Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Origins and Definition of Culture
- Cultural Norms: Definition, Cultural Transmission (Enculturation and Social Cognition)
- Concepts Connected to Enculturation
- Four Main Acculturation Strategies
- Key Notes To Remember!
- Key Studies of Cultural Influences on Behavior; SAQs and ERQs
- Sample Questions!
- Answer Structure!
Introduction
Hey there folks! In today’s blog, we’ll be digesting into the sociocultural approach to studying human behavior! For the first part of however many parts of this blog there will be, we will be exploring different contents, which will include:
Origins and Definition of Culture
- The Two Categories in Culture: Surface Culture and Deep Culture
- The Two Definitions of Culture: Hofstede and Matsumoto (2007)
Cultural Norms
- Definition
- Cultural Transmission: definitions of Enculturation and Social Cognition
- Major Example of Cultural Transmission
- Gatekeeper Theory
- Acculturation
Origins and Definition of Culture
To simply put, the origins of culture is a formation of social groups as a form of protection and to better enable our survival in a given environment.
As for the definitions, they are split into two categories: surface culture and deep culture.
i.) Surface and Deep Culture: Definition and Examples
| Surface Culture | Deep Culture |
| Definition: the aspects that are easily observed. Examples: – Behaviors – Customs – Traditions – Architectures | Definition: the cognitive elements in a culture. Examples: – Gender roles – Respect for authority – Rules and Concepts of social identity and the self. |
There are many other various examples of the two cultures above, and the clear differences between one another. With one definition of culture fitted as a way to learn and observe a culture through the things we see on the surface (surface culture).
On the other hand, the other definition being described as interactions or learning about culture beyond the surface, and explores the meaning, mannerisms, ideas and beliefs of a community (deep culture).
Now that we got the two categories of culture out of the way, we shall move on to the two known definitions of culture: Hofstede and Matsumoto.
ii.) Definitions of Culture: Hofstede and Matsumoto (2007)
The key focuses of many cross-cultural psychologists (which are those who seek to understand the influences of culture in many different aspects of the human thought and behavior. This includes the study of development, personality, and social relationships), is to understand other cultures and the potential areas for misunderstanding.
Hofstede’s definition of culture: the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group of category from another, which helps guide a group of people in their daily interactions and distinguishes them from other groups of people.
Matsumoto (2007) and his definition of culture: culture is a unique meaning and information system that is shared by a group, transmitting across generations that allows groups to:
- meet the basic needs of survival
- coordinate socially in order to achieve a viable existence
- transmit social behavior
- pursue happiness and their well-being
- derive meaning from life
Cultural Norms: Definition, Cultural Transmission (Enculturation and Social Cognition)
| Term | Definition |
| Cultural Norms | The unique set of attitudes, beliefs and behaviors specific to a particular culture. What constitutes cultural norms? Given a specific environmental context, certain expectations of appropriate and in appropriate attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. |
| Cultural Transmission | A theory of learning whereby individuals acquire a significant amount of information simply by interacting within their culture. This theory is accomplished through the process of enculturation and social cognition. Example of Cultural Transmission – The Culture of Honor: One major example of a cultural transmission is the culture of honor, which exists in societies where individuals (normally men) are placed at high value on the terms of their strength and social reputation. And if anyone were to insult someone’s reputation, family or property were met with a violent response. (Brown, Osterman, and Barnes, 2009). |
| Enculturation | The process in which individuals learn about their culture through various methods such as observation, formal instruction, direct personal experience, etc. |
| Social Cognition | The process that enables human beings to interpret social information and behave appropriately in a social environment. |
| Gatekeeper Theory | A psychology and communication theory related to who controls access to information in a social group. Gatekeepers are people in society who who decide what information is shared to groups and other individuals. |
| Acculturation | The changing of a person’s behavior and characteristics as a result of contact between different cultures. It is often associated with assimilation. However, they are not the same thing. |
| Assimilation | A cognitive process that manages how we take in new information and incorporate that new information into our existing knowledge. |
Concepts Connected to Enculturation
There are four concepts that are closely connected and has implications to enculturation, which includes:
- Social Identity Theory
- Conformity
- Memory
- Thinking
- Social Cognitive Theory
(Psst! Check out more on memory in this blog here!)
| Term | Definition | In Connections to Enculturation |
| Social Identity Theory | A theory which states that an individual’s sense of self is developed on the basis of group membership, and this identity is shared with other members of the same group. | There are four stages to social identity theory which suggests that a social identity is created through social categorisation, social identification, social comparison and positive distinctiveness. With enculturation having a particular influence on social identity theory in the stages of categorisation and identification stages, as individuals figure out the groups they belong to and begin identifying with them. |
| Conformity | A behavior that goes along with the social conventions, social norms, social standards and so on. To simplify it, going along with whatever society expects. | As conformity is one of the ways an individual acquire cultural norms by altering their own behavior in order to ‘fit in’ with a particular group or community, it has a major influence on enculturation; by which it lays out the behaviors that are required to fit in with a given sociocultural group. |
| Memory | The faculty of encoding, storing and retrieving information. It includes three categories: sensory, short-term, and long-term. Sensory Memory: can handle a number of sensory inputs and store them for a fraction of a second (approximately 500 milliseconds) Short-Term Memory: Has a capacity of 7 +/-2 items or ‘chunks’ of information, with a limited duration of about 30 seconds. If the information is left unattended, it fades away. Long-Term Memory: A place for storing large amounts of information, with its capacity being unknown, with many psychologists believing is unlimited. Information in LTM is processed semantically. | Enculturation also influences cognition, as memory encoding and retrieval memory also depend, to some extent, on both attention and rehearsal. This, in term demonstrates the influence of enculturation on memory as a cognitive process. |
| Thinking | The ability to process information, hold attention, store and retrieve memories and select appropriate responses and actions to a certain situation. Rational Thinking: the use of reason, the capacity to make sense of things, and the use of logic to establish and verify facts. Intuitive Thinking: going with one’s first instinct and reaching decisions quickly based on automatic cognitive processes. Two-System Model: a distinction between an automatic (intuitive) thinking style and a controlled (rational) thinking style. It is known as system 1 and system 2, which follows as- System 1: ‘fast, automatic, effortless, associative, implicit, emotionally charged.’ System 2: ‘slow, serial, effortful, consciously monitored, deliberately controlled.’ | Enculturation also has an influence on thinking styles, as individuals from different cultures appear to think differently, especially in situations of cognitive conflict when clear answers are unknown. |
| Social Cognitive Theory | The theory that behavior is acquired by observation or imitation of behavior from other members of a group, based on the observed consequences of a behavior. | Some part of culture is learned by observing other members of the same culture- presuming that a child has identified with a role model in some way, in which they will learn some culturally-appropriate behaviors through observation of this said role model. |
Four Main Acculturation Strategies
Sam and Berry (2010) theorized four main acculturation strategies, which includes:
- Integration
- Assimilation
- Separation
- Marginalisation
| Term | Explanation |
| Integration | Individuals maintaining their heritage culture, but also interacting with other groups and adopting some norms of the new culture they interact with. |
| Assimilation | Individuals adopting the norms of the new culture and not maintaining their heritage culture identity. |
| Separation | Individuals maintaining the norms of their heritage culture, and does not adopt to the norms of the new culture. |
| Marginalisation | Individuals not maintaining their heritage culture and not interacting with other groups, while also not adopting the norms of the new culture. |
Key Notes To Remember!
- Each of the accumulation strategies are further linked to acculturation attitudes in the new culture.
- Integration is associated with multicultural attitudes to immigration, whereas assimilation is linked to more diverse attitudes.
- The acculturation strategies are based upon attitudes to two big questions or issues in acculturation (Berry et al.2006) which includes: the degree to which individuals want to maintain their heritage culture and identity and the degree to which individuals seek involvement with the new culture or larger society.
Key Studies of Cultural Influences on Behavior; SAQs and ERQs
Now, we shall dive into three case studies in relation to cultural influences on behavior. They may be used for your SAQs (Short-Answered Questions) or ERQs (Extended-Response Questions). But before that, let me recall you the structures of an SAQ and ERQ.
| SAQ (Short-Answered Questions) | ERQ (Extended-Response Questions) |
| – Aim – Method – Procedure (Participants) – Results – Conclusion | – Aim – Method – Procedure (Participants) – Results – Conclusion – Evaluation = Strength and Limitations – Ethical Concerns/Considerations |
| Study | Description | Evaluation |
| Odden and Rochat (2004) | Aim: to investigate the role of observational learning in enculturation that is conducted in the Western Pacific country of Samoa. Method: observation of children in the context of their village life (family, peers, school, church, other village events). Procedure: 28 children between 4-12 years of age (22 boys between the ages of 5-12 years old). Asides from the observations, parents, caretakers, teachers and other adult influences on the children were interviewed regarding the development and parenting of their child. The 22 boys were also observed, surrounding their cultural learning of subsistence fishing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted upon the boys and their fishing relatives. Results: Children appear to learn tasks and chores by watching and observing their parents and elder siblings. Over the course of the two-year study, however, Odden and Rochat never observed a parent explaining a task or chore to a child. Conclusion: Hence, there is a role in observational learning in enculturation, with children learning through observing their parents and elder siblings. | Strengths: Odden, one of the researchers, was a member of the community that was being studied, which makes it accessible for the researchers to conduct their study. Weaknesses: The sample is limited to a narrow population. Ethical Considerations: the issue surrounding informed consent as the study uses children to conduct their experiment. |
| Berry et al (2006) | Aim: to investigate how well immigrant youth adapt to their new cultures from both a psychological and sociocultural viewpoint, and whether it relates to acculturation strategies and profiles. Method: Researchers used structured questionnaires that are usually administered in groups on classroom settings by the researcher or trained research assistants. Procedure: there are participants from 26 cultural backgrounds in 13 countries. The structured questionnaires were administered in each country by the researchers/trained research assistants, with the responses being anonymous. The questions that were included were of a wide range of variables related to acculturation and adaptation. Results: came back with statistical data that were analyzed to generate four immigration profiles, which includes. – participants in the integration profile following the integration strategy for acculturation. – participants in the national profile following the assimilation strategy. – participants in the ethnic profile following the separation strategy. – participants in the diffuse profile following a not so clear mix of separation, assimilation and marginalisation (but not integration). Conclusion: out of all the acculturation strategies, integration was the most successful, with links to more positive psychological and sociocultural adaptation. | Strengths: – The research accentuates on the size of the diffuse profile as a source of feelings of marginalization amongst immigrant youth, but other research suggests the potential the group carries for personal and social problems, which may lead to problems in terms of intercultural relations in the new culture, which suggests that parents, teachers and policies may need to focus particular attention on this group in order to ensure a positive outcomes, in terms of both sociocultural and psychological. – The study could count as a contribution to the quality of life in other countries receiving immigrants, as anything that can be done to improve the psychological and sociocultural outcomes for immigrants, with a likely impact on society as a whole. Limitations: The study gathered self-report data, which makes it subject to participant expectations. Ethical Considerations: There are no major ethical concerns to be noted in this study. |
| Schwartz and Zamboanga (2008) | Aim: to investigate the extent of Berry’s four acculturation strategies being evident in a set of acculturation indices. Method and Procedure: The researchers used latent class analysis (a form of statistical analysis), creating categories from the statistical analysis without any pre-existing assumptions about which categories emerge- with the data clustering determining the categories. Results: The results shows mixed support for Berry’s acculturation strategies due to the statistical analysis yielding six categories, not four (like the original acculturation strategies), which suggests the assimilation and integration categories being further subdivided. As for separation, assimilation and integration had all emerged from the analysis. However, some of the evidence of integration were found to be mixed with separation and assimilation, which suggests the overlap in Berry’s categories and that they are not neatly independent. | Strengths: Berry’s acculturation strategies/categories were found to be mostly validated, with some of them needing further differentiation. Limitations: The study emphasizing on the the elements of surface culture such as language acquisition, theorizing that an emphasis on psychological functioning in a variety of domains could cause their statistical results to line up better with Berry’s original acculturation model. Ethical Considerations: there are no major ethical concerns to be noted in this study. |
Sample Questions!
Now we’re moving on to some sample questions in relation to cultural influences!
Q1. Discuss (or evaluate) one study of enculturation (SAQ)
Q2. Discuss (or evaluate) one or more studies of acculturation (ERQ)
Answer Structure!
Question 1!
Question 2!
Thanks for reading folks! If you would like to read more psychology contents, click the link here 😀 Have a great day ahead!
Sources Used:
Images Used for Feature Image-
Notes and Questions-
- https://www.thinkib.net/psychology/page/24214/writing-samples-sociocultural
- IBDP Psychology Kognity
- Oxford Psychology Course Companion 2nd Edition
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