Title: Cultural Differences in Psychology - Psychologist World
Headings: Cultural Differences in Psychology
Cultural Differences in Psychology
How cultural differences can affect our perception and behavior.
Defining Culture
Individualism vs Collectivism
Bias in Experiments
Cultural Differences in Relationships and Attachments
Cultural differences in emotions
Culture and measuring intelligence
Designing better studies

Content: Defining Culture
To understand psychological differences amongst cultures, we must first define what we refer to as "culture" and how this can differ from simply the "place" in which we live. In psychology, culture refers to a set of ideas and beliefs which give people sense of shared history and can guide our behavior within society. Culture manifests itself in our language, art, daily routines, religion and sense of morality, among other forms, and is passed down from generation to generation. Of course, within each culture we often see the influence of other cultures, such as that of other European languages on the English vocabulary, along with wide cultural variations within each country. So, whilst cultures and their boundaries remain fluid, in the study of cross-cultural psychology, research often focuses the differences in cultures at national levels (e.g. between the US and Japan). Individualism vs Collectivism
One of the key distinctions between national cultures, which can influence the choices that people make, is that of individualistic versus collectivist societies: Individualistic Societies
Individualistic societies focus on needs of the individual person and encourage each person to strive to achieve their own potential, often in competition with, or sometimes to the detriment of, a person's peers. It emphasises the importance of self-reliance and give each individual the freedom to be oneself, nurturing the idea of self expression. Many countries in the West, such as the US, UK and other Western European countries are widely considered to be individualistic societies. Collectivistic Societies
In contrast to individualistic societies, collectivistic societies emphasize the importance of cooperation - working for the benefit of the collective - and assume that societies can only improve by a group effort amongst all members of the community.