Why do people help others? It’s a simple question but it intrigues psychologists because it doesn’t make sense evolutionarily speaking. In this post we look at one simple explanation: empathy. Why do we humans help one another when there’s nothing to be gained for ourselves? This seems to contradict what we know about evolutionary psychology – that we instinctively look …
Power Distance and Plane Crashes: The Gladwell Hypothesis
I recently read Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent book “Outliers.” In this book, Gladwell gives an interesting psychological explanation for why some countries have higher rates of plane crashes than others. The “Gladwell Hypothesis,” as it has come to be known, suggests that plane crashes can be explained by looking at cultural values. In particular, the cultural dimension of “power distance.” Power …
Globalization & Behaviour Part ThreeImmigration and Terrorism
It seems like a simple question – how does globalization influence behaviour? But the explanation is actually quite tricky since globalization itself is a rather abstract concept. Because of this, we need to find concrete examples. In the first two posts in this series we focused on changes in cultural dimensions and television through Westernization (see links below). This final …
Globalization & Behaviour Part TwoDoes Western TV cause eating disorders?
How does globalization influence behaviour? First we need to understand what globalization is and how it occurs. In the second post in this series, we review the definition of globalization and examine another potential example of its influence on human behaviour – through Western TV, the thin ideal and eating disorders. Globalization is often referred to as Westernization because the …
How does globalization influence behaviour?Part I: The rise of Japanese individualism and its effects on happiness
A simple way to understand how globalization has influenced human behaviour is to look at how some cultures values have changed over time. It is important to note that globalization is often referred to as Westernization, as the result is most frequently cultures adapting more Western values. In the first post in this globalization series, we are going to look …
Key Study: Conformity Across Cultures (Berry, 1967)
Conformity is one of the most popular topics in psychology. Not surprisingly, it’s also one of the most studied. The origins of conformity studies go back to Solomon Asch’s famous “line length” experiments. Almost as old is Berry’s now classic study that asked the question: why do different cultures have different rates of conformity? Conformity is the act of behaving …
Key Study: The Marshmallow Test Across Cultures: German vs. Cameroon Kids (Lamm et al. 2018)An example of how enculturation can influence behaviour.
“The Marshmallow Test” was designed by Stanford Psychologist Walter Mischel in the 1960s. It’s a test of a kid’s ability to delay gratification – to wait for something they really want. The ability to delay gratification has been correlated with a number of successful outcomes, including doing better at school, getting higher SATs and being less likely to end up …
Exam Question Bank: Paper 1: Sociocultural Approach
Disclaimer: These questions are not IB “official” questions and are written with our best guess as to what the probable exam questions may look like. Therefore, not every possible question is covered. Read More: IB Psychology Exam Question Banks Paper 1: Biological approach (Link) Paper 1: Cognitive approach (Link) Paper 1: HL Ext Bio Animal Studies (Link) Paper 1: HL Ext …
Cell phones at the dinner table – a qualitative observation (Radesky et al.)
Mobile phones are everywhere and they are consuming more and more of our time. Could this be having an effect on family life? The researchers who conducted this study wanted to investigate how cell phones might influence the interactions of parents and children. The researchers used a nonparticipant, covert observational method by watching a total of 55 caregivers eating with …
Exam Question Bank: HL Extension SocCult – Globalization
One, two or all three essay questions in Paper 1, Section B will be based on the extension topics. Sociocultural Approach: Globalization Remember that the extension questions are created by combining the HL extension topics with the three topics in each of the approaches. Sociocultural extension topics: “The influence of globalization on individual behaviour.” How globalization may influence behaviour The …
The sociocultural approach and diagnosis in Abnormal Psychology
Making an accurate diagnosis of a psychological disorder like depression or PTSD is very important. However, it’s not always easy and culture is one factor that can influence the validity and reliability of diagnosis. Culture and Reporting Symptoms One factor that may affect diagnosis is culture. In particular, people from different cultures may report their symptoms differently. For example, a …
Key Studies: Effects of acculturation on behaviour (Torres et al. 2012 and Nap et al. 2014)
Acculturation may refer to assimilation, but it can also refer to Berry’s model of acculturation which outlines four way in which someone may adapt to a new culture. The type of acculturation a person experiences can affect their behaviour. More specifically, it may moderate the effects of prejudice and discrimination. Acculturation is the process of adapting and changing as a …
Key Study: Bandura’s Bobo Doll (1963)
Introduction In one of his earlier research studies (1961), Bandura showed that children exposed to an aggressive model would later copy those same aggressive behaviours, even if the child was in a different setting. This supports the idea that behavior can be learned through observation, which is the major claim of Social Learning Theory (SLT). TV and films have become …
Socio-cultural Etiology of PTSD: Socioeconomic status
When you are writing an essay on etiologies, keep it simple to begin with. Find one basic etiology (brain abnormalities, appraisals or socioeconomic status) and explain how and why that’s linked with PTSD. Use simple studies to begin with, and then later in your essay explore the interactions of bio, cog and socio-cultural influences. Etiology – Socioeconomic status A common finding …
Key Study: FBM across cultures by Kulkofsky et al. (2011)
Relevant Topics: Emotion and Cognition & Cultural Dimensions This study compares flashbulb memory (FBM) formation across different cultures. It can be used to show the effects of one cultural dimension (individualism and collectivism) on behaviour (FBM formation). If you’re using FBM theory to explain how emotion can affect cognition, this could also be used in an essay as a counter-argument …
Sociocultural etiologies of bulimia nervosa (and studies)
Background Information Research has shown that body dissatisfaction is widespread amongst Western teenage girls and adult women. Furthermore, body dissatisfaction has been found to be an independent predictor of disordered eating. This makes it a significant risk factor in the development of Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and other eating disorders. Body dissatisfaction: being unhappy with one’s body. It’s usually measured by comparing …
What is an “emic concept?”
This post is for the “old” syllabus (May and Nov 2018 exams) and is not needed for the new one. The LO for the old syllabus is: “Using one or more examples, explain “emic” and “etic” concepts.” An emic concept refers to an approach to research that involves studying behaviour in a single culture. This is different to an etic …
Stereotype Threat
One way that stereotypes can have an effect on behaviour is by something called “stereotype threat.” This is defined as “being at risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one’s social group” (Steele & Aronson, 1995). In other words, you feel that you might behave in a way that confirms a stereotype about a group that you …
Schema Theory and Stereotypes
One way to explain how stereotypes are formed is to use the claims of schema theory. To recap, schema theory argues that we organize information in our mind by unconsciously creating categories (these categories are the schemas). We do this because we encounter millions of units of information on a daily basis and if we didn’t simplify this information into …
Key Study: Stereotypes, Social Identity Theory and the Out-group Homogeneity Effect (Park and Rothbart, 1982)
Background Information This study can be used to support the out-group homogeneity effect’s explanation of stereotype formation. The out-group homogeneity effect is a hypothesis that claims members of in-groups will perceive members of their own group as being more diverse than an out-group and they will perceive out-group members as being more similar to one another. If things are homogeneous …
Lesson Idea: Origins of Conflict
Your Task There are five resources below that you will need to complete this task. Working with your group, it’s a race to see who can answer this question first: All of these conflicts started for the same reason. What is that reason? Source 1: The “Beaver Wars” (Warpaths2peacepipes) This article summarizes a conflict in North America in the late …
Lesson Idea: Acculturation Strategies
This activity is designed to help students understant Berry’s four different acculturation strategies. Read the summaries below of how these immigrants have adjusted to life in their new culture. What strategy have they used? Assimilation, integration, separation or marginalization? Read about the four different strategies in this post. Monica – Is a 16 year old Egyptian girl who moved to …
What is “acculturation?”
Acculturation is the process of interacting with a new culture and adjust to life in that new culture. How we acculturate can affect our behaviour, including our mental health. In IB Psychology, we’re required to study how this process of interacting with new culture can affect our behaviour. For this reason, when you see the term “acculturation” it might be …
How do we “explain enculturation”?
The new enculturation topic can be confusing and tricky. I think it’s by far one of the hardest topics to write about in IB Psychology. Hopefully this post will provide a bit of help to go along with the explanations in IB Psychology: A Students Guide. What do you need to know? What is enculturation? What influences enculturation? How can enculturation …
Quizlets: Enculturation and Acculturation
The following Quizlets will help students revise key terms and studies for the enculturation and acculturation topics covered in IB Psychology: A Student’s Guide. Enculturation/Acculturation Key Terms Quizlet (Link) Enculturation/Acculturation Key Studies Quizlet (Link) A link to these have been included in the unit plan in the Social Influence Teacher Support Pack (Part I). Travis DixonTravis Dixon is an IB Psychology …
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