Sociocultural Level of Analysis

General Learning Outcomes

Syllabus Question: Outline principles that define the Sociocultural level of analysis

1.      The social and cultural environment influences individual behaviour.
i. Other people have influence on the way we behave.
ii. Social norms and internalized standards of behavior regulate our social lives
iii. Group behavior and conformity
iv. SLT

2.      We want connectedness with, and a sense of belonging to, others.
i. In and outgroups and SIT

3.      We construct our conceptions of the individual and social self.
i. Stereotypes, ingroup, outgroups, SIT

Syllabus Question: Explain how principles that define the Sociocultural level of analysis may be demonstrated in research (that is, theories and/or studies)

·         Hofstede’s (1967-1978) study of cultural dimensions

-          Comprised of 116,000 questionnaires, 60,000 people from 50 countries responded.

-          Formulated 5 cultural dimensions that influence behaviour

·         The Asch (1955) Paradigm/experiment [conformity]

-          Investigated the effect of group pressure in an unambiguous situation with a line of judges.

-          The subject was expected to verbally give a response in front of the rest of the group, indicating which line (of three) was closest in length to the standard line.

-          Found that if the majority of a group unanimously agreed on an incorrect answer, it would greatly influence the decision of the subject.

-          If credible social support is provided or the group does not unanimously agree, the influence is much weaker.

-          Public compliance: a person may publicly conform to group norms but privately maintain a different opinion.

-          Private acceptance: Person believed the group to be correct and believes those opinions themselves.

·         Albert Bandura et al. (1961) Bobo Doll experiment

-          Children imitate what they see role models doing

-          Observing violence/aggression = more aggressive behaviour exhibited by children.

-          (Go over method)

·         Stanley Milgram’s (1961) Obedience Studies

-          The zapping person for getting wrong answer study

-          People are more likely to follow instructions if it is given by an authoritarian figure who they can put the blame on.

-          Women were more obedient then men.

-          "The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act." –Stanley Milgram, 1974

·         Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment

All other theories and studies explored throughout the sociocultural level of analysis can be explained here.

Syllabus Question: Discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the sociocultural level of analysis

·         In the sociocultural level of analysis, the goal is mainly to see how people interact with each other.

Research methods include:

·         Experiments

·         Naturalistic – qualitative data

·         Participant observation

·         Overt Observations

·         Covert Observations

Naturalistic

·         Ensures that the behaviour of participants is as realistic as possible.

·         Most research is done in an environment that corresponds with a particular behaviour.

·         Though it’s ‘realistic’, data collected through this means cannot be used for explaining cause-and-effect relationships.

Participant Observation

·         Attempts to see the world through the eyes of the participant

·         Consists of researchers immersing themselves in a social setting for a long duration of time and observe behaviour.

·         If the participant knows they are being watched, this is referred to as an Overt observation.

·         If the participant is not informed by the researcher that they are being observed, this is called a covert observation.

Overt Observation

·         Requires the researcher to gain the trust of the group being observed.

·         A trusting relationship will ensure participant honesty.

·         Researcher must attempt to see the world through the participants eyes without being judgmental.

Case Study:

·         O’Reilly (2000) did an overt observation study on British expatriates.

·         She found that, contrary to what many believed, the British expatriates were not unhappy with their life in Spain.

·         Obtained these results by conducting many interviews and observing their behaviour in many different situations.

·         O’Reilly (2000) had to establish a trusting relationship with the group, not be judgmental and place herself in the participants’ shoes to better grasp and understand their behaviour.

Covert Observation

·         Participants are not informed that they are being observed.

·         Chosen research method for groups who would not want a researcher to observe their behaviour, or would not be open and honest, which tends to be the result of the illegal nature of their activities (such as the mafia and drugs dealers)

·         Deception is involved. The researcher gains the trust of the group through deceit.

·         The researcher doesn’t inform the participants of their intentions and records observations of the group without their consent.

·         This raises ethical concerns.

·         Taking down notes is problematic whilst trying to ensure that one is not discovered, so the researcher has to rely on their memory of events which is open to distortion and reconstructive memory.

·         Unlike overt observations, interviews cannot be conducted as this will reveal the intentions of the researcher.

Syllabus Question: Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the sociocultural level of analysis.

·         Covert Observations involve deception and do not include written consent from the participants.

·         Stanley Milgram’s obedience studies, example of deception and placing participants under psychological stress.

·         Humiliation and potential trauma of participants in Zimbardo’s experiment.

Sociocultural Cognition

Syllabus Question: Describe the role of situational and dispositional factors in explaining behaviour.

Situational and Dispositional factors were explained by Fritz Heider (1958)

Situational Factors

·         Situational factors refer to external and environmental factors – the situation or environment that a person is in.

·         People may blame situational factors to explain their poor performance in an attempt to protect their self esteem. (Self- Serving Bias)

·         Some people may credit their successes to situational factors rather than dispositional (Modesty Bias).

Dispositional Factors

·         Dispositional factors refer to internal traits, abilities, feelings and personality.

·         Attributing success to dispositional factors = self-serving bias

·         Attributing failures to dispositional factors = modesty bias

Syllabus Question: Discuss two errors in attributions

Fundamental Attribution Error

·         As defined by Ross et al (1977), is the tendency for people to make dispositional attributions for others’ behaviour rather than situational ones.

·         People gather info by observing others and this can lead to illogical conclusions.

·         This error is very common as people tend to not have enough information about others when making a balanced decision and therefore attribute behaviour to their disposition.

·         Placing the blame on an individual is common in Western culture.

·         Lee et al. (1977) aim was to see whether students would abide by the fundamental attribution error even when they knew that they were all actors playing a role.

·         Students were randomly assigned to three different roles; game show host, contestants or audience members.

·         When observers were asked who were smarter, they chose the hosts even though they were aware that the hosts came up with the questions.

·         Problems include that such a small sample cannot be used to make a generalization.

Self-serving Bias

·         This is when people credit their successes to dispositional factors and their failures to situational factors.

·         Greenburgh (1982) argues that it’s to boost self-esteem by disassociating from our failures.

·         AKA the SSB is a means of self-protection

·         Lau and Russel (1980) found that 80% of American footballers credited their successes to dispositional factors.

·         According to Miller and Ross (1975) if we suspect to succeed and do succeed, we credit dispositional factors, and if we expect to succeed but fail, blame it on situational factors.

·         Depressed people are an exception however, and blame themselves for feeling miserable.

Syllabus Question: Evaluate the social identity theory, making references to relevant studies

·         Theory was developed by Tajfel and Turner (1979)

·         In SIT, a person has numerous selves that correspond to widening circles of group membership.

·         In different environments and around different people, individuals will behave differently.

·         Social identity theory asserts that belonging to a group causes in group categorization and enhancement so that u favour your in-group at the expense of the out-group.

·         Cialdini et al. (1976) demonstrated this amongst college football supporters

·         After their team won, the supporters would be more likely to wear the teams colours and insignia than after a defeat.

·         Tajfel found that, even if a person is randomly assigned to a group, they will see themselves as similar to the group in terms of attitude and behaviour.

·         Tajfel et al. (1971) found that boys who were grouped according to their taste in artists were more likely to identify with the boys in their own group, rating the other ‘out-group’ as less likeable.

·         There are limitations to the Social Identity Theory:

·         It describes human behaviour but does not accurately predict it.

·         Using the theory alone is reductionist, it fails to address the environment.

·         Culture and poverty may play a role in one’s behaviour and sense of self of in-group identity.

Syllabus Point: Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on behaviour.

·         Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics to the group.

·         It’s easier to create a stereotype when there is a clearly visible and consistent attribute that can easily be recognized.

·         We use three methods when changing stereotypes: Bookkeeping model, conversion model and subtyping model.

·         Bookkeeping model: as we learn contradictory info, we adjust the stereotype to adapt to the new info.

·         Conversion model: we throw away an old stereotype and start a new one due to significant disconfirming evidence.

·         Subtyping model: we create a new subcategory for existing stereotypes.

·         According to Steele (1997), stereotype threat turns on spotlight anxiety, which causes emotional distress and pressure that can undermine performance.

·         Spencer et al. (1977) tested the effect of stereotype threat on intellectual performance.

·         They gave a difficult math test to students who were strong in math to see whether the stereotype that women are worse at math than men would have any impact.

·         Even though the females were strong in math, it was found that because of the pressure of this stereotype, the women significantly underperformed.

·         However in terms of literature, both genders performed equally well as a stereotype threat does not exist.

·         Stereotypes are formed via personal experience, gate-keepers and illusory correlation.

·          Campbell (1967) says that personal experience and gate-keepers (the media, parents, people belonging to our culture) have the biggest influence on our stereotypes.

·         His gain of truth hypothesis says that a personal experience with an individual member from a group will be generalized to the whole group.

·         This theory can be criticized due to errors in attribution.

·         Hamilton and Gifford (1976) argue that stereotypes are due to illusionary correlation.

·         People see a relationship between two variables even when one does not exist.

·         Once these illusory correlations are made, people seek out evidence to confirm then. They pay attention to behaviours that confirm them.

·         Confirmation bias makes stereotypical thinking resistant to change.

Social Norms

Syllabus Point: Explain social learning theory, making reference to two relevant studies

·         Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory proposes that humans learn behaviour through observational learning.

·         According to Bandura, social learning involves:

·         Attention: person pays attention to model

·         Retention: Observer is able to remember the behaviour

·         Motor Reproduction: observer is able to replicate the action

·         Motivation: Learner must want to demonstrate what they have learned

·         Motivation is very important and the following factors will determine whether the observer replicates the action:

·         Consistency, Identification with the model, reward/punishment, liking the model.

·         Bandura et al. (1961) Bobo doll experiment. 36 girls, 36 boys, aged between 3-6 yrs old were divided into 3 groups.

·         One group witnessed aggressive behaviour towards a bobo doll, the second group saw a non-aggressive adult who simply assembled the toys, and the third was a control group who did not see the doll.

·         Children observed aggressive models = more aggressive.

·         Study demonstrated Social Learning Theory

·         Study is set to have low ecological value as it was conducted in a lab.

·         It is also not broad

·         Children may have acted in a certain way to please the researchers

·         Not ethical to expose children to violence.

·         In a study carried out in Canada by Kimball and Zabrack (1986), it was found that children became significantly more aggressive two years after the television was introduced to their town.

·         Evaluating the theory:

·         Some people see a certain behaviour but never exhibit it themselves.

Syllabus Point: Discuss the use of compliance techniques

·         Compliance techniques were compiled by Robert Cialdini

·         The 6 Compliance principles are:

-          Principle of reciprocity: if someone does something good for you, you’ll feel more obligated to do the same thing for them

-          Principle of commitment: if you make a small commitment, you will be more likely to comply with a larger commitment in the future.

-          Principle of scarcity: people desire something that is rare/scarce more

-          Principle of conformity: If everyone has one, you feel you need it too.

-          Principle of Authority: Individuals are more likely to comply is an authority figure endorses something. Authority can be someone like a doctor or police, or someone famous like an actor. Milgram studies of obedience

-          Principle of liking: people are more likely to buy something from someone that they like.

·        

 Compliance techniques are:

-          Door-in-the-face: You make a large request that will definitely be turned down. Then you make a smaller request and the person is more likely to accept the second request as they feel that you have lowered the request to accommodate for them.

-          Example of this is Cialdini et al.’s (1975) study where they asked college students to drive juvenile delinquents. Over 80% refused. When another group of students were asked to volunteer at as councilors for 2 hrs a week for 2 yrs, they all refused but wen asked to drive juvenile delinquents to the zoo, approximately 50% agreed.

-          Foot in the door technique: You get a person to commit to something small with the hope of getting them to agree to something larger afterwards.

-          Low-balling: Cialdini et al. (1974) asked college students to volunteer to take part in a cognitive study at 7am. Only 24% were willing. However when asked to volunteer without telling the time initially, 56% agreed. When told the time, no one backed out. On the day, 95% of students turned up.

Syllabus Point: Evaluate research on conformity to group norms

·         Conformity is adjusting you thoughts, behaviour, and feelings to be in agreement with a particular group or individual.

·         Classic study of conformity was conducted by Asch (1951). This study is referred to as the Asch Paradigm. 75% of participants agreed with incorrect answers at least once during trials. 32% agreed with incorrect for at least half trials and 24% did not conform to any incorrect responses.

·         Participants that conformed said they didn’t want to go against the group, goes under the principle of humans needing to belong.

·         Factors that contribute to the likelihood of conforming:

-          Group size: larger group, more conformity

-          Unanimity: Conformity more likely when everyone agrees

-          Confidence: When individuals feel they are not competent, they will conform

-          Self-esteem: People with high self-esteem are less likely to conform.

·         Limitations: Ecological validity, too artificial

·         Culture was not taken into consideration and only one culture was looked at..

·         Ethical considerations: the participants were deceived and were made anxious about their performance.

Syllabus Point: Discuss factors influencing conformity

Group Think

·         When group members have a unanimous opinion on an issue, don’t seek out alternative opinions

·         Group is blinded by optimism that their decisions will be successful.

·         Members of the group will doubt their own reservations and won’t voice contrasting opinions.

Minority Influence

·         Moscovici and Lage (1976) conducted an experiment where 4 participants and 2 confederates.

·         The minority describe a blue-green colour as green and were able to influence 32% of participants into the same way of thinking.

·         Participants continued to give this response even when the confederates had left.

·         Minority influence demonstrates that other opinions exist and that consistency shows commitment to the alternative view.

Culture

·         A study by Smith and Bond (1993) found that, through a review of 31 conformity studies, participants from individualistic countries were less likely to conform than collectivist countries.

·         Other studies have also shown that people from different cultures will conform differently than another culture.

Cultural Norms

Syllabus Point: Define the terms “culture” and “cultural norms”

-          Culture: According to Lonner (1995), culture can be defined as common rules that regulate interactions and behaviour in a group as well as a number of shared values and attitudes in the group. Hofstede described it as mental software, shared by members of a sociocultural group.

-          Cultural Norms: Behaviour patterns that are typical of specific groups. They are often passed down from generation to generation by observational learning through gate-keepers.

Syllabus Point: Examine the role of two cultural dimensions on behaviour

Small vs. Large Power distance

·         Hofstede (1967-78)

·         In cultures with small power distance, people expect and accept power relations that are more equal and democratic. More popular in western countries.

·         In countries with large power distance, those that are less powerful, accept power relations that are more autocratic and paternalistic. Subordinates acknowledge power based on hierarchal position.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

·         Individualism: Work for yourself. Excel, achieve your own personal goals, stand out from the crowd, be different, encourages becoming wealthy and pursuing one’s own goals.

·         Collectivism: You are part of a group and work for the group. Work to help the group achieve a common goal, are prepared to make sacrifices for the group, everyone works together as part of a whole.

Syllabus Point: Using one or more examples, explain “emic” and “etic” concepts

·         Emic = Specific to that culture, does not consider other cultures. The meaning of the behaviour can only be defined by the culture it is studied within. Manson et al. (1985) looked at how native Hopi people identified depression.

·        
Etic = aims to discover what all humans have in common. Is cross-cultural. Theories developed in one culture are tested cross-culturally. World Health Organization (WHO 1983) used the same symptoms of depression across various countries, to diagnose the illness.