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PSY 352 Cultural Psychology Study Unit 3 Chap 3 - Cultural evolution…
PSY 352 Cultural Psychology Study Unit 3 Chap 3 - Cultural evolution
Where do cultural variations come from
Ecological and Geographical variation
Structural ecologies focus on cultural variations through the investigation of the environment within which cultures are derived.
Ecology seeks to account for cultural variations by investigating for proximal causes and distal causes.
Evoked vs Transmitted
Edgerton (1971) surveyed communities from different East African tribes. Tribal affiliation (Transmitted culture) were more salient and robust as compare to Ecological pressures (Evoked culture)
Evoked culture
People regardless of cultures have certain biologically encoded behavioural traits that are evoked under certain environmental conditions.
The example of lifestyle choices (i.e. smoking, eating unhealthily and lack of exercise) is a manifestation of the evoked culture of the economically disadvantaged
Transmitted culture
Cultural practices & ideas that are learned via social transmission or modelling (i.e. through socialisation)
Proximal vs Distal causes
Proximal causes
Refers to observable factors which have
direct and immediate
relationships with their effects.
(I.e. the observation that privilege class have better access to good medical service and under privilege class have limited access to medical services)
Distal causes
Those initial differences (i.e. proximal causes) that lead to effects over long periods, often through indirect relations.
Epidemiological paradox the proximal cause is that members of a lower SES should have limited access to health-care and suffer from various ailments. However, Hispanics appear to report better healthcare than even white Americans.
The distal cause would then be the Hispanic's lack of exposure to discrimination vis the blacks.
Evoked culture
Ecologists identify the embodiment of distal realities by examining the evoked culture of a collective
Application of a structural approach to cultural psychology
Collectivism example
Why is structural appraoch to cultural psychology not popular
Firstly, structural explanations need to dig deep into history and beyond the surface
Secondly, they dispel the stereotypes that are deeply entrenched and have intuitive appeal
Thirdly, they may lead to insights that contradict dominant ideologies.
How do ideas catch on
Parallels between biological and cultural evolution
Parallel
Natural selection has parallels in cultural evolution as
some ideas are more likely to attract adherents
than others and thus become more common in subsequent generations
Differences between Biological and cultural evolution
vertical, slow vs Horizontal rapid
Biological genes are pased through generations and are slow to develop change
Cultural information are spread horizontally and can take effect faster
Biological and cultural evolution are not entirely identical
Genes are copied almost entirely, but cultural info through socialisation are more open to innovation and changes
How do cultures persist/resist change
Some cultural habits and attitudes have become entrenched across generations
Early conditions
distinctive origins preserve many cultural differences across time
For example, the difference in Boston and Philadelphia (Baltzell study)
Boston was settled by protestant puritans whereas Philadelphia was settled by protestant quackers.
This led to Differences in cultural views (Boston had a more elitist, respect for authority view) whereas Philadelphia focused on the pragmatic, utilitarian view.
(This is also evident from their university cultures.)
Pluralistic ignorance
tendency to collectively misinterpret the thoughts that underlie other people’s behaviours.
Forexample: Ofo bike, people park anyhow. but no one make noise
Factors that cause ideas to spread
Ideas must be useful
Ideas that contain few minimally counterintuitive ideas
The idea has to be provocative but not outlandish.
Ideas must be communicable.
Communicability may depend on factors such as simplicity, usefulness, informative value, and social desirability. (i.e. organising of information into key themes)
Ideas with emotional impact.
Such ideas comprise urban or contemporary legends.
People can connect with others better when experiencing similar feelings.
i.e. The ice boy story (i.e. a poor boy who travelled a long distance through winter to study)
How have cultures been changing
Increasingly Interconnected
Reduced costs of transportation & enhanced ease of long-distance communication.
Such interconnectedness has created a global culture – many large companies span national borders.
This globalization has been countered by increased tribalism.
Increasingly Individualistic
Shift especially noticeable with younger Americans.
Possible reasons for this shift:
Increased pressures of time and money.
Increased suburbanization.
More electronic entertainment.
Living through a “transformational experience” of World War II.
An increase in individualism in traditionally collectivistic cultures. Reflected in:
• Increased divorce rates.
• Decrease average family size.
• Valuing more independence in children.
Increasingly Intelligent Cultures
Possible reasons for increased intelligence include:
Better access to education
More complex pop culture
Flynn effect
Flynn reported an average increase in IQ per generation (from 5 to 25 points)
However, Sat scores in the United States have been decreasing over the past decades.
Researcher suggests that SAT Scores only measure acquire knowledge.