Lecture 2: Personality & Culture (2024) PDF

18/07/2024 Readings (non-assessable) PERSONALITY & ITS Bandura, A. (2002). Social cognitive theory in DISORDERS PSYU/PSYX3336 cultural context. Applied Psychology… 51,...

18/07/2024 Readings (non-assessable) PERSONALITY & ITS Bandura, A. (2002). Social cognitive theory in DISORDERS PSYU/PSYX3336 cultural context. Applied Psychology… 51, 269-290 Lecture 2: Personality & culture Markus, H.R. (2004). Culture & personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 75-83 A/Prof Simon Boag email: [email protected] 1 2 Outline Learning objectives 1. Introduction: What do we mean by ‘culture’? Describe the complexities of ‘culture’ Cultural assumptions in personality theory? 2. Independent & interdependent selves Describe & summarise what is meant by 3. Criticisms of the dichotomy Individualism & Collectivism & how these Bandura’s criticisms relate to personality Critically evaluate the Individualism & Collectivism dichotomy & the implications for understanding personality 3 4 What is culture? Fiske (2002) “A culture is a socially transmitted or socially constructed constellation consisting of such things as practices, competencies, ideas, schemas, symbols, values, norms, institutions, goals, constitutive rules, artifacts, & modifications of the physical environment” OFFICE I FACULTY I DEPARTMENT 5 6 1  18/07/2024 Cultural dimensions Cultures (Cohen, 2009) (Hofstede, 1980) Culture not the same as country or nation “… large amount of variation in transmitted norms, values, beliefs, behaviours…” etc. Ethnicity, nationality Religion Region Social class & SES Cultural stereotypes 7 8 Is culture pervasive? “Cultural models are not just a matter of individual attitude, beliefs, & values; they are also materialised & objectified in policies, practices, symbols, & social institutions or situations” (Markus, 2004) Note: these are conceptualised as bipolar unidimensional continua 9 10 The impact of culture Cultural models & personality Are we necessarily aware of the impact of “Cultural models include a blend of normative cultural forces upon us? beliefs & moral prescriptions about human Socialisation & early learning experiences nature that are so obvious & taken for granted Implicit/unconscious influences (eg. attitudes, assumptions, role models) that they are typically never articulated… Media influences & norms They are typically invisible to those who engage Values & ethics or enact them” Research bias? (Markus, 2004) Do you agree? Examples? Implications for research? DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY 11 12 2  18/07/2024 2. Culture & development of the Self Self vs ‘organism’ The self: ‘‘me’’ at the centre of experience Organism: unsocialised animal Selfhood emerges through sociocultural engagement Sociocultural factors shape the self: no self in “… a continually developing sense of awareness isolation & agency that guides action & takes shape as the individual, both brain & body, becomes “Just as one cannot be an unsituated or general attuned to the various environments it inhabits. self, one also cannot be a self by one’s self. Selves are thus psychological realities that are Selves develop through symbolically mediated, both biologically … & socioculturally rooted” collaborative interaction with others & the (Markus & Kitayama, 2010) social environment” 13 14 “…culture is not separate from the individual; it is a product of human activity—each individual person’s activity as well as the thoughts, feelings, & actions of those individuals who have come before that person. The sociocultural context shapes the self through four nested, interacting, and often tacit categories of culture. Being a person—a self—requires input from sociocultural meanings & practices, & the self is the center of awareness & agency that incorporates & reflects these sociocultural patterns. In turn, peoples’ thoughts, feelings, & actions (i.e., the self) reinforce, & sometimes change, the sociocultural forms that shape their lives. This is the cycle of mutual constitution” (Markus & Kitayama, 2010) 15 16 Cultural self patterns: Independent & interdependent self schemas Individualism/collectivism Cultural patterns shape agency & organise psychological functioning Independent schema of self: primary referent is the individual’s own thoughts, feelings, & actions Interdependent self: interaction with others produces a sense of self as connected to, related to, or interdependent with others 17 18 3  18/07/2024 Where do our theories of personality come from? 19 20 Kim, J., & Hicks, J. A. (2015). Parental bereavement & the loss of purpose in life Kitayama, S., Karasawa, M., Curhan, K. B., Ryff, C. D., & Markus, H. R. (2010). as a function of interdependent self-construal. Independence & interdependence predict health & wellbeing: Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1-7 Divergent patterns in the United States & Japan. 21 22 Frontiers in Psychology, 1, 163-173 Meta-analyses Oyserman et al. (2002) Oyserman et al (2002): 83 studies “The association between COL & describing the Mixed evidence self with social rather than personal identities is eg. US Ss sometimes higher than Japanese in much weaker, especially because researchers in Collectivism this area use country as a stand-in for cultural difference... Our meta-analyses found a small Methodological issues difference in IND between Japanese & Culture = nation (eg. US vs Japan) Americans & no overall difference between Student samples; self-report Japanese & Americans except in research that used more reliable scales—in which case, Oyserman, et al. (2002). Rethinking individualism & Americans are higher in COL” (p. 42) collectivism. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 3-72 23 Oyserman, et al. (2002). Rethinking individualism & collectivism. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 3-72 24 4  18/07/2024 3. Response to cultural critique (Bandura, 2002) Reciprocal determinism Social Cognitive theory Social learning & culture 25 26 Culture & social learning Individualism vs Collectivism “It is difficult to imagine how cultures could Self-efficacy = individualism? develop & replicate themselves if their language, mores, customs, & social practices “… any reference to self in psychological in diverse spheres of life had to be gradually theorising [is seen as] as championing self- shaped in each new member by direct centredness & self-indulgence in contrast to consequences of their trial-& error communal attachments & civic responsibilities” performances without benefit of models who (Bandura, 2002) display the cultural pattern” (Bandura, 2002) However… 27 28 Self & Agency Individualism vs Collectivism Agency: intentionally influencing life Personal efficacy relevant to all cultures circumstances Group agency still requires personal effort i) Personal agency “Personal efficacy is valued, not because of ii) Proxy agency (influencing others) reverence for individualism, but because a iii) Collective agency (group action) strong sense of personal efficacy is vital for Bandura: Cross-cultural variation but all success regardless of whether it is achieved individually or by group members putting their agencies present universally personal capabilities to the best collective use” Challenges dichotomy b/w individualism- (Bandura, 2002) collectivism 29 30 5  18/07/2024 Agency Individual vs Group identity Personality: All individuals have a sense of personal identity/self/agency (Bandura, 2002) Individuals can have collective identity but each retains a sense of individual identity/self/agency Bandura: personal vs group identity is a misleading dichotomy 31 32 Intracultural diversity “A group …. operates through the behaviour of “There are collectivists in individualistic cultures its members. The locus of perceived collective & individualists in collectivist cultures” (p. 274) efficacy resides in the minds of group Dichotomy = misleading generalisations members. It is people acting in concert on a shared belief not a disembodied group mind “Cultures are diverse & dynamic social systems that is doing the cognising, aspiring, motivating, & regulating. There is no emergent not static monoliths. There is substantial entity that operates independently of the heterogeneity among individuals within both beliefs & actions of the individuals who make individualistic & collectivistic systems.” (p. 275) up a social system” (Bandura, 2002) 33 34 Bandura’s conclusion: the dichotomy is too simplistic “People’s efforts to manage their everyday lives cannot be reduced to polarities that arbitrarily partition human agency into individual & collective forms. Cross-cultural variations are differences in relative emphasis in agentic patterning rather than cultural exclusivity of agency to individual or collective modes” (Bandura, 2002) 35 36 6  18/07/2024 Intracultural & intrapersonal diversity Importance of context Turiel (2004): Societies/cultures are Global measures vs specific context hierarchically organised Freeman & Bordia (2001) Positions of power = more individualistic Reference group specific responses eg. men in patriarchal societies tend to have greater autonomy than women (in either “It is possible to be a collectivist with regards to collect/indiv societies) one’s family, & an individualist with regards to Raeff (2004): US teens express both one’s nation” (p. 117) independent/interdependent self-construals Multiplicity of selves within/between Evidence against Hofstede’s bipolar dimension Freeman, MA & Bordia, P (2001). Assessing alternative models of individualism & cultures collectivism: A confirmatory factor analysis. European Journal of Personality, 15, 37 105-121 38 39 40 Assessment & dichotomy “The discrepancy between the content of items in measures of the individualism versus collectivism ends of the dimension suggests that, implicitly at Independent/interdependent dichotomy a test least, collectivism is conceptualized primarily as a value system, (ie., shared norms & beliefs artefact about what is important & about obligations & responsibilities to others & to groups), whereas “Cultural measures cast in terms of faceless individualism is operationalized primarily in terms of beliefs in an individuated self & others & disembodied from domains of activity, individual agency. Thus, the two are not parallel social contexts, & incentive conditions mask the constructs (as measured). It is possible to believe diversity on which human adaptation is in the uniqueness & autonomy of individuals & still place high value on maintaining close conditional” relationships with others or on collective (Bandura, 2002) cooperation & group welfare” (Brewer & Chen, 2007) 41 Brewer & Chen (2007). Where (who) are collectives in collectivism? Toward conceptual clarification of 42 individualism & collectivism. Psychological Review, 114, 133-151 7  18/07/2024 Conclusion: not either/or Self & culture interaction “… people are producers as well as products “There is no autonomous self unless one is living of social systems” (Bandura, 2002) the life of a hermit, nor is there an entirely “The self is socially constituted but, by interdependent self completely submerged in exercising directive influence, human agency collectivity without any individual identity or operates generatively & proactively on social sense of personal capability” (Bandura, 2002) systems not just reactively” (p. 278) Electronic acculturation & global symbolic culture; cyberworld transcending time & place 43 44 Human nature & biological potentials? “Cultural analyses must address the basic issue Questions? of whether there is a universal human nature or many human natures spawned by diverse cultural milieus” (Bandura, 2002) Soc Cog: Experience shapes biological potentials “Biology provides potentialities & sets constraints but in most spheres of functioning biology permits a broad range of cultural possibilities” (p. 272) 45 46 8