1. Exploring Cross
Cultural
Psychology
Ayanna Lynch, Ph.D.
Bowie State University

2. Introduction
 The Plan:
• To provide a cursory exploration of cross cultural psychology
 The purpose:
• Sneak peek of my teaching style
• Stimulate your thoughts about culture
 The Goal:
• Enlightenment
 Leave with increased awareness and/or greater appreciation
• Entertainment

3. Who I Am Poems
 Take one minute to create a poem called "Who
I Am."
 The only rule for the poem is that each line
must start with the phrase "I am..."

4. Culture Defined
 A set of attitudes, behaviors and symbols shared by a
large group of people and usually communicated from
one generation to the next.

5. Culture
What comes to mind when you hear the word “culture”?
 Race  Gender  Gangs
 Ethnicity  Sexual orientation  Foodies
 Religion  Age  Hip Hop
 Geography  Political Affiliation  Techies
 Education
 Melting Pot  Soccer Moms
 Socioeconomic
 Diversity status  Military
 Multiethnic  Your own family
 Health status
 Cultural sensitivity
 Occupation

6. Attitudes
 Beliefs
 Values
 General knowledge
 Superstitions
 Opinions
 Stereotypes

7. Behaviors
 Norms
 Roles
 Customs
 Traditions
 Habits
 Practices
 Fashions

8. Symbols
 Things or ideas that
people attach specific
meaning to
 Explicit and implicit
characteristics

9. Shared Experiences
 Catholics vs. Muslims
 Parents
• Pumping
• Play dates
• Potty Training
• WonderPets
 Education
• Bowie vs. Howard vs. Harvard
• Finals vs. Comps
• Licensure or Tenure

10. Shared Experiences
 Generation
• VCR vs. Tivo vs. You Tube
• Encyclopedia Britannica vs. Wikipedia
• Rock & Roll vs. Hip Hop
• JFK vs Obama
• Pearl Harbor vs Sept 11th

11. Cross Cultural Psychology
 No society is culturally homogenous and no two cultures
are entirely similar or different.
 We learn how to think, feel, behave and understand the
world around us by social influences
 Examples?

12. Cross Cultural Psychology
 Examples:
parents
societal expectations/requirements
traditions of our ancestors
 How we think, feel and behave influences the behavior of
others, which then influences others thoughts, feelings,
behaviors and needs

13. Cross Cultural Psychology
 The critical and comparative study of cultural
effects on human psychology
• Comparative: any cross cultural psychology study
compares at least two samples representing two cultural
groups
• Critical: the investigation of this comparison requires
critical thinking skills

14. Cross Cultural Psychology
 The study of diversity and the underlying reasons for that
diversity
• Are hallucinations and delusions perceived the same way
across cultures?
 If so, can the way psychosis is treated in the U.S. be successfully
applied in the Dominican Republic or Vietnam?

15. Cross Cultural Psychology
 Studies cross cultural interactions:
• The influences of one culture upon another
 Ex: French influences upon African culture – where?

16. Cross Cultural Psychology
 Studies of universal or shared psychological aspects across
cultures
• Human personality is universal
 Relatively enduring/fixed patterns of thinking, feeling, acting

17. Implications of Cross
Cultural Psychology
 Cross Cultural awareness and sensitivity is important:
 Research
• The samples we include and & the questions we ask
 Clinical work
• Clinical diagnoses and interpretations of behavior
 Professionally
• Corporate movement towards inclusion and acceptance
 Personally
• Appreciative of other’s differences and similarities

18. Cross Cultural Research
 Emotional
Expression
 Help Seeking
Behaviors
 Motivation
 Health Attitudes
 Clinical Syndromes

19. Applications
Cross
Cultural
Psychology
The
Mental Int’l
Education Health Business Average
Health Relations
Joe

20. Cultural Psych vs.
Cross-Cultural Psych
 Cultural Psychology: perceives individual
behavior as meaningful only when you look at it
in context of the environment they are in
 How attitudes and behavior are shaped by the
surrounding culture
Ex: how religious principles shape consciousness or
behavior

21. Society, race and ethnicity
 Race:
• a group of people distinguished by certain similar and
genetically transmitted physical characteristics
Hispanic: generally refers to the Spanish heritage in Latin
America

22. Society, race and ethnicity
 Ethnicity:
• usually indicates cultural heritage, common
experience by people who share ancestral origin,
language, traditions; can also include shared religion
and geographic territory

23. Knowledge
 Defined: information that has a purpose or use
 There are four types of knowledge about
psychology can be recognized
• Scientific
• Popular beliefs or folk theories
• Ideological/value based
• Legal

24. Knowledge
 Scientific: derived from systematic observation,
measurement and evaluation
 Popular beliefs or folk theories: everyday assumptions
ranging from commonly held beliefs to individual
opinions about psychological phenomena
• Old wives tales; superstitions
• May or may not be consistent with scientific theory
 The world is square; schizophrenics are more dangerous than others

25. Knowledge
 Ideological/value based: a stable set of beliefs held
around the world that are centered around an organizing
principal or central idea
 e.g. the nature of good vs evil, right vs wrong
 Religion is best example
 Legal: laws and other prescriptions/rules/principles
established by authorities
 Tribal or community leaders, national government
 Establish boundaries for acceptable behavior

26. Knowledge
 It is critical for Cross Cultural Psychologists
to treat all four forms of knowledge with
sensitivity, understanding and respect

27. Cultural Traditionalism
 Two types of cultural influences can be recognized:
• traditional
• nontraditional

28. Cultural Traditionalism
 Traditional culture: rooted in traditions, rules,
symbols and principles predominately established
in the past
• Tends to be confined in local and regional areas,
conservative and intolerant of change or new
knowledge (Eastern Europe); obedience is expected

29. Cultural Traditionalism
 Nontraditional culture: modern culture -- new
principles, ideals and practices
• Tends to be flexible, absorbing and dynamic (always
changing); change is welcomed

30. Questions & Comments

31. Define “Black” culture?
(What does it mean to you?)
Has the definition changed over time?

32. What Cross Cultural
Psychologists Do
 Establish and conceptualize the main culture's
features in terms of cultural dichotomies
• Refers to cultural distinctions –
• this vs. that; high vs. low

33. What Cross Cultural
Psychologists Do
 Power distance:
• the extent to which members of a society accept that power
is distributed unequally among institutions and
organizations
 High Power Distance cultures:
• expect inequality between leaders and the led (followers); elite
and common folk

34. Cultural Dichotomies
 Masculinity vs femininity:
• impacts expectations about responsibility, decisiveness,
ambition and liveliness
• Masculinity:
 work/achievement, leadership, productivity, protecting others

35. Cultural Dichotomies
 Uncertainty avoidance:
• The extent members feel unconfortable with uncertainty
and ambiguity
 Hi Uncertainty Avoidance:
 support beliefs promising certainty and expect conformity
 Lo Uncertainty Avoidance:
 support nonconformity, unpredictability, creativity

36. Cultural Dichotomies
 Collectivism vs. Individualism
• Frequently mentioned and studied
 Collectivism:
• behavior reflecting primary concern for others and respect
for traditions and values; group norms influence individual
behavior
• Promotes the well being and harmony of the group
 Motto: “What's mine is ours” or “Mi casa es su casa”

37. Cultural Dichotomies
 Individualism:
• generally defined as behavior reflecting concern for
oneself and one's immediate family or primary
group only -- not the group or society they belong
to
Promotes competition between individuals and subgroups
Motto: “What’s mine is mine?”

38. Sociobiological Approach
 Sociobiology defined:
• a theoretical model that explores how biological factors
affect human behavior
• It suggests that culture is a form of existence that provides
for fundamental human needs and subsequent goals
• Impacts our drive to secure food, resources and
reproduction
Survival of the fittest - Charles Darwin
 Speaks to cultural phenomenon of competition
among all species

39. Sociobiological Approach
 Focuses on the broad social structures that influence
society as a whole, which in turn impacts individuals
 Social forces shape behaviors of large groups and then
individuals adjust their thinking and behavior in
response to social demands and pressures

40. Ecocultural Approach
 The individual cannot be separated from his or
her environmental context
• There is constant interaction and mutual influence
between individuals and the environment
Global warming

41. Ethnocentrism
 Think of it as subconscious exaggeration of one's own
ethnic, national or cultural group in comparison to other
groups (or a distortion of reality)
 Narrows our perception of other cultural groups and
countries
• Can make incorrect assumptions and judgments
 Being ethnocentric is judging from the position of a
cultural majority
• Values and norms of the majority are accepted as superior

42. Multiculturalism
 An individual psychological and theoretical view that
encourages the recognition of equality for all cultural
and national groups
 But promotes that each culture has the right to define
and follow their own values, etc.

43. History of the field
 Cross culturally psychology is a relatively new field
• It began to establish itself as an independent discipline in
the 1960's
• but has links to
 Anthropology
 Physiology
 Sociology
 History
 political science

44. History of the field
 Primarily developed in the U.S.
• Believes that all psychology is culture and all cultures are
psychological
• Including several minority and ethnic groups in one country

45. Questions & Comments

46. Weekly’s Assignment
Due Wed, Feb 8th
Discussion Board Topic
Define “Ghetto” culture
1. Reflect on your definition of ghetto and to whom the term applies.
2. Is it a culture? Justify your answer.
3. Is it just about race? Socioeconomic status? Or something more.
4. Research the historical roots of the word ghetto and to whom the term
referred.
5. Share your thoughts about how the term has evolved.
***
Be sure to answer thoroughly and thoughtfully.
You must also respond meaningfully to at least two of your fellow classmates.
Please be sure to edit your responses before submitting.