Notes

PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE
Culture
• Cross cultural- culture of different countries
• Culture – understand how do the world works
• Knowledge is shared among a group od people pass from one generation to the next
Culture observed in
Dress
- Islamic region has costumery behavior of how man and women dresses.
- Culture can be seen according to the dress code
- Barong Tagalog shows our “kasaysayan history” (being a Pilipino)
Architectural styles of buildings
- Fort Bonifacio
Food
- Culture can also be seen on food
Languages
- Representation of culture of a particular place or country
Religious practices and weddings
- Christians (Fiesta)
- Born-again
- Catholic
The Psychological Aspects of Culture are often overlooked because they are often invisible
• Psychological processes – happens internally and highly observable
• Gender roles are learned – expectation as a man and expectation as a woman
• In Filipino culture: biologically can produce a baby
: can provide the needs of the family
: can be a leader of a community
: strong
• Other culture: In Africa bloated people are more attractive
Social Processes: not directly but happens in the development of self
The ways culture affects the sense of self

Social Psychology Research Methods
• Social psychology is the scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, and implied presence of others.
- How culture affects the psychological processes, our feelings, development of our identity our relationship with other people and our personal decision.
Ethnographic Studies
• Method to study the culture by immersion to the place and culture (by experience)
Cultural Psychology
• Use interviews as a primary research methodology

Ethnographic study and Cross-Cultural Study
Advantages
• Ethnographic Study – Culturally sensitive, studies people in their natural environments
• Cross cultural – Able to make comparisons between group
Ex: Life of taxi driver, bus driver
Disadvantages
• Ethnographic Study – Difficult to make comparisons between cultures
• Cross cultural – Vulnerable to ethnocentric bias
Ex: You’re bias to what you believe
Cultural Similarities and Difference
• Require comparisons across cultures
Ethnographic Bias
• researcher who designs the study might be influenced by personal biases that could affect research outcomes—without even being aware of it

What is Culture
• collective understanding of the way the world works, shared by members of a group and passed down from one generation to the next.

Features of Culture
• Versality- situational identity can be change
• Sharing- share to other people to understand
• Accumulation- Cultural knowledge is cumulative.
• Patterns- the same thinking, believes, actions and how people dress. Pattern of thinking that is develop by culture.

• Cultural Intelligence- the ability to understand why members of other cultures act in the ways they do.

Thinking about culture
• Progressive
- Learned in school
- Advance technology
- Ballet
- Formal etiquette
• Way of life
- In the tradition of a person
- Religious doctrines
- Organizational culture
• Shared Learning and Enculturation
- Parenting
- Teaching
- Apprenticeship
- Information sharing and influencing through social networks
Enculturation-Shared Learning experiences
• Enculturation to refer to the ways people learn about and shared cultural knowledge

Self and Culture
Collectivism: Filipinos
Individualist: Western
- Seek personal freedom and prefer to voice their own opinions and make their own decisions.

Independent Self and Interdependent Self
Independent Self - people see themselves as being a unique individual with a stable collection of personal traits, and that these traits drive behavior.
Interdependent self- that people see themselves as defined differently in each new social context and social context, rather than internal traits, are the primary drivers of behavior.

Characteristics of Culture
• Culture is Learned –observational learning
• Cultural Relativism- what is right in one culture might not be acceptable in another culture or what might be acceptable in another culture might not be acceptable from other culture.
Ex: Same sex friends in India can do holding hands
• Value free research- objectivity