Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Contemporary Psychology13CULTURE AND HUMAN BEHAVIORWhat Is Cross-Cultural Psychology?All cultures are simultaneously very similar and verydifferent.HARRY TRIANDIS (2005)People around the globe share many attributes: We all eat,sleep, form families, seek happiness, and mourn losses. Yet theway in which we express our human qualities can vary considerablyamong cultures. What we eat, where we sleep, and how weform families, define happiness, and express sadness can differgreatly in different cultures (G. Smith & others, 2006).Culture is a broad term that refers to the attitudes, values,beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people and communicatedfrom one generation to another (Matsumoto, 2000).When this broad definition is applied to people throughout theworld, about 4,000 different cultures can be said to exist. Studyingthe differences among those cultures and examining the influencesof culture on behavior are the fundamental goals ofcross-cultural psychology (Berry & Triandis, 2006).A person’s sense of cultural identity is influenced by such factorsas ethnic background, nationality, race, religion, and language. Aswe grow up within a given culture, we learn our culture’s norms,or unwritten rules of behavior. Once those cultural norms areunderstood and internalized, we tend to act in accordance withthem without too much thought. For example, according to thedominant cultural norms in the United States, infants and toddlersare not supposed to routinely sleep in the same bed as their parents.In many other cultures around the world, however, it’s takenfor granted that babies will sleep in the same bed as their parentsor other adult relatives (Morelli & others, 1992; Welles-Nystrom,2005). Members of these other cultures are often surprised andeven shocked at the U.S. practice of separating infants and toddlersfrom their parents at night. (In a Culture and Human Behaviorbox in Chapter 9, we discuss this topic at greater length.)Whether considering sleeping habits or hairstyles, most peopleshare a natural tendency to accept their own cultural rules as definingwhat’s “normal.” This tendency to use your own culture as thestandard for judging other cultures is called ethnocentrism.Although it may be a natural tendency, ethnocentrism can lead tothe inability to separate ourselves from our own cultural backgroundsand biases so that we can understand the behaviors of others (Matsumoto,2000). Ethnocentrism may also prevent us from beingaware of how our behavior has been shaped by our own culture.Some degree of ethnocentrism is probably inevitable, but extremeethnocentrism can lead to intolerance for other cultures.If we believe that our way of seeing things or behaving is theonly proper one, other ways of behaving and thinking may seemnot only foreign, but ridiculous, inferior, wrong, or immoral.In addition to influencing how we behave, culture affects howwe define our sense of self (Kitayama & others, 1997; Markus &Kitayama, 1991, 1998). For the most part, the dominant culturesof the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, andEurope can be described as individualistic cultures. Individualisticcultures emphasize the needs and goals of the individualover the needs and goals of the group (Triandis, 2005). In individualisticsocieties, social behavior is more strongly influencedby individ ual preferences and attitudes than by cultural normsand values. In such cultures, the self is seen as independent,autonomous, and distinctive. Personal identity is defined by individualachievements, abilities, and accomplishments.In contrast, collectivistic cultures emphasize the needs andgoals of the group over the needs and goals of the individual.Social behavior is more heavily influenced by cultural norms thanby individual pref erences and attitudes. In a collectivistic culture,the self is seen as being much more interdependent with others.Relationships with others and identification with a larger group,such as the family or tribe, are key components of personal identity.The cultures of Asia, Africa, and Central and South Americatend to be collectivistic. According to Triandis (2005), about twothirdsof the world’s pop ulation live in collectivistic cultures.The distinction between individualistic and collectivistic societiesis useful in cross-cultural psychol ogy. Nevertheless, psychologistsare careful not to assume that these generalizations aretrue of every member or every aspect of a given culture (Matsumoto& Yoo, 2006). Many cultures are neither completelyindividualistic nor completely collectivistic, but fall somewherebetween the two extremes. Equally important, psychologists recognizethat there is a great deal of individual variation amongthe members of every culture (Heine & Norenzayan, 2006). It’simportant to keep that qualification in mind when cross-culturalfindings are discussed, as they will be throughout this book.The Culture and Human Behavior boxes that we have includedin this book will help you learn about human behavior in othercultures. They will also help you understand how culture affectsyour behavior, beliefs, attitudes, and values as well. We hopeyou will find this feature both interesting and enlightening!Cultural Differences in Subway Norms Like thousands of commutersin the United States, many commuters in Tokyo take thesubway to work each day. In Japan, however, commuters line uppolitely behind white lines on the subway platform and patientlywait their turn to board the train. White-gloved conductorsobligingly “assist” passengers in boarding by shoving them infrom behind, cramming as many people into the subway car aspossible. Clearly, the norms that govern subway-riding behaviorare very different in American and Japanese cultures.