Differences in Worldview

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Differences in Worldview

• Mario V. Norman, Ph.D.

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• Suppose you are asked to do a project that
  requires you to work late in the library on
  campus. How might female students see this task
  differently from male students?

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Different Perspectives

• Worldview
• A psychological perception of the world that
  determines how we think, behave, and feel
• Worldviews are composed of our attitudes, values,
  opinions, and concepts they also affect how we
  think, define events, make decisions, and behave.
  
• For minorities in America, a strong determinant
  of worldviews is related to racism and the
  subordinate position assigned to them in society.
  
• Economic and social class, religion, sexual
  orientation, and gender are also interactional
  components of worldview.
• Therapists should act on the basis of
  understanding of their own conditioning, the
  conditioning of their clients, and the
  sociopolitical system.

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• Etic Perspective
• An attempt to build theories of human behavior by
  examining commonalities across many cultures
• The use of a universal perspective in
  understanding people.
• Emic Perspective
• An attempt to derive meaningful concepts within
  one culture
• The use of a culturally specific perspective in
  understanding the experiences of individuals.

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Imposing a worldview

• Imposed etics
• The impositions of one cultures worldview on
  another culture, assuming that ones own
  worldviews are universal
• In a study comparing Oakland inner-city Black
  children and White children at the Stanford Day
  care center, the Black children chose to take the
  less desirable reward as opposed to the White
  children who chose Delay of gratification for a
  more desirable reward.
• Why?????

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Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Individualism
• motivation by their own preferences, needs, and
  rights
• Collectivism
• motivation by the groups preferences, needs, and
  rights

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Worldview Questions

• How can different worldviews lead people to
  markedly different conclusions about things such
  as poverty, safety, and ability?
• How does culture (i.e, race, ethnicity, gender,
  and SES) impact ones worldview?

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Worldview example

• One should live ones life independently of
  others.
• It is important to me that I do better than
  others do it.
• My happiness depends very much on the happiness
  of those around me.
• I would sacrifice an activity that I enjoy very
  much if my family did not approve of it

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Guilt vs. Shame

• Guilt
• A prominent negative emotion in individualistic
  cultures that involves an individuals sense of
  personal regret
• Used as a fundamental way of punishment for
  violations of cultural expectation
• Shame
• A prominent negative emotion in collectivistic
  cultures that involves an individuals sense of
  regret that reflects badly upon his/her family
  and upbringing
• Used in the Asian culture as a motivating emotion

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• Every cultural group may have its own
  interpretations of reality and may offer
  different perspectives on identity development,
  the nature of people, origin of disorders,
  standards for judging normality and abnormality,
  and therapeutic approaches.

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Value-Orientation Model of Worldviews

• One of the most useful frameworks for
  understanding differences among individuals and
  groups is the Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck model
  (1961).
• Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck clearly recognize that
  racial/ethnic groups vary in how they perceive
  time, activity, relationship with others, nature
  of people, and how people relate to nature.

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Implications for Clinical Practice

• Therapy in the United States falls into the
  Individualistic worldview.
• It is important for counselors to be culturally
  aware, to understand the basis of the worldview
  of others, and to understand and accept the
  legitimacy of such worldviews.
• Therapists can use this theory of worldviews to
  understand possible psychological dynamics of
  people

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Question??

• How much is ones locus of control a result of
• family experiences
• cultural experiences
• current experiences

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Ethnic Minority Worldview

• Its interesting..Allies best friend at her
  daycare is Rebecca. Allie is the only
  African-American child in daycare, and Rebecca is
  the only Asian-American girl, and somehow they
  seem to know that they are the most different
  from the other children, so they have become
  close. I dont know if the other children or the
  daycare workers actually treat them differently,
  but they just seem to know that they are
  different.
• 30 year old African American woman (page 77)
• How quickly is this learned?

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SES and worldview

• SES and career choice.
• Career choices are influenced by family
  background because parents and children often
  attain similar levels of education. Thus
• Middle income background is associated with
  high-paying professions.
• Low income background is associated with blue
  collar occupations.

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SES cont.

• SES and parenting style
• Parenting style is also associated with
  socioeconomic status.
• Middle income families encourage their children
  to be curious and independent, traits well suited
  for professional roles.
• Low income families teach children to conform and
  obey, traits needed to survive in subordinate
  positions.

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Worldview of women

• How is womens worldview shaped?
• Sexism
• Societal expectations
• Abuse by known perpetrators
• Sexual harassment
• Mental health issues
• Eating disorders, depression, etc.

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Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Worldview

• Worldview is shaped by
• heterosexism
• Fear and danger
• Lack of feeling safe
• Viewed from only their sexual orientation
• Not knowing if they will be accepted