Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Different Models/Examinations of Cultural Origins of Behavior
- Some Key Notes to Remember!
- Key Studies in Relation to Cultural Origins of Behavior
- Sample Questions!
- Answer Structure!
Introduction
Welcome back to part 2 folks! Now we’re delving into yet another sociocultural approach to behavior; the cultural origins of behavior and cognition with the help of cultural dimensions! Let’s not waste anymore time and begin!
Different Models/Examinations of Cultural Origins of Behavior
i. Cultural Dimensions
Definition: a summary of the extent to which cultural groups are different from one another in terms of psychological attributes, which includes values, beliefs, self-construal, personality, and behaviors.
First founded by Geert Hofstede (1980), he identified what was originally four dimensions:
- Individualism versus Collectivism
- Power Distance Index (PDI)
- Masculinity versus Femininity
- Uncertainty Avoidance
They are summarized in more detail below;
| Dimensions | Explanations |
| Individualism versus Collectivism (1908) | A member’s identity is defined according to their personal characteristics. |
| Power Distance Index (PDI) (1980) | A measure of the extent of the less powerful members of a group accepting and expecting the unevenly distribution of power. |
| Masculinity versus Femininity (1980) | Masculine values includes achievement, autonomy, and competitiveness. Female values includes caring, cooperation and compassion. |
| Uncertainty Avoidance Index (1980) | A measure of the extent of a specific culture and its ease with ambiguity and uncertainty. Cultures with a strong ratings on this index display intolerance for ideas and behaviors that are labelled unconventional, which makes them avoid risk-taking behaviors. |
| Long-term versus Short-term Orientation (1991) | Based on the idea of cultures not experiencing time in the same manner. |
| Indulgence versus Restraint (2010) | A measure of the extent to which a specific culture allows access to the |
ii. Triandis (2001)
Triandis (2001) says that each collectivist or individualist cultures are unique, and identifies four categories of individualism versus collectivism, which includes:
| Dimensions | Explanations |
| Horizontal Individualism | Members are unique and mostly of the same status. |
| Vertical Individualism | Members are unique but it is possible to distinguish yourself and enjoy a higher status in a social hierarchy. |
| Horizontal Collectivism | Members merge themselves with the ingroup, enjoying largely of the same status. |
| Vertical Collectivism | Members merge themselves with the ingroup, submitting themselves to an authority in that ingroup. |
iii. Schwartz’s Theory of Basic Values
There is more than one way to examine the origins of behavior. Schwartz’s theory (Schwartz, 2006) is what he offers as an extension to Hofstede’s dimensions, and it includes 10 basic values, which includes:
| Dimensions | Basic Values |
| Openness to Change | 1. Self-direction: independent thought and action; choosing, creating, exploring. 2. Stimulation: excitement, novelty and challenge in life. |
| Self-enhancement | 3. Hedonism: pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself. 4. Achievement: personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards. 5. Power: social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources. |
| Conservation | 6. Security: safety, harmony and stability of society, of relationships and of self. 7. Conformity: restraint of actions, inclinations and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms. 8. Tradition: respect, commitment and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide the self. |
| Self-transcendence | 9. Benevolence: preserving and enhancing the welfare of those with whom one is in frequent personal contact (the ingroup). 10. Universalism: understanding, appreciation, tolerance and protection for the welfare of all people and for nature |
iv. Macrae and John (1992)
The model created by Macrae and John (1992) consists of five factors (it is sometimes referred to as the O-C-E-A-N model).
| Factors | Explanations |
| 1. Neuroticism | the tendency towards unstable emotions; frequent experiences of negative emotions such as anger, frustration, worry and sadness, but appearing insensitive to others. |
| 2. Extraversion | the tendency towards talkativeness, sociability and enjoyment of others; the tendency to have a dominant style of behavior. |
| 3. Openness | the tendency to appreciate new ideas, values, ideas and behaviors; to experience. |
| 4. Agreeableness | the tendency to agree or go along with others; as well as avoiding asserting your own values, opinions or choices. |
| 5. Conscientiousness | the tendency to be cautious, punctual, hardworking, and someone who follows the rules. |
If you’re more into mind maps:
Some Key Notes to Remember!
Notes by Hofstede and McCrae (2004):
- Individualism correlated with extraversion.
- uncertainty avoidance correlates with neuroticism and has a tendency to score higher on openness to experience.
- high power distance correlated with conscientiousness and extraversion.
- masculinity correlating with neuroticism; cultures rating high in masculinity have the tendency to rate themselves more open to experience in comparison to feminine cultures.
Key Studies in Relation to Cultural Origins of Behavior
Here are some case studies that you may use in your SAQs or ERQs!
- In relation to individualism and volunteering
- Cultural dimensions and Acculturation
- Positions on the PDI and their influence on Behavior
1. In relation to individualism and volunteering
| Studies | Description | Evaluation |
| Kemmelmeier, Jambor and Letner (2006) | Aim: to examine the relationship between individualism and voluntary, prosocial behavior-the reasons behind stranger-on-stranger giving Method: Researchers using telephone interviews. Procedure: 2,553 participants from 40 US States. Data was collected through these said telephone interviews. Results: Researchers found that individualistic cultures were active in voluntary prosocial behavior for causes they deemed to be in line with individualistic values, which includes self-determination, self-promotion or self-actualization. Conclusion: Hence, researchers conclude that individualism was positively related to volunteerism as well as charitable giving, with both of them being more likely to occur in individualist states. | |
| Finkelstein (2010) | Aim: examining the influence of culture on volunteer behavior, but more specifically on identifying if there were different reasons as to why individualists and collectivists actively engage in voluntary, prosocial behavior. Method: researchers used online-self report questionnaires that measures the possible reasons to volunteering. Procedure: 194 undergraduates at US universities, participating as an extra credit course. The possible reasons that are included in the questionnaires include: – altruistic motivations to help – role identity (can also be written as volunteering for the sake of maintaining a self image) – career related reasons – to strengthen social connections or ties Results: The results show that collectivism has a more stronger tie to altruistic motivations and to strengthen social connections or ties. |
2. In Relation to Cultural Dimensions and Acculturation
| Studies | Description | Evaluation |
| Hsu and Barker (2013) | Aim: to investigate cultural values in Chinese and American advertisements after China opened its borders for trade. Method: through the method of a content analysis. Procedure: the researchers conducted a content analysis of 566 television advertisements, rating for individualism vs collectivism and a prominence of modern and traditional times. Results: Results show that advertisements targeted towards a much younger, Chinese audience, had a higher score on individualism rather than collectivism. Conclusion: The researchers concluded that when China opened its doors (borders) to trade, they would also open their doors (borders) to cultural influences from outside. | Strengths: A huge amount of data was gathered in a short amount of time (showcasing the efficiency of the research method). It is replicable due to the nature of the research method, with the study providing historical, cultural and valuable insights over time due to the amount of changes that China has gone through and will go through. Limitations: The low cross cultural validity due to the analysis of only one culture, which is time consuming as there is a lot of data to analyze, and the addition of researcher bias as they are the ones picking the advertisements for the research. Ethical Considerations: There are no major ethical concerns to be noted in this study. |
3. In Relation to Positions in the PDI and their influence on Behavior
| Studies | Description | Evaluation |
| Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede (2009) | Aim: Researchers Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede were interested in whether Hofstede’s dimensions could predict cross-national differences in a communication between a patient and doctor. Method: collected data from 10 diverse European countries with their PDI scores. Procedure: the European countries that are included in this study are Estonia (40), Belgium (65), Sweden (31), Poland (68), Romania (90) and Great Britain (35). A total of 307 doctors (general practitioners) and 5,807 patients participated in the study. Participants filled out questionnaires and had their medical communications videotaped and analyzed. Results: The researchers found that the higher the nation’s PDI score, the less unexpected information was shared and the shorter the consultation, an implication of a more one-sided communication with the doctor primarily speaking to the patient. In countries with low PDI scores, doctors conveyed more information to their patients through more flexible communication styles and consultations lasted significantly longer. | |
| Eylon and Au (1999) | Aim: researching the power distance and empowerment in the workplace and found that the amount of supervision and management required to maximize work performance is culturally depende Method: participants were divided into high power distance and low power distance groups based on language and country of origin. Procedure: there were 135 participants who were MBA students from a Canadian university, where the researchers examined the effects of empowerment on work satisfaction and performance, with each of the members being similar in work experience and demographics, with the members of the two groups were then put through three conditions; empowered, disempowered and a control. Results: the results show that all the participants were more satisfied when empowered, regardless of their score on the PDI. However, there were clear differences that were seen in the work performances. There was no difference in the work performances for participants from the low power distance cultures, but when it came to the high power distance participants, there are shown to do significantly less well in the empowered condition. The study suggests that there are different reactions from both the high and low power distance groups, with the high power distance groups performing better when they are disempowered, as they are characterized by more structured tasks, with a limited amount of information and a few responsibilities, yet explicit. | Strengths: they support the original theory standardized test with a high control, which means that there is a high sense of reliability. Limitations: It is not representative of every culture, which leads it to not being generalized. And as they were put in PDI groups based on their language and country of origin, which can be interpreted as a form of stereotyping. Ethical Considerations: there were no major ethical considerations in this study. |
Sample Questions!
Now we’re moving on to a sample question in relation to cultural dimensions!
Q1. Discuss (or Evaluate) one or more studies of one or more cultural dimensions. (ERQ)
Answer Structure!
Q1.
First Paragraph: start by defining cultural dimensions. Then, introduce the original four cultural dimensions and explain them.
Second Paragraph: start off with one case study (for this question, we will be using case studies in relation to the power distance index). First study that we will be using is Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede (2009). Include the aim of the study, methods, procedure and results.
Third Paragraph: Conclude the first study. Start with the second study, Eylon and Au (1999). Start with the aim of the study.
Fourth Paragraph: Begin a new paragraph with the method, procedure, and results of the study.
Fifth Paragraph: Discuss the conclusion of the study, include the strengths and limitations of the study as well, along with the ethical considerations of the study.
Sixth Paragraph: Overall conclusion of your answer.
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Links Used/Sources Used:
Images Used for Feature Image-
- https://pin.it/6IUaBX9OH
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- https://pin.it/58rr3lBRh
Notes-
- Oxford Psychology Course Companion Second Edition
- Quizlet (for some details of the case studies)
English