Contents

12 PART I: General IssuesKey ConceptIf we acknowledge that science is affected by social and cultural values, aquestion still remains as to whose culture is having—and whose culture shouldhave—an influence. A recent analysis of a sample of psychological researchrevealed that the contributors, samples, and editors of six premier journalspublished by the American Psychological Association were predominantlyAmerican (Arnett, 2008). In contrast, Americans represent less than 5% of theworld’s population, and people throughout the world live in conditions verydifferent from those of Americans. One may question, then, whether a psychologicalscience that focuses heavily on Americans is complete.A potential problem occurs when we attempt to understand the behavior ofindividuals in a different culture through the framework or views of our ownculture (Figure 1.3). This potential source of bias is called ethnocentrism. AsFIGURE 1.3By removing our cultural lenses, we gain new ideas for research topics that investigate(a) strengths in aging, (b) abilities rather than disabilities, and (c) stay-at-home fathers.(a)(b)(c)