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PSY 352 Cultural Psychology Study Unit 2 (Chapter 6: Self Identity in…
PSY 352 Cultural Psychology Study Unit 2
Chapter 6: Self Identity in Society; Social Identity in Self
1. Who am i
There are
aspects of
self-concept
that are
universal and others that are culturally variable.
Such differences have important implications for our social interactions and perceptions of them.
Something as basic as “how we view ourselves” differs greatly across cultures.
Kuhn and McPartland twenty-statement test
Reveals the extent of cultural influences on identities in at least two ways:
Superficial
(statements such as 'I am a Jazz music fan' only indicates the cultural content in which an individual affiliate himself with.
Deep level
( Statements such as ' i am creative' suggest that we think in terms of dispositional, enduring traits, whereas ' i am a younger brother' suggest we that we think in terms of social roles and hierarchical relationships.
I.e. personal identity vs social identity
American- Kenyan study by Ma and Schoeneman
American had a significantly high percentage of 'personal characteristics' statements
Samburu had a significantly higher 'roles and membership statement'
Independent versus interdependent construal
Findings from Kenyans and Americans suggest that there are at least
two ways people see themselves
:
The self as define from
innate attributes
(Stable, unique personal traits)
The self as defined by
social relationships and social roles
.
Key features of Independent and interdependent construal
Independent self-construal
Features of independent self-view are as follow:
experience their
identities
as largely
distinct and unique
from their social relationship
Key features of one's identity are
drawn internally
(not from external social roles)
The self is
stable
and does not change across situations
maintains a
permeable boundary between in-group and out-group
The boundary is between self and everyone else.
Interdependent self-construal
Features of interdependent self-views are as follow:
experience their identities as being
closely associated with society
, not distinct. (Permeable boundaries between self and ingroup members)
one's identity is
acquired
and developed
through social interactions
.
identity is fluid
. Low levels of self-consistency
Distinict in-group and out-group boundaries
.
Neural Basis for this difference
In a study by Zhu and colleagues, participants were asked to list adjectives to evaluate themselves and their mothers. fRmi scans were monitor :
» Westerners showed different regions of activation.
» Chinese showed activation in the same regions linked to self-representations.
Individualism vs Collectivism
Self-concept is shaped by cultural practices and cultural practices are also shaped by the kinds of self-concepts by its members
Interms of culture shaping self-concept, Markus and kitiyama identified two types of culture:
Individualistic
Collectivistic
Collectivistic
People are more likely to elicit an interdependent self-view.
Value close relationships & group memberships.
Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory
This theory
describes the effects of a society's culture on the values of its members, and how these values relate to behavior,
by comparing across different dimensions.
According to his study, Individualism is highest in the United States,. Collectivism is especially prevalent in Asia and Latin America.
Cultural dimensions
Uncertainty avoidance (UAI)
a society's degree of
tolerance for ambiguity
High degree in this index
alludes to stiff moral and legal codes and a strong reliance on absolute truth.
Ambiguity is not readily accepted
.
A lower degree in this index shows more acceptance of differing thoughts. Society tends to impose fewer regulations, ambiguity is accepted
Indulgence vs. restraint (IND)
the degree of
freedom
that
societal norms
give to citizens in fulfilling their human desires.
Indulgence is defined as “a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun.”
Restraint is defined as “a society that controls gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms.”
Individualism vs. collectivism (IDV)
The degree to which people in a
society are integrated into groups
Individualistic societies have loose ties that often only relate an individual to his/her immediate family.
Collectivistic societies have tightly-integrated relationships tying extended families and others into in-groups.
Intra-national differences- the Markus et al study
Individualism and collectivism can manifest with a nation.
A study conducted by Markus and colleagues suggested that:
Students from a working-class family are more motivated when primed with messages that evoke interdependent self-view messages
students from the middle-upper class are more motivated when primed with messages that evoke independent self-views
Masculinity vs. femininity (MAS)
masculinity
is defined as “a preference in society for achievement, heroism,
assertiveness
and material rewards for success.”
Femininity
represents “a preference for
cooperation
, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life.”
In feminine societies, they share modest and caring views equally with men.
In more masculine societies, women are somewhat assertive and competitive, but notably less than men. In other words, they still recognize a gap between male and female values.
Power distance index (PDI)
the
degree
to which the less powerful
members accept
and expect
inequality
in power distribution.
A higher degree of the Index indicates that hierarchy is clearly established and executed in society, without doubt, or reason. (e.g. Caste system).
A lower degree of the Index signifies that people question authority and attempt to distribute power (e.g. France's Yellow-vest revolt).
Long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation (LTO)
this dimension measures the degree of a societies’
connections with past, present and future actions/challenges
.
A lower degree of this index (
short-term
) indicates that
traditions are honoured
and kept, while steadfastness is valued.
Societies with a high degree in this index (
long-term
) view adaptation and
pragmatic problem-solving
as a necessity.
A poor country that is short-term oriented usually has little to no economic development, while long-term oriented countries continue to develop to a point.
Individualistic
People are more likely to elicit independent self-view.
Value distinctiveness, self-reliance, & self-sufficient
Heterogeneity of individuals and cultures
The
dichotomy
of individualism & collectivism
is not as clear-cut.
The experience of self appears to follow a continuum.
Every individual has both independent & interdependent of self-view. The likelihood of its saliency depends on daily social situations
2. Gender and culture
Studies reveal that
Women – more characteristics to have features of interdependent identities.
Men – more characteristics to have features of independent identities
Culture & Gender Equality
Clear cultural differences in the ways people view issues of gender equality.
Examples:
Women elected officials – Arabs nation (3%) vs Sweden (45%).
Literacy – Brazil (same percentage for men and women) vs. Pakistan (twice as many men as women).
William and Best study on Gender equality
William and Best used the
Gender
role ideology scale to rate gender equality across 14 countries from a scale of 1 (Very traditional) to 7 (Very liberal/egalitarian)
•
Western
view – men & women should be
treated similarly
.
•
Asian & African
view – roles, obligations, & rights of men & women are clearly
different.
Boserup (1970) Study on Gender Roles
culture differences in gender norms may result from the type of agricultural method. According to Boserup, even when a country moved out of the agriculture industry, it tended to preserve some of the gender norms associated with its traditional cultivation methods.
Shifting cultivation
– characterised by digging of soil with garden tools. This form of agricultural practice is largely women-dominant
Plough cultivation
– Characterised by the use of the plough to turn the soil. Tends to be male-dominated.
Gender and Essentialism
Refers to the engrained/ essential ways of
expressing gender in socially approved ways
.
American - The male gender identity is seen as being more essentialized than female gender identity
Indians - Female gender identity is more essentialized than male gender identity (by virtue of Hinduism)
3. Ways that cultures differ in the self-concept
Self-awareness
self-awareness is the degree to which one perceive and compares one’s standards, either Subjectively or objectively
Subjective self-awareness
Associated with
Independent self-view.
In this perspective, our concerns are on how we view the world outside (Not concerned with how others view us).
Inside out.
Objective self-awareness
Associated with I
nterdependent
self-view
In this perspective, our concerns are on how others view us. (Not so concerned with how we view the outside world)
Outside in
Study on self-awareness
Kim Cohen and au compared self-awareness between Americans and Hong Kongers.
It was discovered that Americans were unaffected by whether they thought another person had seen their scores
Hong Kong participants were significantly affected. indicating a presence of Objective self-awareness
Self-consistency
Cultures vary considerably in the degree to which individuals are motivated to be consistent across situations
Westerners are more self-consistent. Asian were less self-consistent
Kanagawa, cross and Markus study on self-consistency
In a study between American and Japanese students, it was discovered that
Americans were stable in their self-image and Japanese students had a more positive self-image when they are alone and the least positive self-image.
Americans had a significantly higher self-esteem.
Cognitive dissonance
Festinger suggests that low self-consistency leads to cognitive dissonance.
It refers to a distressing feeling as a result of acting inconsistently.
Dissonance gives rise to the compulsion to change our inconsistent behaviour
Reducing dissonance
Two ways to reduce dissonance
Act more consistently
Change one's attitude (or rationalise one's actions)
Heine dissonance study
In a study between Canadians and Japanese, it was discovered that Canadians when experiencing cognitive dissonance, attempted to rationalise their decision. But the Japanese didn't.
Dissonance across east and west
East Asian are equally as consistent as westerners but they are consistent in different ways.
East Asians are more focused on being consistent with others, while westerners are more focused on being consistent with self.
Cialdini et al study
Cialdini confirmed the difference in motivations to be consistent in their study between polish and Americans.
4. Implicit theories regarding the nature of self
Implicit theories guide our interpretation of much of what happens in the world.
For example, if a food stall has an exceptionally long queue, we may think that it sells good food and/or is selling at a cheap price.
Two implicit theories of the self
(Nature nurture)
Incremental theories of self
– abilities & traits are malleable.
The attributes that one possess are not seen to remain constant across one's life but are perceived as reflecting how hard one has worked.
I.e. Intelligence
associated with an interdependent view of the self.
Entity theories of self
–abilities are largely fixed & resistant to change.
People who adhere to this theory of self tend to believe that their abilities and traits are largely innate, predispose and fixed
i.e. Personality/ temperament
Associated with independent view of the self.
Personality
Personality Trait Theory
Multiple stable personality characteristics that are presumed to exist within the individual and guide his or her thoughts and actions under various conditions.
The “Big Five” Traits: The Five-Factor Theory
A trait perspective suggesting that personality is composed of five fundamental personality dimensions (also known as the Big Five):
openness to experience
conscientiousness
extravertsion
agreeableness
neuroticism.
Chapter 10: Emotions as Cultural Expressions
Does emotional experiences vary across culture
Emotions and facial expression
Facial expressions are a means of communicating between culture
(i.e. different cultures may have different facial expressions/ Facial muscle movements to express happiness)
Facial expressions are reflexive.
This suggests that facial expressions can be traced to biological makeup and thus may be universally common across cultures.
Evidence for cultural universals in facial expressions
Fundamental assumption
The universalist assumption on emotion is that
despite cultural divisions, human beings are able to identify
and empathise with the
emotional state
of another based on universal cues
i.e. the reading of facial expressions.
Six Universal Facial Expressions
Inspired by Darwin, Ekman and Friesen studied universal cues and found that six emotional states are most commonly identified globally:
Disgust
Anger
Surpirse
Happiness
Fear
Sadness
Ekman wanted to esure that the data collected were not as a result of learned emotions, thus he included in his studies, cultures whcih were highly indeginous and not influenced by the west.
Evidence for cultural variability in facial expression
Recognising facial expression
Elfenbien and Ambady discovered that people were 9% more accurate in judging the facial expressions of people from their own culture than those of another culture.
This is because people are better at perceiving the emotional expressions of people they have been exposed to more.
Focus on different facial regions
Another way that cultures differ in how they interpret facial expression stems from the parts of the face to which they focus on.
Studies reveal that to interpret emotions, the Japanese focused more on the eyes whereas American focused more on the mouth.
Difference in display rule
Ekman and Friesen argued that facial expressions are universal. What varies is the cultural display rules.
Some cultures encourage the overt display of emotions
Other cultures encourage the muting or concealing of emotional expression.
Display rules
this refers to the implicit
cultural rules on the appropriateness of displaying specific emotions
in public.
A likely explanation for the lower recognition rate for anger could be found in a culture’s disapproval towards dramatised emotional displays (i.e. Japanese culture). Particularly, negative emotional displays.
As the Japanese refrain from displaying negative emotions, angry emotions are likely muted, or seldom displayed.
With lower rates of exposure
to angry facial expressions,
the ability to recognise them is hence lower
than populations who have higher rates of exposure to these displays.
Ritualised displays
Voluntarily produced emotional expressions suggest the existence of cultural display rules that lead people to express ritualised displays (i.e. idiosyncratic facial expressions that differ from the universal facial expressions.
Facial feedback hypothesis
Display rules presuppose that emotional experiences are unaffected by facial expressions
The facial feedback hypothesis proposes that one source of information we utilize when inferring our feelings is our facial expressions
Facial feedback effect
According to German psychologist Fritz Strack and colleagues (1988), people find cartoons funnier while holding a pen with their teeth (using smiling muscles) than while holding it with their lips (using muscles incompatible with smiling)
Facial expression and emotional experiences
The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that:
If your culture encourages you to express emotions overtly, you may infer that you are feeling strong emotions.
If your culture encourages you to conceal your emotions, you might infer that you are not feeling much emotions.
Cultural variation in intensity of the emotional experience
East VS West
Studies revealed that
Americans
reported feeling
emotions longer and more intensely
than the Japanese
East Asian were less attentive to their visceral states when compared to westerners.
Cultural context and emotion
In some cultural context, the expression of intense emotions may make it problematic to fit in well with others.
i.e. it can be difficult for an interdependent group to function well if members openly express their anger at each other.
This then results in the suppression of anger.
Suppression of anger have been known to cause cardiovascular complications
Emotional intensity and culture
In a study by Anderson and Linden (2006), it was discovered that
Chinese-Canadians were more likely to reappraise adverse situations or to make an effort to distract themselves from anger-provoking events.
European- Canadians were more likely to openly express their anger.
Furthermore, there was a physiological difference when both groups were made to suppress their anger
Chinese-Canadians were able to stabilise their blood pressure faster then European-Canadians.
This suggests that Chinese-Canadians experienced their anger less intensely.
Display rules and emotional experience
The study suggests that cultural display rules alter the ways that people express their emotions.
And the expression of emotions is linked to the experience of emotions.
Emotional engagement, happiness and culture
In a study by Kitiyama, it was discovered that
Japanese
who reported feeling a great deal of
positive interpersonally engaged emotions
reported a lot more
positive feelings
in general
Americans
reported a great deal of
positive interpersonally disengaged
emotions, reported more
positive feelings
This suggests that the Japanese feel good when they are focusing on how their emotional experience lead them to connect with others
Americans feel good when they're dwelling on those
Emotion and language
Cultures vary in many ways in terms of emotions based on language.
People categorize emotions in different ways:
Ugandan – no distinction between sorrow & anger.
Aborigines in Australia – same word for shame & fear.
Samoans – same word for love & pity.
Emotion words from one language don’t always map onto basic emotions of other languages.
i.e. the word Ikhlas in arabic. or the word Amae in Japaenese
Thus, there maybe disagreement across cultures as to the number of specifc 'basic' emotions'
Cultural Variations in kinds of Emotional experience
Emotional experiences of those who are more interdependent are more interpersonally engaged than the emotional experiences of independent individuals
Studies between American and Japanese athletes also revealed that:
For Japanese, emotions are experienced as interpersonal states that connect people with each other
For Americans, emotions are experienced more as personal states that lie within individuals
Defining Emotions
An emotion is the expression of one’s
interpretations of physiological impulses
that emerge from environmental stimuli,
shaped by one’s subjective appraisal
of the context.
With relevance to cultural psychology, as individual subjective appraisal and contexts are culturally mediated, emotions are cultural products.
Emotional theories
Two perspectives have influenced how researchers view and define emotions:
James- Lange theory
Schacter two-factor theory
Schacter’s Two-Factor Theory
The Two Factor Theory of Emotions addressed the conceptual gaps in the James-Lange theory, by bringing to focus how
physiological responses are variably interpreted by the mind
Based on this theory, emotions are the
interpretation
of such bodily responses.
Stimuli (i.e. Snake)
Cognitive interpretation
“I feel afraid!”
Subjective Emotion (i.e. Fear)
Physiological response (Bodily reverbaration)
-trembling
-increased heart rate
Explanation
Schachter and Singer reasoned that we could identify the
separate roles of interpretation and physiological sensation
if we disentangle them
Even though bodily reverberations are universally experienced, the emotional significance of these
physiological arousals is context-dependent.
The Two-factor study
Manipulated two independent variables:
Cognitive interpretations (by controlling the interpretations of Happiness and anger)
Physiological response by introducing epinephrine to stimulate arousal.
People don't have a fine-tuned awareness of their bodily sensation
James-Lange Theory of Emotions
emotions are triggered by a dramatic change in one’s physiological sensory
experiences which stem from the
automatic nervous
system's response to a stimulus(i.e. surge in heart rate, breathing, pupil dilation, tear secretion, blood flow to our skin and stomach contractions).
James’ theory of emotions advances the assumption of emphatic universality. If all humankind, regardless of culture, is able to experience the same “bodily reverberations”, then
cultural differences should have little or no significant bearing
on an individual’s ability to relate emotionally to someone of another culture.
Critique on this theory
Lack of physiological response may not necessary equate to absence of emotions
The automatic nervous system may not be able to accurately capture the nuances in emotions
James-Lange Theory of Emotions- Flow chart
Response
Physiological response. Responses stem from autonomic nervous system upon appraising of stimulus.
No physiological response, no emotion
(i.e. trembling
increased heart rate)
Subjective emotion Emotion (i.e. Fear)
Stimuli (i.e. Snake)
Comparing both theories
The James-Lange theory adopts a universal perspective and suggests that people should universally share the same emotional experience.
The two-factor theory suggests that in addition to the physiological basis, emotions are grounded in belief systems (this requires interpretation). Thus, people might interpret the physiological signals differently accross culture.
Cultural variation in subjective well-being and hapiness
The west and happiness
The expression 'Happy Nation' has been steadily decreasing in the west and the notion of 'Happy Person' has been increasing.
This suggest that happiness has been transformed over time in american english to reflect more of an individual's state as opposed to a collectivistic state.
Cultural differences in subjective well-being
Subjective well-being refers to the feeling of how satisfied one is with one's life.
There are
pronounced differences in subjective-well-being
. People in Scandinavian countries are highest on this measure while impoverished countries like Africa are low on this measure
Well-being also varies within cultures
. (I.e. in a study conducted in different regions in the US, people in new england and mountain region score higher in this meassure)
Factors affecting well-being
Cultural differences in subjective well-being can be affected by several factors
• Wealth
• Human rights
Factors that influences perception of life satisfaction
Individualistic vs collectivistic culture
People in an
individualistic
culture based life satisfaction on how many positive emotions they were experiencing. (i.e.
doing what you like
)
People in a
collectivistic
culture based life satisfaction in accordance with cultural norms (i.e. doing
what you should do
)
Theory of happiness
In a study between European-Americans and Asian-Americans, both groups gave similar overall satisfaction ratings about their daily experiences.
However, when both groups we asked to provide a retrospective rating (i.e. look back on their experience), European-Americans have a significantly higher measure of satisfaction.
This suggests that
European-Americans
are shaped by a theory that
life should be happier
and
that
Asian-Americans
are shaped by a view that
happiness and emotions should be balanced
.
Chapter 9: Acculturated Cognition and Perception
Cognition, Perception and Culture
how is an individual’s consciousness (i.e. cultural identity) shaped by the two interrelated mental processes (Cognition and perception).
Perception
Perception refers to the
predispositions of seeing
the world. It is the outcome of the accumulation of cognitive structures.
An individual
forms judgements
of another individual, an event, the environment (e.g. local/global context), based on an established cognitive schema.
Evidence of cultural differences in thought and perception through painting
Painting: Figures and Context
Figures were much larger in Western pictures than in East Asian ones.
East Asian portraits portray individuals as being embedded within the context with smaller faces.
Western portraits have larger faces, directing more attention to the individual as he or she dominates the scene.
Painting: Horizons and Context
In East Asian artwork, horizons are higher, allowing for more objects and more interactions (making them look “busier”).
In Western paintings, horizons are lower, directing attention to particular focal objects.
Cognition
Cognition refers to the
schematic approach
through which an individual makes sense of the world.
Cognitive appraisal occurs when an individual
appraises
another individual, an event, the environment (e.g. local/global context),
through
an acquired
mental structure
. This mental structure is acquired through the past experiences.
It provides a template for the arrangement of the appraisals into logically consistent information
Tolerance for contradiction
In a study, American and Chinese participants received either:
Just one argument (A or B)
Both arguments (A and B)
They then evaluated how compelling and plausible they found the argument(s).
Both American and Chinese participants who received only Argument A tend to view it as more compelling than those who received only argument B (no potential contradiction).
Exposing to contradiction
Participants who received both arguments saw a potential contradiction:
Americans
– Even more convinced that Argument A was compelling than those who received only Argument A;
responded to the contradiction by denying that it exists
– Argument A is the better argument & there is a problematic contradiction.
Chinese
– Less convinced that Argument A was compelling than those who received only Argument A; adjusted their evaluations in the light of Argument B.
The contradiction is accepted as it is &
they do not seem motivated to remove it
.
Cognition
Cognition refers to the
schematic approach
through which an individual makes sense of the world.
Cognitive appraisal occurs when an individual
appraises
another individual, an event, the environment (e.g. local/global context),
through
an acquired
mental structure
. This mental structure is acquired through the past experiences.
It provides a template for the arrangement of the appraisals into logically consistent information
Linguistic Relativity
Linguistic relativity refers to the
structuring effects of language
use, and how different languages
shape the mental representations
of their users in a way that reflects the worldviews of their source culture.
realm** is being concurrently internalised.
Whorfian hypothesis
Strong version – language determines thought – without access to the right words, people cannot have certain kinds of thoughts.
Weak version – language influences thought – having access to certain words influences the kinds of thoughts that one has Much controversy surrounding this claim.
Support and critique
Whorfian's view is supported by other researchers which suggest that
absence of the appropriate linguistic
terms, individuals are
unable to conceive of concepts
that require the notional recognition of these ideas.
Whorfian's view appears to be incompatible with emotional concepts and theories the latter of which suggests that
certain emotions are salient across culture
irrespective of the presence of specific linguistic terms
Talking and Thinking
Analytic process
Focus on separate parts & lends itself very well to spoken word.
Each part can be described separately & sequentially. Speech will not interfere with performance.
Holistic thinking
Involves attention to the whole & the perception of how various parts are interrelated.
The nature of holistic thinking makes it difficult to express in words because you can’t easily describe multiple relations at once. So speech will interfere with performance.
Articulatory Suppression Condition
Asian-Americans had no significant impact to their performance.
The 2 tasks are so different & cause little interference with each other.
They were largely having nonverbal thoughts.
European-Americans performed poorly on the IQ task.
Their verbal thought while solving the IQ task was interfered by their verbal recitation of the alphabets.
Thought
The discussion of
analytic and holistic thinking
branches off from the
assumption
that individuals in the world can be
broadly identified as either collectivistic or individualistic
in their value orientations and behaviour.
Attribution/behaviour
Analytic and holistic thinkers differ in how they understand or perceive others’ behaviors.
Analytic thinkers
More inclined to engaging in
dispositional attributions
(Westerners)
Perceive one’s behaviour as reflecting one’s internal attributes, personality, & dispositions.
Understand objects by identifying their underlying attributes.
Holistic thinkers
More inclined to engaging in
situational attribution
(East Asians)
Perceive one’s behaviour as reflecting something about the environment around the individual.
Pay attention to contextual information
by considering how the situation is influencing them.
Fundamental attribution error
The tendency to
ignores situational
info (condition under which the writers wrote their essays) while
focusing on disposition
info (writer’s assumed attitudes).
Evidence of cultural influences on attribution
in a study, it was discovered that 8-year-olds American and Indian gave similar attributions.
However, through ageing, it was noticed that:
Older Americans made more dispositional
attributions, whereas their situational attributions remained largely unchanged - fundamental attribution error
Older Indians made more situational
attributions, whereas their dispositional attributions did not change significantly - reverse fundamental attribution error
In conclusion, older americans exhibited evidence of fundamental attribution error and older india exhibit reverse fundamental attribution error.
Cultural differences often become larger as people get older, & they become increasingly affected by their cultural environment (fundamental attribution error does not look so fundamental anymore).
Analytic and Holistic
The assumption is that People of
collectivistic
culture are predisposed towards
holistic
thinking
People of
individualistic
cultures are inclined towards
analytic
thinking.
Analytic thinkers
Focus on objects and their attributes (e.g., focus on the trees & their attribute of having leaves); attributes are used as a basis for categorizing them.
Objects
are perceived as existing
independently from their contexts
they are understood in terms of their component parts.
Rule base thinking
A set of fixed abstract rules is used to predict & explain the behaviour of these objects
(taxonomic categorization)
.
Ancient Greek Thinking
The world is a collection of discrete, unchanging objects that can be categorized by reference to a set of universal properties. (I.e. Law of gravity).
Elaborate logic system that searched for the truth according to abstract rules& syllogisms that existed independently of observations.
Holistic thinkers
An orientation to the
context as a whole.
An associative way of thinking that gives attention to the relations among objects & their surrounding context.
Emphasizes knowledge gained through
experience
rather than the application of fixed law.
Relationship base thinking
Objects are understood in terms of how they relate to the rest of the context & their behaviour is predicted and explained on the basis of those relationships (
thematic categorization
).
Ancient Chinese Thinking
Traditions such as Confucianism emphasized harmony, interconnectedness, & change. (Medicine focused on harmony between man and nature)
View the world as consisting of continuously interacting substances (knowledge of the moon’s role in the tides long before Westerners did).
Attention
Cultural psychologists believe that this
choice of attention (though subjective) is shaped by cultural orientations
.
people from different cultures pay attention to different aspects of the same field.
analytic
thinkers tend to focus their attention on
object-centred
information.
holistic
thinkers tend to focus their attention on
relationship-centred
information.
Historical base
The roots of the collectivistic-individualistic distinction were traced through the historical subsistence bases of the two cultures.
Individualistic.
Individualistic cultures were derived primarily from
pastoral economies
. The pastoral economy is characterised by the hunting and/or herding of animals, and the gathering of food crops for subsistence.
It is an economic activity that breeds individualistic predispositions. (e.g. The herder requires minimal cooperation from fellow herders, and the focus of herding is on individual livestock, rather than the field).
This focal predisposition is termed
field independence.
Collectivistic.
Collectivistic cultures were derived primarily from
agrarian economies
. As agrarian economies live off the land, individuals shaped by this mode of subsistence are more attuned to
focus their attention on the holistic landscape
, rather than on isolated object.
This focal predisposition is
termed field dependence
. In other words, the focal attention of the perceiver is based on holistic thinking, where the object and its field are seen as inextricably bound together.
Evidence of cultural difference
Rod-and-Frame Task (attention)
This task is reflective of an important cultural difference between holistic and analytic thinkers in terms of their attentional focus.
To solve the task properly, one has to
ignore the misleading info
of the frame & focus solely on the rod.
Analytic thinkers display field independence (separate objects from their background field) and did well for this task.
Holistic thinkers
display field dependence (viewing objects as bound to their background) and perceive a scene as an integrated whole & have
difficulty in separating
objects from each other &
did not do well for this task.
Change blindness
American vs Japanese.
Americans were unable to detect changes in the background whereas the Japanese were able to detect changes.