- •Cross-cultural universal traits and the culturally specific in human behavior Cross-cultural and Cultural Psychology Knud s. Larsen
- •Introduction
- •Introduction
- •Cross-cultural psychology in a changing world
- •Behavior as culture specific or universal.
- •1.2 The etic and emic approaches.
- •1.3 Cross-cultural psychology and cultural/ indigenous psychology.
- •1.4 Culture versus ethnicity and race.
- •1.5 All groups with a significant history have culture
- •1.6 Toward an inclusive definition of culture.
- •1.6.1 Culture is the evolution of human society.
- •1.6.2 Animal and human culture.
- •1.6.3 The ecological and sociological context.
- •1.7 Resource rich or poor cultures.
- •1.8 Cultural values and dimensions.
- •1.8.1 Universal values.
- •1.8.2 Cultural value dimensions.
- •1.8.3 The social axioms of Leung and Bond.
- •1.9 Enculturation, culture, and psychological outcomes.
- •1.10 Understanding cross-cultural psychology in a changing world.
- •1.11 The major objectives of cross-cultural psychology.
- •1.12 The ethnocentrism of Psychology.
- •Summary
- •Research approaches and critical thinking in cross-cultural psychology
- •2.1 Cultural bias and criterion of equivalence.
- •2.1.1 The issue of language equivalence.
- •2.1.2 Psychometric equivalence.
- •2.1.3 Selecting equivalent samples in cross-cultural psychology.
- •2.2 Nonequivalence in cross-cultural research.
- •2.3 Levels of inference.
- •2.4 Studies of cultural level ecological averages.
- •2.5 What is measured in cross-cultural research?
- •2.6 Bias in psychological assessments.
- •2.7 Inferences from statistical tests on cross-cultural comparisons.
- •2.8 Experimental versus correlational studies.
- •2.9 Qualitative and quantitative research in cross-cultural psychology.
- •2.10 Quantitative comparative cross-cultural research.
- •2.10.1 Surveys.
- •2.10.2 Experiments.
- •2.11 The problems of validity.
- •2.12 A critical look at the findings from cross-cultural comparisons.
- •2.13 Skeptical thinking is the path to an improved cross-cultural psychology.
- •Summary
- •The origin of culture: cultural transformation and sociocultural evolution
- •3.1 The case for the biological foundations of human characteristics.
- •3.1.1 Evolution and the mechanisms of transmission.
- •3.1.2 Races as a biological and social construct.
- •3.1.3 The role of adaptation.
- •3.2 The research supporting the evolution of human emotion.
- •3.2.1 Universal temperament and personality traits are evidence of common evolved history.
- •3.2.2 Intelligence as a biological and racial construct.
- •3.2.3 Behavior genetics and disease.
- •3.2.4 Hardwired optimism: The driver for cultural development.
- •3.3 Sociobiology and evolutionary psychology.
- •3.3.1 Gender differences in mate selection.
- •3.3.2 Is ethnocentrism and racism a broader manifestation of inclusive fitness for reproductive success?
- •3.4 Culture matters!
- •3.5 Socio-cultural evolution: a little history.
- •3.5.1 The evolution of evolutionary theories.
- •3.5.2 Dual inheritance: Approaches to cultural transmission.
- •3.6 Theories of modernization and post-industrial society.
- •Summary
- •Human development: culture and biology
- •4.1 Socialization or enculturation?
- •4.2 Enculturation and choice.
- •4.3 Authoritative versus authoritarian childrearing approaches and cultural differences.
- •4.4 Creating the climate of home: Cultural and cross-cultural studies.
- •4.4.1 The sleeping arrangements of childhood.
- •4.4.2 Attachment in childhood.
- •4.4.3 Relationships with siblings.
- •4.4.4 The influence of the extended family and peers.
- •4.5 Culture and the educational system.
- •4.6 Socio-economic climate.
- •4.7 Social identity.
- •4.8 Comparative studies in child rearing behaviors.
- •4.9 Human development is incorporation of culture.
- •4.10 Stage theories of human development: Culturally unique or universal.
- •4.10.1 The evolution of cognition.
- •4.10.2 The evolution of moral development.
- •4.10.3 Evolution of psychosocial development.
- •4.11 Human development is the expression of biology: the presence of universal values.
- •4.12 The evolutionary basis for human behavior: Maximizing inclusive fitness.
- •4.13 Perspective in the transmission of culture.
- •Summary
- •The evolution of language and socio-culture
- •5.1 The evolution of socioculture and language.
- •5.2 Language development: the meaning of language terms and early speech.
- •5.3 Cultural language difference and linguistic relativity.
- •5.4 Cultural language and thought.
- •5.5 Universals in language.
- •5.6 Intercultural communication.
- •5.6.1 Obstacles and uncertainty reduction in intercultural communication.
- •5.6.2 The affect of bilingualism.
- •5.7 Nonverbal communication and culture.
- •5.8 Darwinian evolution and phylogenetic trees of language and socio-cultural evolution.
- •5.8.1 Selective group genetic advantages in cultural evolution.
- •5.8.2 The analogy of genetic and cultural evolution.
- •5.9 The tree branching of cultural traits.
- •5.10 Limitations of genetic and cultural co-evolutionary theory: Horizontal and vertical cultural evolution.
- •5.11 Cultural stability: Processes countering cultural evolution.
- •5.11.1 Migration and cultural stability.
- •5.11.2 Conformity and geographical mechanisms affecting cultural evolution and language development.
- •5.12 Social learning: Imitating success.
- •5.13 Religion, agriculture development and cultural evolution.
- •5.14 Phylogenetic evidence of the socio-cultural origins of language and other cultural traits.
- •5.14.1 Tracing the evolution of languages.
- •5.14.2 Evidence of language evolution.
- •5.15 Culture as a function of evolving information.
- •5.16 How did language evolve?
- •5.16.1 Contacts between different language speakers.
- •5.16.2 Artefactual languages.
- •Cognition: our common biology and cultural impact
- •6.1 Culture and cognition.
- •6.1.1 Sensation and perception.
- •6.1.2 Cultural impact on sensation and perception.
- •6.2 Cognitive development.
- •6.3 Cognitive style and cultural values.
- •6.3.1 Field dependent and independent cognitive style.
- •6.3.2 Perception studies and cognitive style.
- •6.3.3 Collectivistic and individualistic cognition.
- •6.3.4 Greek versus Asian thinking style.
- •6.3.5 Dialectical and logical thinking.
- •6.3.6 Authoritarianism and dogmatism as a cognitive style.
- •6.4 The general processor implied in cognitive styles versus contextualized cognition.
- •6.5 Cognitive style and priming cognition.
- •6.6 Cross-cultural differences in cognition as a function of practical imperatives.
- •6.7 Intelligence and adaptation: general and cross-cultural aspects.
- •6.7.1 Definitions of general intelligence.
- •6.7.2 Nature or nurture: What determines intelligence?
- •6.7.3 Sources of bias in intelligence testing.
- •6.7.4 Socioeconomic differences and fairness.
- •6.7.5 Race and the interaction effect.
- •6.8 The use of psychological tests in varying cultures.
- •6.9 How intelligence is viewed in other cultures.
- •6.10 General processes in higher order cognition and intelligence.
- •6.10.1 Categorization.
- •6.10.2 Memory functions.
- •6.10.3 Mathematical abilities.
- •6.10.4 The ultimate pedagogical goal: Creativity.
- •Summary
- •Emotions and human happiness: universal expressions and cultural values
- •7.1 The universality of emotions: Basic neurophysiological responses.
- •7.1.1 How we understand the emotion of others: Facial expressions.
- •7.1.2 The effect of language and learning: Criticisms of studies supporting genetically based facial recognition.
- •7.1.3 The definitive answer to the source of the facial expressions of emotions: Biology is the determinant.
- •7.1.4 Universal agreement and cultural emphasis in other emotion constructs.
- •7.1.4.1 Antecedents of emotions.
- •7.1.4.2 Vocalization and intonation in emotional expression.
- •7.1.4.3 Appraisal of emotion.
- •7.2 The role of culture in emotional reactions.
- •7.2.1 The display of emotions.
- •7.2.2 Individualistic versus collectivistic cultures: Display rules in emotion intensity and negativity ratings.
- •7.2.3 Personal space and gestures: Cultural influences in non-verbal communication.
- •7.2.4 Cross-cultural differences in evaluating emotions in other people.
- •7.3. The cultural context of emotional communication.
- •7.4 Toward a positive psychology of emotion: Happiness and well-being.
- •7.4.1 Methodological issues in definitions of happiness and well-being.
- •7.4.2 Sources of well-being.
- •7.4.3 The trending of happiness scores and economic crises and transitions.
- •7.4.4 The impact of culture on happiness and subjective well-being.
- •7.4.5 Creating social policies that promote well-being.
- •7.4.6 The role of national and local government.
- •Personality theory: western, eastern and indigenous approaches
- •8.1 Western thoughts on personality.
- •8.1.1 Freud’s contributions.
- •8.1.2 The humanistic approach to personality.
- •8.1.3 Social-cognitive interaction theory.
- •8.1.4 Locus of control
- •8.1.5 Cross-cultural research on locus of control and autonomy: In control or being controlled.
- •8.1.6 Personality types and hardwired foundations.
- •8.1.7 The Big Five.
- •8.1.8 The genetic and evolutionary basis of personality.
- •8.1.9 Is national character a psychological reality?
- •8.2 Eastern thoughts about personality.
- •8.2.1 The Buddhist tradition.
- •8.2.2 The self and causation.
- •8.2.3 Buddhism and consciousness.
- •8.2.4 Buddhism as a therapeutic approach.
- •8.2.5 A critical thought.
- •8.3 Confucian perspective on personality and the self.
- •8.4 Culture specific personality: As seen from the perspective of indigenous cultures.
- •8.5 Some evaluative comments on Confucianism and indigenous psychology.
- •Summary
- •Culture, sex and gender
- •10.1 Culture and gender.
- •10.1.1 Sex roles, gender stereotypes, and culture.
- •10.1. 2 Gender and families.
- •10.1.3 Traditional versus egalitarian sex role ideologies.
- •10.2 Gender stereotypes and discrimination against women.
- •10.2.1 Dissatisfaction with body image.
- •10.2.2 Equal work equal pay?
- •10.3 Violence against women: a dirty page of history and contemporary society.
- •10.3.1 Intimate violence: The ubiquitous nature of rape.
- •10.3.2 Sexual exploitation.
- •10.3.3 Gender justice and the empowerment of women.
- •10.3.4 Gender ability differences and the role of culture.
- •10.3.5 Culture and Gender differences in spatial abilities.
- •10.3.6 Current research on gender differences in mathematical abilities.
- •10.3.7 Gender and conformity.
- •10.3.8 Gender and aggression.
- •10.4 Sexual behavior and culture.
- •10.4.1 Mate selection.
- •10.4.2 Attractiveness and culture.
- •10.4.3 The future of love and marriage.
- •Summary
- •Culture and human health
- •12.1 The injustice of health disparities in the world.
- •12.1.1 Socio-economic disparities and well-being.
- •12.1.2 Mental health among ethnic minorities: Injustice in the United States.
- •12.1.3 Migrants, refugees and stress: Mental health outcomes.
- •12.2 The role of culture.
- •12.2.1 Cultural health beliefs.
- •12.2.2 Problems in cultural definitions of abnormality and mental illness
- •12.3 Psychopathology as universal or relativist.
- •12.4 Culturally specific and universal factors in mental health.
- •12.4.1 Anxiety disorders.
- •12.4.2 Regulation of mood: Depression.
- •12.4.3 Schizophrenia.
- •12.4.4 Attention deficit disorder.
- •12.4.5 Personality disorders.
- •12.5 Culturally sensitive assessment of abnormal behavior.
- •12.6 Cross-cultural assessments of mental disorder.
- •12.7 Abnormal behavior and psychotherapy from cultural perspectives.
- •12.7.1 The cultural framework matters in psychotherapy.
- •12.7.2 Homogeneity of patient and therapist.
- •12.7.3 Approaches based in indigenous forms of treatment.
- •12.7.4 Adding the biomedical model to indigenous beliefs.
- •Summary
5.14.2 Evidence of language evolution.
Darwin pointed to the similarities between the evolution of species and the evolution of languages (van Wyhe, 2005). Biological evolution shares with languages the common property of heritability by transmitting essential information between generations. The analogy of biological mutations is defined in language evolution by geographic and sociolinguistic divergence which in turn explains the historical Babel of languages noted in the Bible. Over 6000 languages have been identified globally, and cultural evolution has produced 4300 practicing religions (Gordon, 2005). These cultural traits were at some point adaptive, but because of geographic isolation the functional value may have long been lost. However, both religion and languages are maintained by conformity and social learning. Globalization is obviously a current force in cultural evolution which has served to decrease the number of cultural traits as it has also increased biological extinction.
5.15 Culture as a function of evolving information.
Distin (2011) argues that human culture is a function of evolving information. Specifically culture is a product of heritable information, so to understand language or cultural development requires knowledge about information that is heritable and transmitted between generations. What we inherit depends on each generation receiving the appropriate information and the means to culturally interpret and implement it in cultural life. Language as well as other cultural traits consists of information that is transmitted through evolutionary development.
Jablonka and Lamb (2005) outlined four major human traits that change by evolutionary means. Humans over the course of our development and throughout history pass on genetic, epigenetic, behavioral information, and symbolic mechanisms including language. Epigenetic information includes changes in cellular decoding that interpret genetic information so different meanings can be produced from the same strand of DNA material. Epigenetic alteration occurs through interaction with the environment. As we noted elsewhere (Larsen & Hao, 2011) we have taken note of the epigenetic changes that have occurred in the survivors of the American campaign to poison the ecology of Vietnam. Yehuda, Bierer, Schmeidler, Aferiat, Breslau and Dolan (2000), and Yehuda, Mulherin, Brand , Seckl, Marcus and Berkowitz (2005) also demonstrated epigenetic changes in holocaust survivors who carried lower cortisol levels affecting their ability to deal with stress. Recent research (Pembrey, Bygren, Kaati, Edvinsson, Northstone, Sjostrom, Golding, & Whitelaw, 2006) has also shown that a damaging prepubescent environment might influence the health of boy’s sperm. The negative effects of the epigenetic changes are carried to the next generation. Other research has demonstrated ample evidence of the transmission of epigenetic transmission of epimutations in response to environmental forces (Cavalli, & Paro, 1998; Xing, Shi, Le, Lee, Silver-Morse, & Li, 2007). However, there is no clear agreement on how long such environmental damage might be inherited by the following generations.
Throughout evolution humans have increased their odds of survival by creating niches that have been inherited by the following generations. This niche related behavior responded to the ecological challenges by creating improved means for adaptation. Since niche construction aid survival they are a heritable components also responding to natural selection pressures (Odling-Smee, Laland, & Feldman, 2003). Although there is no way to evaluate whether ecological evolution affects biology, it is possible to observe the evolutionary consequences on niche construction over time. Likewise behavioral changes also follow an evolutionary pathway with each generation modifying behavior according to past functionality and future expectations.
Language also is based on an inheritance mechanism (Distin, 2011) that allows each generation to pass the relevant linguistic rules and content to the next generation. The mechanisms for evolution are not biological, but rather systems of symbolic representations in language and also other symbolic systems that include music and mathematics. The mechanism for evolution is cultural and based on learning, but there are also genetic inheritance mechanisms without which language could not be learned in the first place. Humans are at birth genetically ready for language and posses an instinct for linguistic behavior. The culturally evolved linguistic inheritance mechanisms provide the impetus to the evolution of language and are all related at some point in the evolutionary past. Languages are therefore transmitted across linguistic pathways, independent from biological evolution, and importantly they change at a much faster pace. Psychology has an impact on the cultural transmission of languages since some information is easier to acquire and store and later retrieve from memory. All the forces of evolution have some interacting influences even if these are not immediately observable.
Geographical distance is thought a major factor in the diffusion and evolution of dialects and languages (Nerbonne & Heeringa, 2007). Variations in lexical (word) content have been demonstrated to be related to geographical distance. Simulation research using geographical distance as data points largely predict linguistic diffusion. The origin of the wave theory of diffusion started with the demonstration of important common linguistic features in Indo-European languages leading to the conclusion that all members of this language group shared a common origin (Schmidt, 1872). These communalities as we have seen can be represented by the tree like phylogenetic structure of languages, with diffusion also occurring between the branches of languages. Bloomfield (1933) proposed that the density of communication explained the process of diffusion as it produced greater frequency of communication. Density was operationalized as geographical distance and population size in Trudgill’s model (1974). Linguistic change and evolution is promoted by contact between language groups and as noted facilitated by both the size of population and proximity. These ideas of language diffusion were inspired by the physical theory of gravity where more distant objects are thought to have less gravitational influence. Likewise linguistic innovations proceed first in large population centers and from there flow toward the periphery. However, geographical distance is thought to be the more significant force in producing language evolution (Nerbonne & Hearing, 2007).
The divergence of single language families are represented by the branching tree structure associated with geographic distance. However language change in the form of dialects can also be represented as overlapping waves representing the continuum of dialects within a language population. These methodological divisions correspond to and are supported by historical facts as language divergence is either explained by migration and isolation or by population expansion over continuous territory. In language splits the branches are formed by binary splits all the way back to the ancestral proto language. A language splits when the population divides by long distance migration into additional language groups and thereafter remains isolated from other groups and the ancestral source. In summary, languages evolve through population separations geographically either through migration to distant territory, or through expansion through neighboring but continuous territory.
Continuous wave evolution describes language networks showing the relationships between subgroups of language family speakers yielding a dialect continuum. This occurs when a language population move into continuous territory and as a result maintain some degree of contact. Contacts are more likely between groups relatively close geographically and dialects will therefore largely correspond to distance. More divergence in dialects can be expected at extreme points from origin that roughly correspond to waves that cut across and overlap language dialects. A language family provides clues of the historical and linguistic record of the past and the mechanism that caused divergence in both language and also dialects.
Language evolution does not just occur by some mysterious mechanism within a language, but rather by the geographical distance caused by socio-political struggles and cultural dissatisfaction. The persecution of religious groups in Europe encouraged long distance migration into the Americas and the continuous territory of the U.S. ensured that dialects represented wave evolution of language in recent history. Research using simulation to unravel the linguistic history of Germanic languages shows that it is possible to test phylogenetic and wave models of language diffusion (Heggarty, Maguire, & McMahon, 2010). The major conclusion is that the opportunity for social contact expressed by geographical distance account for significant amounts of linguistic variation.