Culture Bias (AQA A Level Psychology)

Universality & bias

• Bias refers to any factor (e.g. attitudes, behaviours, beliefs) that interferes with the validity (i.e. the ‘truth’) of the research process

• Bias may lead to researchers forming conclusions which favour universality

• Universality occurs when a researcher has not considered the fact that there is no 'one size fits all' in terms of human behaviour and experience e.g.

  • attachment research by Ainsworth (1970) assumed that attachment could be measured and categorised using the norms and values of her own culture (individualistic, American)

    • By ignoring the influence of culture on attachment style Ainsworth (1970) takes a universal approach i.e. she assumes that all children, regardless of culture will show one of the attachment styles she defined

  • Duck’s (2007) phase model of relationship breakdown is only applicable to individualistic cultures wherein divorce, separation and freedom of choice are easily attainable

• Adopting a universal approach can result in research that is subjective and laden with value judgments e.g.

  • X behaviour is abnormal because it does not align with the behaviour I am familiar with...

  • My research using a Caucasian-only sample leads me to conclude that this is a general tendency of humans...

• Culture bias occurs when one culture is either favoured over another culture or one culture is discriminated against via prejudicial attitudes or behaviour

  • The tendency to judge all cultures and individuals in terms of one's own cultural assumptions

• Adopting a universal bias can involve culture bias

  • The overwhelming majority of psychology research has investigated samples of participants from the USA or other wealthy Western individualistic countries

    • This presents a skewed and unrepresentative view of human behaviour

Ethnocentrism

• Ainsworth's research into attachment style is a good example of ethnocentrism

  • this involves a belief (conscious or unconscious) that one's own culture is superior to other cultures, thereby rendering other cultures as 'strange/abnormal/odd/primitive'

• In the case of Ainsworth's 'Strange Situation' study, the findings reflected a very White, Western, individualistic perspective e.g.

  • it is normal for securely attached children to show some separation anxiety

  • it is abnormal (insecure attachment type resistant) to show too much separation anxiety

  • it is abnormal (insecure attachment type avoidant) to show independence from the caregiver

• The issue with the above findings is that subsequent cross-cultural attachment research (Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg, 1988) found that

  • Japanese children show high separation anxiety due to the amount of time they spend with their mothers before going to school

  • German children show far less separation anxiety due to the instilling of independence in them by their mothers

  • by labelling the above attachment behaviours 'insecure', Ainsworth was ignoring the role of culture in attachment, which Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg addressed in their research

• When ethnocentrism goes unchecked it can produce an imposed etic

Cultural relativism

• Cultural relativism is the idea that cultures can only be understood from within that culture

  • Researchers can achieve this by taking an emic approach

• Universal bias is a type of etic research as it assumes general laws of behaviour derived from the study of only one culture

  • Cultural relativism turns this idea on its head: a culture can only be understood by a researcher conducting a 'deep dive' into that culture from inside the culture itself

    • A researcher who is an 'outsider' in terms of that culture should not make any assumptions nor should they attempt to make sense of their findings using their restricted cultural view

• Replicating studies which were originally conducted in one (generally American) culture can yield different results e.g.

  • Miranda et al. (1981) found over 90% obedience going to 450 volts using a sample of Spanish students

  • Smith & Bond (1996) found great cultural variation in replications of Asch's conformity experiment, highlighting cultural differences between individualistic and collectivist cultures

Evaluation of culture bias

Strengths

• An awareness of culture bias can serve to highlight inequalities within the research process and within society itself

  • Research which addresses cultural norms or acknowledges the role of culture in behaviour can help to challenge ethnocentrism e.g.

    • Berry's (1992) model of acculturation points out that when people move from one culture to another there will be difficulties in adjusting to the new culture

  • Using this model as a guide could help those moving to a new culture and those who are members of that culture

Limitations

• The categories 'individualistic' and 'collectivist' may be too broad which in turn presents a generalised, homogenous view of culture, ignoring finer detail and nuances

  • The USA comprises huge variation across the population, incorporating a range of cultures e.g.

    • the Latino population in California

    • the Amish in Pennsylvania

    • Native American descendants particularly in the states of Alaska, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana, and North Dakota

• Some cross-cultural research is beset with problems e.g.

  • self-report methods may have to be adapted per culture to align with local practices, different levels of literacy and religious protocols

  • the operationalised variables set up by the researcher may have different meanings or resonance per culture e.g.

    • episodic memory may differ according to the relevance and meaning placed on individual experience in a specific culture

    • this would mean that the research process was uneven and inconsistent which would lower the reliability of the findings