To get a better handle on what cross-cultural psychology is all about, it is important first to have a good grasp of the goals of psychology Psychology essentially has two main goals The first is to build a body of knowledge about people Psychologists seek to understand behavior when it happens, explain why it happens, and even predict it before it happens Two aspects of psychology are important in achieving this goal: the conduct of psychological research and the creation of theoretical models of behavior Research and theory go hand in hand in psychology The second goal of psychology involves taking that body of knowledge and applying it to intervene in people’s lives, hopefully to make those lives better Psychologists perform various important roles in pursuit of this goal: as therapists for individuals, families, and groups; as counselors in schools, universities, churches, and other community organizations; as trainers in businesses and work organizations; and as consultants for police, lawyers, courts, sport organizations, athletes, and teams Psychologists work on the front lines, dealing directly with people to affect their lives in a positive fashion The two goals of psychology—creating a body of knowledge and applying that knowledge—are not mutually exclusive They share a close relationship, as well they should Psychologists who are on the front lines not work in a vacuum; they take what psychology as a field has collectively learned about human behavior and use that knowledge as a basis for their applications and interventions This learning initially comes in the form of academic training of counselors, therapists, and consultants as they achieve academic degrees from An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ universities But it continues well after formal education has ended, through continuing education programs and individual scholarship—reviewing the literature, attending conferences, joining and participating in professional organizations Applied psychologists engage in a lifelong learning process that helps them intervene in people’s lives more effectively Likewise, research psychologists are cognizant of the practical and applied implications of their work In fact, most researchers and theoreticians are well aware that the value of psychological theory and research is often judged by its practical usefulness in society (see, for example, Gergen, Gulerce, Lock, & Misra, 1996) Theories are often tested for their validity not only in the halls of science but also on the streets, and they often have to be revised because of what happens in those streets Theory/research and application/intervention are thus the two goals of psychology as we see them Although some psychologists may choose to focus on one or the other, it is important to remember that psychology as a collective whole seeks to achieve both Cross-cultural psychology has a special meaning to mainstream psychology because of these goals Cross-Cultural Research and Psychology Most research on human behavior conducted in the United States involves American university students as study participants The reasons are largely pragmatic University faculty need to research, for themselves as much as for the field, and the easiest population to access is often university student volunteers Another reason has been a lack of concern about issues of diversity and its impact on theory and research, and quite frankly, some of the political ramifications of doing such research As a result, the majority of the information and research you read about in textbooks and research articles in mainstream psychology is based on studies involving American college or university student participants or samples There is nothing wrong with such research, and the findings obtained from such samples are definitely true for those samples These findings may be replicated across multiple samples using different methodologies In short, many findings may weather tests for scientific rigor that would normally render them acceptable as a truth or principle about human behavior However, a basic question still remains: Is what we know as truth or principle about human behavior true for all people, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, culture, class, or lifestyle? This question has particular import when you consider the nature of the samples generally included in psychological research Cross-cultural research* asks these questions by examining and testing them in people of differing cultural backgrounds In cross-cultural research, these questions are addressed quite simply—by including participants of more than one cultural background and then comparing data obtained across the *Boldface terms are defined in the glossary at the end of the chapter An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ Chapter cultural groups This research approach is primarily concerned with examining how our knowledge about people and their behaviors from one culture may or may not hold for people from another culture Cross-cultural research can be understood in relation to mainstream academic psychology as a matter of scientific philosophy This term refers to the logic underlying the methods used to conduct research and generate knowledge in psychology Knowledge depends on research to confirm or disconfirm hypotheses; research involves a methodology designed to collect data that can falsify or support hypotheses Methods involve many specific parameters, one of which includes decisions about the number and nature of the participants in the study Cross-cultural research involves the inclusion of people of different cultural backgrounds—a specific type of change in one of the parameters of methodology What is the difference between cross-cultural research and other types of research that change a parameter of a study? If we consider cross-cultural research from the standpoint of scientific philosophy, other studies that change other parameters of research—such as the specific tests or measures that are used, or the procedures by which data are collected—also raise important questions about the generalizability of findings Changes can also occur in characteristics of the participants other than their cultural background, such as their socioeconomic class, age, gender, or place of residence All these types of changes are important in relation to the philosophy underlying psychology’s science But the meaning of a study and its findings differs if it compares different cultures than if it compares different ways of measuring a variable, for example This difference is related to what may be considered the cross-cultural approach The cross-cultural approach that cross-cultural research brings to mainstream psychology goes far beyond simple methodological changes in the studies conducted to test hypotheses related to truth and knowledge It is a way of understanding truth and principles about human behaviors within a global, cross-cultural perspective Cross-cultural research not only tests similarities and differences in behaviors; it also tests possible limitations of our traditional knowledge by studying people of different cultures In its narrowest sense, cross-cultural research simply involves including participants from different cultural backgrounds and testing possible differences between these different groups of participants In its broadest sense, however, the cross-cultural approach is concerned with understanding truth and psychological principles as either universal (true for all people of all cultures) or culture-specific (true for some people of some cultures) Some truths are true for all Psychologists call these universals Some truths and principles, however, are not absolutes; they are culturally relative and culturally bound There is much about the world and about human behavior that is true for one culture but not for others It may very well be the case, therefore, that even though a finding is replicated in studies involving subjects from a given culture and society, it is not true for another culture or society, and vice versa The results of psychological research are bound by our methods, and the very standards of care we use when we evaluate the scientific rigor and quality An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ of research are also bound by the cultural frameworks within which our science occurs (Pe-Pua, 1989) In the United States, as in many countries, psychology is segmented into specific topic areas—for example, clinical, social, developmental, personality, and the like Cross-cultural psychology and cross-cultural approaches are not topic-specific Cross-cultural researchers are interested in a broad range of phenomena related to human behavior—from perception to language, child rearing to psychopathology Cross-cultural psychologists and cross-cultural research can be found in any specific area or subdiscipline within psychology What distinguishes a cross-cultural approach from a traditional or mainstream approach, therefore, is not the phenomenon of interest but the testing of limitations to knowledge by examining whether that knowledge is applicable to people of different cultural backgrounds The approach, not the topic, is what is important in cross-cultural psychology In the past few years, cross-cultural research in psychology has gained newfound popularity Much of this popularity is due to the current focus on cultural diversity and intergroup relations and the increasing diversity of the U.S population Increasing problems and tensions in intercultural relations and a growing recognition of the limitations of the psychological literature have also enhanced awareness of the need for a cross-cultural approach Interest in cross-cultural research is certain to increase, especially with events such as the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 In a much larger sense, an increased interest in cross-cultural psychology is a normal and healthy development, questioning the nature of the truths and principles amassed to date and searching for ways to provide an even more accurate picture of human behavior across people of different cultural backgrounds As psychology has matured and such questions have been raised, many scientists and writers have come to recognize that much (but not all) of the research and the literature once thought to be universal for all people is indeed culture-bound The increasing importance and recognition of crosscultural approaches in the social sciences, and in psychology in particular, are reactions to this realization Cross-cultural research and scholarship have had a profound impact on our understanding of truths and principles about human behavior Defining Culture It is fashionable today in mainstream psychology to talk about culture Unfortunately, many psychologists and laypersons alike use the words culture, race, nationality, and ethnicity interchangeably, as if they were all the same terms denoting the same concepts Do these terms all refer to the same concept? Although there is clearly some overlap among them, there are also important differences among them Recognition of these differences is important for a clearer understanding of cross-cultural research and its impact on psychological knowledge An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ Chapter We will examine first how the term culture is used in everyday language and assess the breadth of life it refers to After examining some previous definitions of culture, we will then discuss a definition of culture for this book We will contrast this definition of culture with race, ethnicity, and nationality, and suggest that culture is what makes these terms important, especially in relation to understanding psychological similarities and differences among these social constructs We will also suggest that the constructs of gender, sexual orientation, and disability can be understood in terms of culture as it is defined here Later in the chapter, we will discuss how culture influences human behavior, and the contribution of culture to the field of psychology and to our own lives as well The Use of the Term Culture in Everyday Language Common usages of the word culture We use the word culture in many different ways in everyday language and discourse Sometimes we use the word culture to mean race, nationality, or ethnicity For example, we often refer to people of African American ancestry as coming from African American culture, or Chinese people as coming from Chinese culture But we also use the word culture to reflect trends in music and art, food and clothing, rituals, traditions, and heritage In short, we use the word culture to refer to many different things about people—physical and biological characteristics, behaviors, music, dance, and other activities Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) and later Berry, Poortinga, Segall, and Dasen (1992) have described six general categories in which culture is discussed: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Descriptive uses highlight the different types of activities or behaviors associated with a culture Historical definitions refer to the heritage and tradition associated with a group of people Normative uses describe the rules and norms that are associated with a culture Psychological descriptions emphasize learning, problem solving, and other behavioral approaches associated with culture Structural definitions emphasize the societal or organizational elements of a culture Genetic descriptions refer to the origins of a culture We use the concept and term culture to describe and explain a broad range of activities, behaviors, events, and structures in our lives In the United States, we speak of cultural diversity, cultural pluralities, and multiculturalism in many areas of life, including school and the workplace It is also important to recognize, however, that the word culture may have different meanings or emphases in other cultures If you refer to culture in Japan, for instance, a Japanese person may think first of flower arranging or a tea ceremony rather than the aspects of culture we normally associate with the word Likewise, while learning about culture in this book, it is important to re- An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ member that this view of culture is only one view and other cultures may have other views We should not forget that our studies of culture and the ways in which we understand cultural influences on behavior conceptually (this book included) all stem from a particular view of culture—one that is rooted in American thinking and science Because we use culture to refer to so many different things about life, it is no wonder that it generates so much confusion and ambiguity We can get a better understanding of the complex nature of culture if we look at all the aspects of life referred to by the word culture Aspects of life touched on by culture The word culture is used in many different ways because it touches on so many aspects of life In an early work, Murdock, Ford, and Hudson (1971) described 79 different aspects of life that culture had something to with Barry (1980) rearranged this list into eight broad categories, which were also reported by Berry et al (1992): ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ General characteristics Food and clothing Housing and technology Economy and transportation Individual and family activities Community and government Welfare, religion, and science Sex and the life cycle Culture is a complex concept embedded in many aspects of life and living Some aspects involve material things, such as food and clothing Some refer to societal and structural entities, such as government organization and community structure Others refer to individual behaviors, to reproduction, or to organized activities, such as religion and science Culture, in its truest and broadest sense, cannot simply be swallowed in a single gulp (Malpass, 1993)—not in this book, not in a university course, not in any training program Although we will attempt to bring you closer to a better understanding of what culture is and how it influences our lives, we must begin by recognizing and admitting the breadth, scope, and enormity of culture Culture cannot possibly be contained within the pages of a book or the confines of a university semester or quarter Culture, in all its richness and complexity, is huge Culture as an abstraction Culture itself cannot be seen, felt, heard, or tasted What is concrete and observable to us is not culture per se but differences in human behavior—actions, thoughts, rituals, traditions, and the like We see the manifestations of culture, but we never see culture itself For example, in American culture we learn to shake hands when we greet others, and handshaking has become ritualistic and automatic for many of us People of other cultures have different ways of greeting others People of some cultures, for instance, greet each other with a slight bow of the head Some An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ Chapter cultures encourage this bow with hands together in front as in prayer Some cultures encourage a bow from the waist with the face lowered out of sight Some cultures engage only in an eyebrow flash We can witness these actions and many other behavioral manifestations of culture, and we infer that a cultural difference underlies these various behaviors—that the behaviors are different because the culture is different Culture is used as an explanatory concept to describe the reason we see differences in behaviors such as greetings In this sense, culture is an abstract, explanatory concept We invoke the concept of culture to describe similarities among individuals within a group and differences between groups We use the concept of culture as an explanatory construct to help us understand and categorize those within-group similarities and between-group differences It is a theoretical or conceptual entity that helps us understand why we the things we and explains the differences in the behaviors of different groups of people As an abstract concept, culture is a label The cyclical and dynamic nature of culture But like many labels, culture has a life of its own Just as similarities within groups and differences between groups give rise to culture as an abstract concept, that abstract concept feeds back on those behaviors, reinforcing our understanding of those similarities and differences Culture helps to reinforce, promulgate, and strengthen the behavioral similarities and differences that produced it in the first place, producing a cycle of reciprocity between actual behaviors and our theoretical understanding of them as culture (see Figure 1.1) This reciprocal relationship helps to explain why we are taught to many things simply because “that is the way they have always been done and it is how they should be done.” Learning to eat a certain way, with a certain etiquette, with certain foods, with certain utensils or with one’s fingers, in a certain order, simply because “that’s the way things are done” is just one of many examples of how the abstract concept of culture drives behaviors Engaging in those behaviors further reinforces these aspects of culture It is in this fashion that culture and the actual behaviors culture describes share a close, intimate relationship And changing behaviors will be associated with a change in culture Differences in behaviors between younger and older generations surely signal differences in the underlying culture of these two groups and contribute to what we call the “generation gap.” There is always some degree of discrepancy between behaviors mandated by culture and the abstract concept of culture There is never a one-to-one correspondence across people in the behaviors mandated by an underlying culture and the actual behaviors that occur Instead, there will always be some degree of discrepancy, however small, between behaviors and culture, despite their close and intimate relationship Thus, there is always a dynamic tension in this relationship In this sense, even as an abstract concept or principle, culture is never a static entity It is always dynamic and changing, existing within a tensive relationship with the actual behaviors it is supposed to explain and predict The degree of tension between culture as An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology Figure 1.1 ■ Cycle of reciprocity: Observing, labeling, feedback, and reinforcing When something is labeled culture, it becomes culture; then the culture reinforces the label The label feeds back on objective and subjective aspects of culture We use the word culture as a label for our observations “culture” Subjective Aspects behaviors beliefs attitudes values etc We observe similarities within groups and differences between groups Objective Aspects food clothing tools etc Aspects of culture reinforce the concept of culture an underlying construct and the behaviors that it mandates may be an important aspect of culture itself Some cultures may be characterized by a high degree of tension, whereas others may be characterized by relatively less tension This difference in the degree of tension is most likely related to Pelto’s (1968) distinction of tight versus loose societies Previous Definitions of Culture Over the past 100 years or so, many scholars have made explicit their and the field’s definitions of culture There are probably as many definitions of culture as there are theorists and students of culture Although these definitions share many similarities, they sometimes exhibit important differences as well Well over 100 years ago, for example, Tylor (1865) defined culture as all capabilities and habits learned as members of a society Linton (1936) referred to culture as social heredity Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) defined culture as patterns of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinct 10 An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology 10 ■ Chapter achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts (p 181) Rohner (1984) defined culture as the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next (pp 119–120) Triandis (1972) contrasted objective aspects of culture, such as tools, with subjective aspects, such as words, shared beliefs, attitudes, norms, roles, and values This distinction is also related to Kroeber and Kluckholn’s (1952) concept of explicit and implicit culture Jahoda (1984) argued that culture is a descriptive term that captures not only rules and meanings but also behaviors Some theorists have defined culture in terms of personality (Pelto & Pelto, 1975; Schwartz, 1978) and others as shared symbol systems transcending individuals (Geertz, 1973) Berry et al (1992) define culture simply as the shared way of life of a group of people (p 1) More than a decade ago, Soudijn, Hutschemaekers, and Van de Vijver (1990) analyzed 128 definitions of culture in order to identify common dimensions among them Their analysis revealed five semantic dimensions within which the definitions could be placed These researchers argued, however, that instead of integrating all five dimensions into a single, cohesive definition of culture, students of culture should be free to emphasize specific dimensions to highlight particular concerns they may have about human behavior A Definition of Culture for This Book Given the enormity of culture, the approach we have taken in researching the literature, conducting our own research programs involving cross-cultural issues, and writing this book is to adopt a definition of culture that is most germane and relevant for understanding the influence of culture on individuals at different levels of analysis Even with these parameters, culture is a rather difficult concept to define formally We define culture as a dynamic system of rules, explicit and implicit, established by groups in order to ensure their survival, involving attitudes, values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors, shared by a group but harbored differently by each specific unit within the group, communicated across generations, relatively stable but with the potential to change across time Let’s examine some of the key components of this definition Dynamic Culture describes average, mainstream tendencies It cannot describe all behaviors of all people in any culture There will always be some degree of discrepancy, however small, between behaviors and culture This discrepancy creates a dynamic tension as mentioned earlier In this sense, culture is not static It is always dynamic and changing, existing within a tensive relationship with the actual behaviors it is supposed to explain and predict This degree of tension may be an important aspect of culture itself Some cultures may be characterized by a high degree of tension, whereas others may be characterized by relatively less System of rules Culture does not refer to any single behavior, rule, attitude, or value It refers to the entire system of these constructs In this sense, culture ... the Study of Culture and Psychology An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 19 Culture and Gender Psychologists draw important distinctions between the terms sex and gender Sex... characteristics Food and clothing Housing and technology Economy and transportation Individual and family activities Community and government Welfare, religion, and science Sex and the life cycle Culture. .. Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology An Introduction to the Study of Culture and Psychology ■ 13 toire, cultures help to focus people’s behaviors and attention on a few limited