Aqa A-level Psychology Pya5: Cultural Bias In Psychological Research

Cultural Bias... Psychological Theory & Research ... In Psychological Research

The Emic-Etic Distinction ‘Emic

& Etic’ terms are used to indicate a different set of assumption underlying cross-cultural research.

Emic Approach  Emic

approaches emphasize every culture’s uniqueness by focusing on culturally specific events.

 Cross-cultural

comparisons ignoring emic approaches are seen as invalid.

 Emic

Approaches: - Study behaviour from within a culture - Study only that culture - Produce findings significant only within that culture

Etic Approach  Derived

Etic: most human behaviour is common to humans but cultural factors influence development/display of behaviour

 Imposed

Etic: culture plays little/no role in the development/display of human behaviour

 Etic

Approaches: - Study behaviour outside a culture - Study many cultures - Produce findings considered to apply to

Cultural Equivalence  Cultural

Bias in Obedience Studies Unless we can rule out differences in how these studies were carried out, we cannot be sure that findings tell us much about members of these cultures. Milgram’s Study: ‘victims’ were men. Kilham & Mann: female give shocks to females. All these studies were carried out in advanced industrial cultures = not universal.

Cultural Equivalence  Cultural

Bias in Psychopathology Researchers imposing own culture’s mental illness categories on to abnormal behaviour in other cultures. Seeing behaviour of other cultures through Western perspective. Cultural Relativism: unique aspects of a culture need to be considered. If cultural factors are ignored = inappropriate conclusions.

Commentary (AO2)  The

validity of cross-cultural research can be questioned because observations of behaviour in foreign culture are prone to difficulties.

 Argued:

it is impossible to replicate studies exactly in different cultures, so it is impossible not to be culturally biased in studying human behaviour.

Commentary (AO2)  Several

Problems in establishing similarity in cross-cultural research (Smith & Bond, 1998)

Translation: instructions/responses must be faithfully translated. Manipulation of Variables: impact of any manipulation must be same in each cultural group studied.

Commentary (AO2) Participants: Different social backgrounds and experiences. Research Tradition: Positive attitude (responses remain confidential?) Trust in the research process can not be taken for granted in other cultures.