Cross_Cultural_Psychology

Cross Cultural Psychology Paper Tony Knauls 450 October 7 2012 Dr. Georgia Wells Cross Cultural Psychology Paper Culture is a set of attitudes, behaviors and symbols shared by a large group of people and usually communicated from one generation to the next (Shiraev & Levy, 2010p2). Before reaching adulthood individuals learn how to understand their environment according to his parents.” Culture is a full range of learned behavior patterns”(N.A., 2010, p .1). We notice individuals of African, Japanese, Italian descent; individuals are referring to the customs and ideals that their parents used. It has become a way of life passed down from generation to generation. “ in most cases, those who share your culture do so because they acquired it as they were raised by parents and other family members who have it” (N.A., 2010, p. 1). “There are certain behaviors that are associated with culture such as norms, roles, customs, traditions, habits, practices, and fashions” (Shiraev & Levy, 2010, p.3). Cultures can be explained as experiencing explicit and implicit (Shiraev, & Levy 2010, p .4). Certain practices in some cultures that are more dominate than others, for example saying, goodbye, and hello in our culture. “Implicit culture implies the information and cultural rules are implied and already known to the participants; social rules are part of whom and what you are and are learned over time from others, such as rules of address and particular behavioral expectations in a standard situation that may be viewed as examples of implicit culture” (Illinois State University, n.d. p.4). For example, on Halloween people in America are expect to wear costumes and everyone, seems to eat an excessive amount of candy. No culture is the same; every culture has their own set of rules and regulations. Cross cultural psychology deals with the culture, we do not chose the culture that we are brought up in. People learn their practices of their culture from their ancestors and parents.” Cross cultural psychology is the critical and comparative study of cultural effects on human psychology” (Shiraev, & Levy, 2010, p .2) Cross- cultural psychology uses representations from two different groups of people. This type of study involves samples and critical thinking. Cross cultural psychology involves a variety of cultures. “Cross culture psychology states how cultural factors influence human behavior” Cherry, 2011). Cross cultural psychologists is interested how cultural behaviors is varied. Cross-cultural psychologists try to focus on two approaches how are cultures are alike and how they are dissimilar. Cross cultural psychology focuses on the cultural issues within a generation.” For instance cross cultural studies have proved that the symptoms of most psychological disorders vary from one culture to the next, and has led to a exploration of what constitutes normal human sexuality” ( N.A., 2001). Culture shapes individuals minds and behaviors as much as the minds and behaviors shape the culture (Snibbe, 2003, p.1). Relationship Between Cultural and Cross- Cultural Psychology A relationship between culture and cross-cultural psychology is evident because it shows the contrast between two or more groups of people; this comparison is to contrast the facts about the cultures between these two groups of individuals. The heredity of any inquiries is taken from the information from cultural investigations (Yee, 2011, p.1). The incentive between culture and cross-cultural psychology is to look at behaviors and attitudes in which the culture would influence family life, education, social experiences, and other areas (Cherry, 2011). Culture has an influential impact on human behavior. Cross-cultural psychology is different from other disciplines because it takes into account the culture of human achievement. Critical Thinking in Cross-Cultural Psychology Critical thinking is an important component in cross-cultural psychology because: * the ability to analyze facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinions, make comparisons, draw inferences, evaluate arguments and solve problems (Chance,1996,p.6) * a way of reasoning that demands adequate support for one’s beliefs and an unwillingness to be persuades unless support is forthcoming (Tama, 1989, p. 64) * reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do (Ennis, 1992) Critical thinking is the procedure of beliefs that answer questions to certain hypothesis. By using cross-cultural psychology practices psychologists can determine underlying reasons for cultural diversity (Shiraev, & Levy 2010 p. 2). Methodology of Cross-Cultural Research One of the most common problems in methodical research is the probability that the recipients present answers better than one who won’t be compared badly by others who are conducting the same research (Shiraev, & Levy 2010, p. 28). Psychologists require having consistent, dependable, and unbiased data. To better comprehend how research is gathered in cross-cultural psychology methodological research is based on two premises quantities and qualitative research. Quantitative research involves using a comparative viewpoint, whereas, quantitative research uses a measurement scale. When using a quantitative approach the psychologist needs to establish a correlation between the two variables. “The most common data are measures of tendency: the mode, median, and the mean” (Shiraev, & Levy, 2010, p. 50). Many different ways to obtain a sample one way is called the availability, or convenience sampling. Another way is termed systematic which is when the psychologist uses race samples according to a theory they devised. In this instance large groups are taken for a sample. (Shiraev, & Levy, 2010 p 50.). Cross-cultural psychologist may also use observation, survey, experiment, content-analysis, and focus group methods (Shiraev, & Levy, 2010 p.50) The survey type of cross-cultural research must be translated into the researcher’s language. Certain actions and series of actions vary from culture to culture. This is some of how cross-cultural psychologists determine the data for cross- cultural research. Conclusion Cross cultural psychology is a discipline that involves the critical and comparative study of cultural effects on human psychology” (Shiraev, & Levy, 2010, p .2); cross- cultural psychology uses representations from two different groups of people. This type of study involves samples and critical thinking. Cross cultural psychology involves a variety of cultures. It uses data from many observable sources to observe the scope of behavior and test hypothesis from different cultures. References: Chance, P. (1986). Thinking in the classroom: A survey of programs. New York Teachers College, Columbia University. Cherry, K. (2011). Cross Cultural Psychology. Retrieved on November 1, 2011 from psychology.about.com. Ennis, R. (1992). Critical thinking: What is it' Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society Denver, Colorado. March 27-30. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http:// www.ed.uiuc. Edu/PEs/92 docs/ Ennis. HTM. Illinois State University. ( n.d.). Retrieved on October 30, 2011 from www.cfkeep.org. Lee. J. (2011). Cross Cultural Psychology. Retrieved on November 3, 2011 from www.associatedcontent.com. Shiraev, E., & Levy, D. (2010). Cross- Cultural Psychology. Critical Thinking and Contemporary Applications (4th Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon. N. A. (2006) what is culture' Retrieved on October 30, 2011 from anthro.palomar.edu. N. A. (2001) Cross-Cultural Psychology. Retrieved on November 1, 2011 from findarticles.com. Snibbe, A. (2003). Cultural Psychology. Association for Psychological Science .Retrieved on November 3, 2011 from www.psychologicalscience.org. Tama, C. (1989). Critical thinking has a place in every classroom. Journal of Reading 33, 64-65