DOCSLIB.ORG

Ethical Issues in Cross-Cultural Psychology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ethical Issues in Cross-Cultural Psychology 21-Mertens -45638:21-Mertens -45638 6/3/2008 6:34 PM Page 323 21 ETHICAL ISSUES IN CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY David Matsumoto and Caroline Anne Leong Jones ross-cultural psychology is the branch of psychology that attempts Cto test the boundaries of knowledge about human behavior by comparing it in two or more cultures. Cross-cultural psychology is a research method, a statement of scientific philosophy, and an attitude that blends inquisitive critical thinking with curiosity and interest in cul- ture. As such, cross-cultural psychology can be an exciting and motivat- ing adventure; but it can also be one that presents the researcher with a number of significant ethical issues and practical challenges. In this chapter, we discuss some key ethical issues, dilemmas, and challenges associated with conducting cross-cultural research. We orga- nize our discussion around four sections: the design of cross-cultural studies, sampling, sensitive topics, and dealing with data and the inter- pretation of findings. Many of the issues and challenges that cross- cultural researchers are confronted with are, in actuality, quite similar to those we are faced with when conducting monocultural research. Many ethical considerations that all researchers must make—regardless of whether they are conducting a multinational study involving 30 countries and 50 languages or a simple study using a convenience sam- ple of American college students—are somewhat universal in nature. Thus, we refer interested readers to the American Psychological Association’s current guidelines on Principle Ethics (www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html# general), which outlines five ethical principles for the conduct of ◆ 323 21-Mertens -45638:21-Mertens -45638 6/3/2008 6:34 PM Page 324 324–––◆–––Ethical Issues in Research Practice psychologists: beneficence and nonmalefi- limitations related to interpretations from cence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, cross-cultural comparisons. justice, and respect for people’s rights and dignity. Moreover, these issues are discussed in depth elsewhere in this volume (Chapter 8, POTENTIAL DANGERS OF this volume). Thus, instead of reiterating CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH many of the same points made elsewhere by others, we strive to discuss here ethical Cross-cultural research is comparative, issues unique to cross-cultural research that that is, it requires the collection of data from may not be covered elsewhere, all the while members of two or more cultures and the acknowledging that many of the same comparison of their data. One of the most principles and guidelines discussed else- fundamental issues cross-cultural resear- where are applicable here as well. As there chers face, therefore, concerns their opera- are only very few resources on this topic, tionalization of culture. A perusal of the we consider our work a living document, literature would show very quickly that the start and definitely not the end of a there is a great diversity in these opera- dialogue, on this issue. tionalizations among researchers. Many, for instance, operationalize culture by country; others use race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ♦ Ethical Issues in the Design or disabilities to operationalize culture. of Cross-Cultural Research Researchers should be aware that their choice of operationalization of culture in comparative research may have important As with all properly structured and inter- consequences, and may be associated with nally reliable research, issues related to possible ethical dilemmas. For example, design are fundamental and must be con- when making decisions concerning how to sidered before contact is initiated with operationalize cultural groups, researchers human participants and data are collected. often believe that differences exist between One of the biggest ethical dilemmas facing them (which is why they are conducting the cross-cultural researchers today is the study in the first place), and conduct their potential for the findings from their studies studies to demonstrate that those differ- to be used to vindicate powerful stereotypes ences actually do exist. Of course, one of about cultural groups. In our view, vindica- the major goals of cross-cultural compari- tion is quite different from testing the accu- son is to examine whether or not such racy of stereotypes. The latter involves differences exist so that the boundaries of researchers’ conscious knowledge of stereo- knowledge can be tested and elucidated. types and their efforts to test their validity One consequence of this process, however, and boundaries; presumably such conscious is those very differences that are docu- knowledge would also inform researchers mented can be used to help perpetuate of the need to be aware of their potential stereotypes of differences by consumers of influence on the process of research. that research. It is fairly easy, for example, Vindication refers to researchers’ ignorance to take research findings documenting of such stereotypes, and thus their potential differences between Americans and South lack of awareness of how these stereotypes Koreans, or European Americans and may affect their decisions about research African Americans, and to make statements unconsciously. Thus, it is incumbent on that overgeneralize those findings to all researchers to understand how this can be members of those groups, essentially the case, and to use research designs that pigeonholing individuals into the social cat- can minimize this possibility. We begin an egories and applying those findings to exploration of these issues by discussing the them. That is, cross-cultural research (or 21-Mertens -45638:21-Mertens -45638 6/3/2008 6:34 PM Page 325 Ethical Issues in Cross-Cultural Psychology–––◆–––325 more precisely, the incorrect application affect represents a moral distinction and is and interpretation of cross-cultural research) socially desirable; (f) the Japanese underes- can be used to ignore the large degree of timate their own virtues; and (g) the individual differences that exist in human Japanese avoid behaving assertively. Based behavior, and cross-cultural researchers need on this simple, two-country comparison, to be aware of this potential when designing however, it is easy to generate such inter- their studies. pretations, and for them to be used to jus- For instance, Iwata and Higuchi (2000) tify stereotypes of cultural differences that compared Japanese and Americans using may not be true (Matsumoto, 2002). the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) The findings from cross-cultural com- and reported that Japanese were less likely parisons can also be used in a negative way to report positive feelings, and more likely to oppress members of certain groups. If we to report higher state and trait anxiety, than conducted a study about cognitive ability Americans. They wrote, and found significant differences in test scores for Sunni and Shiite populations— In traditional Japan, a typical collectivis- what would the implications of our findings tic society, individual psychological well- be? Is it possible that we would add to ethno- being is subordinate to the well-being of centric and/or stereotypic beliefs? Certainly, the group; that is, maintenance of social similar findings concerning African harmony is one of the most important American differences in IQ have spurred a values (Iwata et al., 1994). The healthy great debate on such issues in the past 40 collectivist self is characterized by com- years (Jacoby, Glauberman, & Herrnstein, pliance, nurturance, interdependence, 1995; Jensen, 1969). Resear chers, thus, and inhibited hedonism (P. J. Watson, need to be aware that findings could be Sherbak, & Morris, 1998). The inhibi- used in these ways and have the obligation tion of positive affect seems to represent of taking active steps to avoid misuse of a moral distinction and reflect socially their findings. This starts with the tempered desirable behavior in Japan (Iwata et al., and nuanced interpretation of their findings 1995). For this reason, the Japanese are in their own writings, incorporating infor- taught from childhood to understate mation not only about between- but also their own virtues and avoid behaving about within-group differences in their data assertively (Iwata et al., 1994). Because (e.g., through the use of appropriate effects of this socialization, the Japanese seem size statistics and interpreting data in less likely to generate positive feelings relation to these statistics) (Matsumoto, and more likely to inhibit the expression Grissom, & Dinnel, 2001; Matsumoto, of positive feelings [italics added]. (Iwata Kim, Grissom, & Dinnel, in press). This & Higuchi, 2000, p. 58) obligation also extends to correcting misi- nterpretations of one’s findings by other Unfortunately, there are many assump- researchers who cite one’s research. tions that underlie this interpretation of the data, none of which were empirically linked to the differences. These include the ideas LIMITATIONS OF CROSS- that (a) Japan is a collectivistic society; CULTURAL COMPARISONS (b) individual psychological well-being is subordinate to the well-being of the group; Cross-cultural comparisons that docu- (c) maintenance of social harmony is one of ment the existence of differences between the most important values; (d) Japanese groups constitute the core of the majority selves are characterized by compliance, nur- of cross-cultural psychological research. turance, interdependence, and inhibited These studies are methodologically quasi- hedonism;
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Cultural Distance, Perception of Emotional Display Rules, And
    CULTURAL DISTANCE, PERCEPTION OF EMOTIONAL DISPLAY RULES, AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON SOJOURNER ADJUSTMENT A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Nicole L. Gullekson August 2007 2 This thesis titled CULTURAL DISTANCE, PERCEPTION OF EMOTIONAL DISPLAY RULES, AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON SOJOURNER ADJUSTMENT by NICOLE L. GULLEKSON has been approved for the Department of Psychology and the College of Arts and Sciences by ________________________________________________ Jeffrey B. Vancouver Associate Professor of Psychology ________________________________________________ Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 Abstract GULLEKSON, NICOLE L., M.S., August 2007, Experimental Psychology CULTURAL DISTANCE, PERCEPTION OF EMOTIONAL DISPLAY RULES, AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON SOJOURNER ADJUSTMENT (109 pp.) With increased globalization, more individuals temporarily leave home to work and study in foreign countries. These sojourners are confronted with societal norms different from their home cultures. The present study investigated the extent to which international student sojourners perceive differences in emotional display norms between their home and host cultures, as well as the influence of such perception on adjustment. Although accurate perception of the host culture’s emotional display rules was not related to adjustment, a “guest” effect existed. Specifically, international student participants reported that one should
    [Show full text]
  • 'Acculturation' in Relation to Diasporic Cultures and Postcolonial Identities
    Paper Human Development 2001;44:1–18 Rethinking ‘Acculturation’ in Relation to Diasporic Cultures and Postcolonial Identities Sunil Bhatia a Anjali Ram b aConnecticut College, New London, Conn., bRoger Williams University, Bristol, R.I., USA Key Words Acculturation W Cross-cultural psychology W Cultural identity W Diaspora W Human development W Immigrants W Postcolonial theory Abstract In this article, we reexamine the concept of ‘acculturation’ in cross-cultural psy- chology, especially with respect to non-western, non-European immigrants living in the United States. By drawing primarily on postcolonial scholarship, we specifi- cally reconsider the universalist assumption in cross-cultural psychology that all immigrant groups undergo the same kind of ‘psychological’ acculturation process. In so doing, (1) we consider some of the historical and political events related to immigration in the United States; (2) we question the conflation of nation with cul- ture that emerges in many theories of acculturation; (3) we use the notion of diaspo- ra as theorized in postcolonial studies to rethink the concept of ‘integration strategy’ as developed in cross-cultural psychology. Our article has implications for general issues of culture and self in human development, and particular issues in the area of acculturation. Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel Given the fact that currently 20% of all children in the United States are immigrant children [Hernandez, 1999], questions related to acculturation and migrant identity are central to human development. Much of the psychological research on the development of immigrant identity has been studied under the topic of ‘acculturation’ in cross-cultur- al psychology. Scholars working with this body of research have been primarily occu- pied with developing universal, linear models to understand the various stages of identi- ty that an immigrant might experience.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Neuroscience: a Historical Introduction and Overview Nicholas O
    Unit 9 Biological Psychology, Neuropsychology and Culture Article 1 Subunit 2 Neuropsychology and Culture 8-1-2014 Cultural Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction and Overview Nicholas O. Rule University of Toronto, [email protected] Please address correspondence to: Nicholas O. Rule, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, [email protected]; this work was supported in part by NSERC 491593. Recommended Citation Rule, N. O. (2014). Cultural Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction and Overview. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1128 This Online Readings in Psychology and Culture Article is brought to you for free and open access (provided uses are educational in nature)by IACCP and ScholarWorks@GVSU. Copyright © 2014 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-0-9845627-0-1 Cultural Neuroscience: A Historical Introduction and Overview Abstract The integration of cognitive neuroscience with the study of culture emerged from independent ascensions among both fields in the early 1990s. This marriage of the two previously unconnected areas of inquiry has generated a variety of empirical and theoretical works that have provided unique insights to both partners that might have otherwise gone overlooked. Here, I provide a brief historical introduction to the emergence of cultural neuroscience from its roots in cultural psychology and cognitive neuroscience to its present stature as one of the most challenging but rewarding sub-disciplines to have come from the burgeoning growth of the study of the brain and behavior. In doing so, I overview some of the more studied areas within cultural neuroscience: language, music, mathematics, visual perception, and social cognition.
    [Show full text]
  • A Workable Concept for (Cross-)Cultural Psychology?
    Unit 2 Theoretical and Methodological Issues Article 14 Subunit 1 Conceptual Issues in Psychology and Culture 9-1-2015 Is “Culture” a Workable Concept for (Cross- )Cultural Psychology? Ype Poortinga Tilburg University, [email protected] I would like to thank for comments and debate on a previous draft of this paper: Ron Fischer, Joop de Jong, and cross-cultural psychologists at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. For readers not convinced by the argument in this paper, I may note that several of these, mainly young, cross-cultural researchers insisted that culture should be seen as something real, like the three blind men who are touching parts of one and the same elephant (see footnote 5). This should bode well for the future of the concept of culture and for one prediction of this paper: that “culture” is unlikely to suffer any time soon the fate of ether or generatio spontanea. Recommended Citation Poortinga, Y. (2015). Is “Culture” a Workable Concept for (Cross-)Cultural Psychology?. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1139 This Online Readings in Psychology and Culture Article is brought to you for free and open access (provided uses are educational in nature)by IACCP and ScholarWorks@GVSU. Copyright © 2015 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-0-9845627-0-1 Is “Culture” a Workable Concept for (Cross-)Cultural Psychology? Abstract In this essay three points are addressed: First, despite repeated findings of limited cross-cultural variation for core areas of study, research in cross-cultural psychology continues to be directed mainly at finding differences in psychological functioning.
    [Show full text]
  • Dewey's Cultural Theory and Psychology When the History Of
    Dewey’s Cultural Theory and Psychology When the history of Cultural Psychology is being discussed one often encounters the names of Lazarus, Steinthal, and Wundt in Germany, Rivers and Bartlett in Britain, and Vygotsky in the former Soviet Union. Missing from mention is the name of the American John Dewey. This is understandable since he did not explicitly formulate a theory of culture and psychology but, nonetheless, the theme runs throughout his numerous publications. It is this that I shall endeavor to encapsulate and, in the process, reveal Dewey’s anticipation and rejection of evolutionary psychology. Such a task is impossible to do justice to in a limited space but I hope that I may at least offer some signposts to where the mind of this seminal thinker may be mined. In his eightieth year, while reflecting back upon his psychological theorizing, Dewey (1939a) noted that the traditional, mentalistic psychology was being transformed by biology and cultural anthropology. Human experience (experience meaning here “participation in activities,” and “of doings and undergoings”) is what it is, he contended, because of its subjection to cultural agencies and intercommunication. In retrospect, he referred to the approach that he had been developing as “socio-biological psychology” and “biological- cultural psychology.” His intention, with these appellations, was to convey the idea that cultures stimulate innate tendencies and remake them; they promote and consolidate those tendencies into patterns of purposes that are fitted to the prevailing cultural conditions (Dewey, 1939/1989). According to Dewey the biological constitution of humans is common to the people of whatever grouping and, because of that, innate tendencies cannot be appealed to in accounting for the differences between groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Social Behavior 1,2
    Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Culture and social behavior 1,2 Joseph Henrich Comparative research from diverse societies shows that with nearly everything in-between. In some populations, human social behavior varies immensely across a broad range contributions declined as people played. In others, they of domains, including cooperation, fairness, trust, punishment, did not. Then, when opportunities for participants to pay aggressiveness, morality and competitiveness. Efforts to to punish other players were added to the basic game explain this global variation have increasingly pointed to the setup, the diversity across groups increased even more. importance of packages of social norms, or institutions. This Contributions in the first round now ranged from roughly work suggests that institutions related to anonymous markets, 30% in Istanbul, Riyadh and Athens to nearly 80% in moralizing religions, monogamous marriage and complex Boston, Copenhagen and St. Gallen (Switzerland). Most kinship systems fundamentally shape human psychology and striking was that, unlike the usual experiments among behavior. To better tackle this, work on cultural evolution and Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic culture-gene coevolution delivers the tools and approaches to (WEIRD) populations [14] where opportunities to punish develop theories to explain these psychological and behavioral result in the sanctioning of non-cooperators and in high patterns, and to understand their relationship to culture and rates of cooperation, the addition of punishment oppor- human nature. tunities made things worse in several places. In these Addresses places, participants punished not only low contributors 1 University of British Columbia, Department of Psychology, Canada but also high contributors, which stifled any increase in 2 University of British Columbia, Department of Economics, Canada the overall contributions.
    [Show full text]
  • Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin
    Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology ©2000 Carolyn Simmons Native American Dancer and Son North Carolina, USA Volume 33 Numbers 3 & 4 September & December 2000 Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin A Publication of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology William K. Gabrenya Jr., Editor Florida Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin is an official publication of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP). Its aim is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of issues relevant to cross-cultural psychology and to IACCP. The contents of the Bulletin are intended to reflect the interests and concerns of all members of IACCP. The Bulletin publishes theoretical and position articles, commentary from the mem- bership, news, and statements from IACCP, book/media notices and reviews, and other announcements of interest to the membership of IACCP. Contributions from all areas of (cross-)cultural psychology are encouraged and should be submitted to: William K. Gabrenya Jr., Editor Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin Florida Tech School of Psychology 150 W. University Blvd. Melbourne, FL 32901-6988 U.S.A. Telephone: +1 (407) 674-8104 Fax: +1 (407) 674-7105 E-mail: [email protected] Editorial Assistant: Angelia McCormack, Florida Tech Assistant Editor for Teaching: Harry Gardiner, University of Wisconsin– La Crosse Assistant Editor for Theory & Method: Joan Miller, University of Michigan Assistant Editor for What Happened?: Richard Brislin, University of Hawaii Assistant Editor for Clinical and Counseling Psychology: Paul Pedersen Cross-Cultural Psychology Bulletin (ISSN 0710-068X) is published four times a year (March, June, September, December) and is provided to all members of IACCP.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Emotional Expressions Has Long Fascinated Scholars and Laypersons Alike
    Culture and Emotional 15 Expression David Matsumoto The relationship between culture and emotional expressions has long fascinated scholars and laypersons alike. In this chapter I review the evidence concerning this relationship and describe recent studies from my laboratory that answer major gaps in this literature. This new evidence indicates that facial expressions are universally produced in real-life, naturalistic settings when emotions are elicited, and that they are are universally recognized. Other new evidence, also reviewed in this chapter, indicates that facial expressions of emotion are universally produced by congenitally blind individuals. Taken together, I believe that facial expressions of emotion are part of the response package of an evolved, biologically-based, core emotion system. At the same time, there are many cultural differences in emotional expressions. They are pro- duced via at least two mechanisms. The first is via cultural differences in norms of expression management and regulation as a function of social circumstances. These are known as display rules (Ekman & Friesen, 1969), which influence emotional expressions once emotions are elic- ited. This chapter reviews recent evidence from my laboratory involving a 30-country study of these rules and their implications for cultural differences in expression regulation. The second way in which cultural differences in expressions occur involves cultural differences in the kinds of events that trigger emotions (and thus expressions) in the first place. I believe that one of the fundamental goals of enculturation is the calibration and adaptation of the universal, biologically-based, core emotion system to culturally available events, so that individuals learn to have appropriate emotional reactions to events in their cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • An Introduction to Cultural Neuroscience Lyndac.Linandevah.Telzer
    An Introduction to Cultural Neuroscience LyndaC.LinandEvaH.Telzer This chapter’s goal is to serve as a brief introduction to the emerging feld of cultural neuroscience. It does not intend to provide an extensive review but rather a brief overview of the feld. We start by defning cultural neu- roscience and follow by providing important reasons for doing research in this feld. Next we explain some key terms and methodologies. We then highlight important studies in the feld and provide recommendations for designing a study. Finally, we make suggestions for future directions. Throughout this chapter, we choose a few specifcexamplestoillustrate ways in which cultural neuroscience researchers have utilized the concepts and tools described here. What Is Cultural Neuroscience? Cultural neuroscience is an emerging interdisciplinary feld that combines theories and methods from cultural and social psychology, anthropology, and social and cognitive neuroscience to investigate the interactions between culture, psychological processes, brain, and genes at diferent timescales (for reviews, see Chiao, Cheon, Pornpattananangkul, Mrazek, & Blizinsky, 2013; Han et al., 2013; Kim & Sasaki, 2014). Because of the broad interdisciplinary nature of the feld, describing all of the diferent ways in which cultural neuroscientists do research in this area is beyond the scope of this chapter. Here we will be focusing on the most common method, which is representations in the brain through neuroimaging techniques. Because this feld lies at the intersection of many areas of study, we begin by describing how cultural neuroscience derives from each of these The Handbook of Culture and Biology,FirstEdition.EditedbyJose´ M. Causadias, Eva H. Telzer and Nancy A.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Concepts of Power
    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology © 2010 American Psychological Association 2010, Vol. 99, No. 4, 703–723 0022-3514/10/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0019973 Culture and Concepts of Power Carlos J. Torelli Sharon Shavitt University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Five studies indicate that conceptualizations of power are important elements of culture and serve culturally relevant goals. These studies provide converging evidence that cultures nurture different views of what is desirable and meaningful to do with power. Vertical individualism is associated with a conceptualization of power in personalized terms (i.e., power is for advancing one’s personal status and prestige), whereas horizontal collectivism is associated with a conceptualization of power in socialized terms (i.e., power is for benefiting and helping others). Cultural variables are shown to predict beliefs about appropriate uses of power, episodic memories about power, attitudes in the service of power goals, and the contexts and ways in which power is used and defended. Evidence for the cultural patterning of power concepts is observed at both the individual level and the cultural-group level of analysis. Keywords: culture, power, cultural orientation It is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to ever, although we often fail to consider this, power can also be do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity. exercised in socially responsible ways, attending and responding to —Machiavelli, The Prince the needs of others. What is the relation between culture and one’s America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our un- concepts of power? In this research, we address this question by matched material progress, riches, and military strength, but on how studying culturally nurtured views about the meaning and purpose we use our power in the interests of world peace and human better- of power, as manifested in beliefs, attitudes, and goals related to ment.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture and Cognition Author(S): Paul Dimaggio Source: Annual Review of Sociology, Vol
    Culture and Cognition Author(s): Paul DiMaggio Source: Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 23 (1997), pp. 263-287 Published by: Annual Reviews Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2952552 Accessed: 18/10/2010 10:56 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=annrevs. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Annual Reviews is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Annual Review of Sociology. http://www.jstor.org Annu.Rev. Sociol. 1997. 23:263-87 Copyright? 1997 byAnnual Reviews Inc. All rightsreserved CULTURE AND COGNITION Paul DiMaggio Departmentof Sociology,2-N-2 Green Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey08544; e-mail:[email protected] KEY WORDS: sociologyof culture, social classification,social cognition,schemata ABSTRACT Recentwork in cognitivepsychology and social cognition bears heavily on con- cernsof sociologistsof culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Psychology
    Chapter 37 Cultural Psychology S TEVEN J. H EINE We are members of a cultural species. That is, we depend the mind can be said to be mutually constituted (Shweder, critically on cultural learning in virtually all aspects of our 1990). An effort to understand either one without consider- lives. Whether we are trying to manage our resources, woo ing the other is bound to reveal an incomplete picture. a mate, protect our family, enhance our status, or form a Although psychologists have been studying culture at political alliance — goals that are pursued by people in all least since Wilhelm Wundt published his 10 - volume tome cultures — we do so in culturally grounded ways. That is, Elements of Folk Psychology in 1921, the study of cultural in all our actions we rely on ideas, values, feelings, strat- psychology has had its most impactful influence on main- egies, and goals that have been shaped by our cultural stream psychology over the past 20 years. Around 1990, experiences. Human activity is inextricably wrapped up in several seminal papers and books emerged that articulated cultural meanings; on no occasions do we cast aside our how cultural experiences were central to and inextrica- cultural dressings to reveal the naked universal human bly linked with psychological processing (Bruner, 1990; mind. To be sure, much regularity exists across humans Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Stigler, Shweder, & Herdt, from all cultures with respect to many psychological phe- 1990; Triandis, 1989). Since then, much empirical research nomena; at the same time, there remain many pronounced has demonstrated the cultural foundation of many psycho- differences (for a review, see Norenzayan & Heine, 2005).
    [Show full text]