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Ethnocentrism - Asch

Ethnocentrism is a form of cultural bias. It is when the culture of the psychologist is taken as the norm. The psychologist then compares other cultures to their own.

Ethnocentric psychology

Ethnocentric psychology

  • Research that is ethnocentric is based on one culture.
  • The theories/conclusions are then generalised to all cultures.
  • Historically, most psychological research has been ethnocentric because it has been on Western culture.
__Asch (1951)__

Asch (1951)

  • An example of ethnocentric research is Asch’s research into conformity (1951).
  • The study involved testing whether or not people would conform to the majority.
  • Confederates (actors) were placed in the study to deliberately give wrong answers to the task given (stating which length of line is longer).
__Asch (1951)__ conclusions

Asch (1951) conclusions

  • Asch concluded that people will conform to majority opinion (even if the answer is wrong).
  • Because only Americans were used, the research is ethnocentric.
  • The study also only used university aged males, so it is also an example of gender bias.
  • To avoid this ethnocentrism, further research on different cultures should be conducted to be able to draw truly universal conclusions on conformity.

Ethnocentrism: Milgram

Ethnocentrism is a form of cultural bias. Ethnocentrism is when the culture of the psychologist is taken as the norm, the psychologist then compares other cultures to their own.

Intentions of the study

Intentions of the study

  • Another example of ethnocentric research is Milgram’s obedience experiments (1963).
  • The study was conducted after the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War Two. Milgram wanted to measure levels of obedience in people.
  • Milgram wanted to find out if all people could be capable of the evils of the Holocaust.
  • He wanted to determine if evil could be induced in people or if they were born with it (nature or nurture).
Method

Method

  • In the set-up of the study, Milgram had researchers give orders to give shocks (which were faked) to a confederate (planted actor).
Findings

Findings

  • He found that people could be ordered to give lethal shocks (they were fake, but this was unknown to the participants), showing obedience.
  • But this research has imposed etic because only American participants were used.
  • He did not take into account the cultural differences between Nazi Germany and USA.
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