Cross Cultural Psychology

CROSS-CULTURAL
PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

The opening focus of this chapter
is on the pattern of similarities
and differences across cultures
in social behavior.
On the one hand, social behaviors are

obviously linked to the particular
sociocultural context in which they
develop.
SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
All human behavior is cultural to

some extent. This is because the
human species is fundamentally a
social one.
In every social system individuals occupy
positions for which certain behaviors are
expected; these behaviors are called roles.
Each role occupant is the object of sanctions
that exert social influence, even pressure, to
behave according to social norms or
standards.
Pelto (1968) see the societies on a

dimension called “tight–loose.”
CONFORMITY
The degree to which individuals will
characteristically go along with the
prevailing group norm.
There are some ecological, demographic,
and social variables that tend to go along
with compliance–assertion in socialization,
and which may further encourage
conformity; the size of the group, and the
degree of social stratification, may “bear
down” on the individual more when the
group is large and highly stratified.
Bond and Smith (1996) found that
conformity was higher in societies
that held values of conservatism,
collectivism, and a preference for
status ascription, while it was lower
in societies valuing autonomy,
individualism, and status
achievement.
VALUES
Refers to a conception held by an

individual, or collectively by members of
a group, of that which is desirable, and
which influences the selection of both
means and ends of action from among
available alternatives.
Schwartz ten value types
Given these findings, how is it
that people often persist in
believing that people from
different countries hold
different values?
INDIVIDUALISM AND
COLLECTIVISM
I–C theory predicts that people

in individualistic societies
should be less willing to
contribute resources to others
in their group.
Berry (1994) has suggested that
individualism and collectivism are each
related to separate aspects of the
ecosystem: individualism to the sheer
size and complexity of the social system
(larger, more complex societies being
more individualist); and collectivism to
the social tightness or conformity
pressures placed on individuals by their
society (tighter more stratified societies
being more collectivist).
SOCIAL COGNITION
Within social psychology, there has been

a dramatic increase in the study of how
individuals perceive and interpret their
social world, an area now known as
social cognition.
Attribution
- This term refers to the way in

which individuals think about the
causes of their own, or other
people’s, behavior.
GENDER BEHAVIOR
Boys and girls are socialized
differently in various cultures, girls
generally are socialized more
toward compliance (nurturance,
responsibility, and obedience), while
boys are raised more for assertion
(independence, self-reliance, and
achievement).
• Gender stereotypes - A common
finding is that these stereotypes of
males and females are very different
from one another, with males usually
viewed as dominant, independent, and
adventurous and females as emotional,
submissive, and weak.
• Williams and Best (1990a)
research they found three factors
which they called favorability, activity,
and strength.
• Mate selection - The main
gender difference was for females
to value potential earnings more
highly than males, and for males to
value physical appearance more
highly than females Buss and
colleagues (1989, 1990).
• Gender role ideology - is a normative
belief about what males and females should
be like, or should do (Adler, 1993).
Williams and Best (1990b)
• Psychological characteristics -
Females tended to perform better than
males on verbal tasks, including
verbal fluency, and on memory and
perceptual speed tasks; males tended
to obtain higher scores on numerical
tasks and a variety of other perceptual
tasks, including closure, spatial
orientation, and spatial visualization.

Cross Cultural Psychology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cross Cultural Psychology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cross Cultural Psychology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CROSS-CULTURAL

CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

On the one hand, social behaviors are

All human behavior is cultural to

Pelto (1968) see the societies on a

Refers to a conception held by an

I–C theory predicts that people

Within social psychology, there has been

- This term refers to the way in

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.