CULTURE AND PERSONALITY: BASIC CONCEPTS: culture

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CULTURE AND PERSONALITYBASIC CONCEPTS culture
cultural syndromesCULTURE PERSONALITY
Benet-Martinezs work 2 Approaches Lexical /
Taxonomic Socio-cognitive
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Every person is in certain respects a) like all
other people, b) like some other person, c)
like no other person. (Kluckhohn
Murray, 1948)
One of my favorite quotes .
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GENERAL QUESTIONSAs people of varying
cultures and ethnicities, how are we different
and how are we alike?How do culture and
ethnicity shape our identities and personalities?
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CULTURE Shared systems of meaning that provide
the standards for perceiving, believing,
evaluating, communicating, and acting among those
who share a language, a historic period, and a
geographic location. (Shweder LeVine, 1984).
Useful metaphor -gt culture game rules
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Culture ? Race or Ethnicity Question for the
class Who can explain the differences between
these?
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• Cultural Syndromes
• (TAXONOMY OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES)
• 2 basic dimensions of cultural difference
  (Hofstede, 1983)
• Individualism/Collectivism extent to which the
  self is defined as a bound and separate (vs.
  fluid and interdependent).
• Independent/Interdependent Selves (Markus
  Kitayama, 1991)
• Vertical/Horizontal Relationships emphasis on
  hierarchy and status versus equality

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SELF
INDEPENDENT SELF
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SELF
INTER-DEPENDENT SELF
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VERTICAL
USA
India
COLLECTIVISTIC
INDIVIDUALISTIC
Israel?
Sweden
HORIZONTAL
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Culture Personality Benet-Martinezs studies

• Two different approaches
• (1) LEXICAL/TAXONOMICBasic dimensions of
  personality in Spanish?
• (2) SOCIO-COGNITIVEModeling Biculturalism in the
  Laboratory

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• CULTURE AND PERSONALITY
• (1) PSYCHO-LEXICALKey idea Language as a window
  to the personality of a particular culture
• My work Exploration of basic dimensions of
  personality description in different languages
• Method Combined emic-etic approach factor
  analysis

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(1) LEXICAL APPROACHNatural language as a
window to study cultural universals/differences
in personalityFUNDAMENTAL LEXICAL
HYPOTHESISThose psychological constructs that
are the most salient and socially relevant in
peoples lives will eventually become encoded
into their language the more important is such
construct (1) the more likely it is to be
expressed as a single word and be overepresented
in the language and (2) the more languages and
cultures will have a word for it. (Goldberg,
1982)
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Are the English Big Five (Seven) cross-culturally
robust? Yes in Spanish (using translated
American measures)(JPSP Benet-Martinez
Waller, 1995 JPSP Benet-Martinez John, 1998)
NEED FOR ANOTHER STUDY THAT(1) Identifies the
basic indigenous dimensions of personality
description in Spanish(2) Assesses the
overlap/specificity between these indigenous
Spanish dimensions and the American Big 7.
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(1) LEXICAL APPROACHExploring Indigenous Spanish
Personality Constructs witha Combined Emic-Etic
Approach(Benet-Martinez Waller, 1997
Benet-Martinez, 2000) GOALS OF THE
STUDIES(1) To identify the basic indigenous
dimensions of personality description in
Spanish(2) To assess the overlap/specificity
between these indigenous Spanish dimensions and
the American Big 7
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COMBINED ETIC/EMIC APPROACH (Yang Bond, 1990)
EMIC APPROACH Reliance on indigenous
measures or models--gt in this study
self-reports on 299 indigenous Spanish
personality adjectives from the
dictionary PLUSETIC APPROACH Reliance on
imported measures of models--gt in this study
self-reports on Spanish-translated Big Seven and
Big Five questionnairesSampleN 894 college
students from Spain who completed both emic and
etic measures
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Results from factor analysis of emic measure7
INDIGENOUS SPANISH PERSONALITY DIMENSIONSExample
s of marker items (translated from Spanish)
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(No Transcript)
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PLEASANTNESS ENGAGEMENT in SpainGran placer
y poco duelo es el deseo de todo hombre.(Much
pleasure and little pain is every mans
desire)--Spanish proverbSpaniards .....
passion is the seed that brings them forth, and
passion is the flower they bear.--George Orwell
(Homage to Catalonia)
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ALMODOVARS FILMS A celebration of
pleasure/pain and passionKinder, M.
(1987). Pleasure and the New Spanish Mentality A
Conversation With Pedro Almodovar. Film
Quarterly, vol 41.1, 33 - 44.Pally, M. (1991).
The Politics of Passion Pedro Almodovar and the
Camp Esthetic. Cineaste Magazine, vol 12 issue 3.
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OVERLAP BETWEEN THE INDIGENOUS (EMIC) SPANISH
PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND IMPORTED (ETIC) BIG 7
INVENTORY
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CONCLUSIONS FROM STUDIES(1) There is
considerable overlap between the Spanish Siete
Grandes and the American Big 7 (1b) Exception
Pleasantness and Engagement (instead of E
N)(2) Positive and Negative Valence seem fairly
robust across these two cultures.