Culture Bias in Psychology

Culture bias occurs when the norms, values, and experiences of one culture are used as the standard for understanding behaviour in other cultures. Since the majority of psychological research has been conducted in the USA, UK, and Europe, there is a strong Western bias (also called Eurocentrism) in the discipline. The AQA specification requires you to understand ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, and the emic/etic distinction.

Key Definition: Culture bias is the tendency to judge all people by the standards and values of one's own culture, leading to distorted conclusions about the behaviour of people from other cultures.

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Ethnocentrism

Key Definition: Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture. In psychology, it manifests as judging the behaviour and customs of other cultures by the standards and norms of one's own culture.

When psychologists develop theories based on Western participants and then apply those theories to people from other cultures, they are being ethnocentric. Behaviour that deviates from Western norms may be labelled as abnormal, inferior, or dysfunctional, when in fact it is perfectly adaptive within its own cultural context.

Examples of Ethnocentrism in Psychology