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Nitya, Srujanika and Azaan - Romanian Orphan Studies | Rutters study

How cultural bias may be present?

Rutter's study was mostly done by Western psychologists who evaluated the growth of Romanian orphans who had been adopted into UK families. A difficulty is that the researchers assessed the children's development, attachment, and recovery using Western norms and standards for "healthy" attachment and emotional development.

Secure attachment, cognitive delay, and "normal social functioning" are all described from a Western, individualistic perspective that emphasizes emotional expressiveness, independence, and individual caregiver-child connections.

Other cultures (particularly collectivist or non-Western nations) may place value on collective connection, communal caregiving, or emotional restraint, which may be seen as unusual or maladaptive by Western standards.

How may the findings not apply to all cultures?

The methods of measurements used (e.g., standardized attachment assessments, IQ tests, and behavioral evaluations) were all developed and standardized inside Western contexts.

This adds cultural bias, since Western ideas of what is "normal" or "healthy" are used to define these terms. If you think that caregiving settings in the West are better or more "normal," you're applying Western ideas and methods to a different culture without taking into account its own social norms. This is called imposed etic bias.

The idea that the kids "recovered" after being adopted by British families may also be based on cultural superiority bias, which means that it suggests Western environments can "fix" the effects of poverty without taking into account the cultural and environmental factors that affected the kids' early development.

Why may the findings not apply all cultures?

Because the study was conducted in a specific cultural context (Romanian institutions and British adoptive families), the findings lack cross-cultural generalizability.

Institutional care varies by culture; not all orphanages run like Romanian ones did in the 1980s (with terrible neglect).

Attachment recovery may differ between cultures and family arrangements.

The idea of "maternal deprivation," which comes from Bowlby's theory, believes that having a single main attachment figure is important. However, this isn't always the case; in many collectivist societies, having more than one caregiver is normal.

How can we reduce cultural bias in psychological research?

- Using an emic approach – studying behaviour within a culture to avoid imposing Western ideas.

- Combining emic and etic perspectives (cultural relativism) – comparing cultures but interpreting results in their cultural context.

- Including cross-cultural samples – using participants from multiple cultures to improve generalisability.

- Acknowledging cultural bias – being reflexive and transparent about cultural limitations.

- Developing culturally fair tests – avoiding language or culturally biased test items.

- Training researchers in cultural awareness – preventing unconscious ethnocentrism.

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chaitra - Influence of early attachment on later relationships

The theories and research on attachment — especially Bowlby’s and Ainsworth’s work — come from Western, individualistic cultures (mainly the UK and the USA).
They assume things like:

independence is healthy,

secure attachment is the ideal,

and relationships are based on emotional openness and choice.

But in collectivist cultures, closeness and dependence on family are valued. So Western researchers might judge attachment styles in other cultures as “abnormal” or “unhealthy,” when really they’re just different.

The studies is mostly based in western societies and hence the results can be accurate to their cultures, but the same cant be said about japan and african or asian cultures.
For example:

In Japan, children are rarely separated from mothers, so the idea that “avoidant” behavior means insecurity doesn’t fit.

In some African or Asian cultures, kids are cared for by multiple adults, so the whole “one main attachment figure” thing doesn’t quite apply.

So — the influence of early attachment on later romantic relationships may look different or develop differently across cultures. The findings dont generalize to all cultures.

Use cross-cultural samples: instead of just testing Western participants, include people from collectivist and non-Western societies.

Have culturally sensitive researchers: people who understand the culture can interpret the data more accurately.

Avoid ethnocentric assumptions: don’t assume Western norms are universal. Researchers should describe behavior in cultural context, not label it as “secure/insecure” by Western standards.

Replicate studies in different cultures to see if results hold up or vary.

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Niyati - Authoritarian Personality

Adorno’s authoritarian personality has been criticized for being ethnocentric due to the fact that Adorno used a sample of white middle-class Americans. The findings from that set of participants was generalized to explain authoritarian attitudes across all cultures despite the significant cultural differences in authority, and obedience (Imposed etic)

Cultural bias is present in the authoritarian personality firstly because of the use of the F-Scale. The F-scale was used to measure authoritarian tendencies with questions that are rooted in individualistic cultural norms. Many of these items reflect values or beliefs that might not resonate or apply universally, which could lead to potential misclassification of authoritarian traits in collectivist cultures.

His work may not apply to all cultures as Adorno’s work primarily focuses on authoritarianism and its effects in minority groups specific to the Western agenda such as anti-semitism. This completely ignores how authoritarianism may manifest differently in collectivist cultures where authority is respected not due to prejudice but autonomy.

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Tarini

The cognitive interview by Geiselman et al 1985 is ethnocentric as it is mainly focused on the western culture. Geiselman’s study was based on violent crime films involving an American Sample based in Los Angeles. The testimony was conducted in three conditions; Cognitive interview, Los Angeles police testimony and an interview with hypothesis. As its based of on the western culture, the films shown would represent the American individualistic culture which may not representative of the collectivist cultures. Individualistic culture, would’ve had questions that are followed by the Los Angeles Cops, and based on the American society. Collectivist cultures would seem to comply more towards the authority figures as a result of authoritarian personality and the social hierarchy. Thus, this will oppose Geiselman’s results and lead to an etic construction. Hence, the cognitive interview is culturally bias, focusing on the American culture.

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The two process model of phobias development can be criticised for being ethnocentric following etic construct’s as it assumes that the universal process of obtaining and maintaining can be applied across cultures .As this model is based on classical and operant conditioning suggesting that phobias develop when a neutral stimulus is paired with a unpleasant/traumatic event and are maintained through avoiding . However, cultural differences in fear can trigger a challenge to if it is seen as universality. For example, in Western cultures phobias of spiders are common while other cultures fears may center on supernatural forces an example being the “evil eye” stated from olden beliefs and practices. This shows that phobias are not solely conditioned responses but also influenced by cultural norms. Therefore, the two-process model overlooks the role of cultural context, limiting its applicability across diverse cultures.

amani

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One reason why Shaffer and Emerson is enthrocentric is becuase they are only taking 60 babies from glasgow and generliasing the result based on that.

The reason why different attachments can't be applied to all cultures as different culture have different parenting style and method making different babies have different times where they form key behavior such as stranger anxiety or primary attachment etc

One criticism of shaffer and Emerson study is that it has ethnocentric .This can be seen in Shaffer and Emerson study where they took 60 Glasgow babies in which 31 are boys and 29 girls . This means with Shaffer and Emerson having 60 Glasgow babies results can't be generliased to all the cultures as different culture have different parenting style like individualistic believes in individual and collectivist believes in community caregiving . This will make the shaffer stages of attachment have imposed etics. This conclude shaffer and Emerson having ethnocentric as they have a sample of 60 Glasgow babies and not generliasable to all the societies.

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Farah- Mary Ainsworth

The strange situation can be considered ethnocentric due to its methodology. All of the participants that took part in the strange situation were all American. Which would mean that the findings cannot be generalized to other cultures. Ainsworth believed that secure attachments are the most prevalent and ideal for a child and parent to have. However, this only applies to western societies. As some cultures may have more resistant attachments as the 'norm'. For example, cultures like China or Japan had the lowest levels of secure attachments, as Japanese mothers never separated from their child and the infant was classed as having a 'resistant' attachment due to the extreme seperation anxiety. Which is not common in western cultures that have a balance between motherhood life and careers. Ainsworth’s classification system is quite ethnocentric and does not account for cultural differences , meaning that the findings may not provide an accurate understanding of attachment types in other cultures

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Michelle

One reason Bowlby’s Monotropic is ethnocentric, is because it cannot explain attachment in all cultures and primarily focuses on western cultures, meaning it cannot be applied to everyone.This is because Bowlby’s explanation for one primary attachment figure, can only be applied to individualistic cultures. This is because in collectivist cultures like East Asian countries, place a greater emphasis on interdependence and familial bonds, as in a lot of collectivist cultures there is multiple attachment figures involved in raising a child. This counter’s Bowlby’s Monotropic theory as it suggests that, forming multiple attachment can also be acceptable. Therefore Bowlby’s theory creates an imposed etic on forming attachment, leading to his research being culturally biased and not universally accepted.

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conformity to social roles (zimbardo)

The study was conducted in the United States using participants exclusively from American college students, who predominantly represent a individualistic culture. Individualistic societies prioritize personal identity and autonomy, potentially influencing the extreme behaviors observed in the guards and prisoners. In individualistic cultures, individuals are more likely to act in ways aligned with their personal beliefs or individual roles, possibly amplifying the guard aggression and prisoner compliance seen in Zimbardo’s study. In contrast, collectivist cultures, where group norms and harmony are emphasized, people may behave in a more cooperative and group-oriented manner, potentially altering the dynamics of the prison environment. For instance, guards in collectivist societies might show less aggression to maintain group harmony, and prisoners may exhibit higher levels of solidarity. This cultural bias challenges the external validity of Zimbardo’s findings. While the study provides insight into role conformity within Western contexts, it cannot reliably explain behavior in non-Western, collectivist societies, highlighting the importance of considering cultural factors when interpreting psychological research.

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Milgram (1963)

One limitation of Milgram's study is that it has evidence of ethnocentrism. This is because the sample used in Milgram's study was 40 white male Americans. The findings of his research cannot be applied to the rest of the world as the findings of his study would have only been generaliseble to white American men. Specifically, his findings could not be generalised to collectivist cultures either as it is deemed extremely disrespectful not to do what an authority figure tells you. Milgram did not take any of these factors into account causing his study to suffer from cultural bias.

However, one reason which may have caused ethnocentrism to happen in the first place may be due to the political situation in America at the time of the study. The tensions between the US and China (a collectivist culture) were extremely high which may have caused the lack of cultures being included in his study due to backlash.

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Shane:

Romanian Orphan study

(effects of institutionalization)

Rutter et al (1998) only focused on Romanian children who had been orphaned.

This would mean any findings were imposed etic when applied on different cultures. This is because children who grew up in Romania grew up in conditions completely alien to orphans in other countries.

This is caused by the type of orphanage they grew up in, meaning if the orphanage they grew up in believed in different morals or different cultures, they would most obviously been taught those things.

This would be focusing on romanian cultures trying to be imposed on other cultures which is highly ethnocentric and culturally bias.

This would mean findings are unable to be generalized to other cultures as many orphaned children in other countries will be brought up under different beliefs leading them to behave differently. These are considered extraneous variables that would've changed the idea of institutionalisation and its effects in different cultures.

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Bowlby’s monotropic theory suggests that infants form one primary attachment figure (usually the mother), which is crucial for their social and emotional development. However, in many non-Western cultures, caregiving and attachment are often shared among multiple family members, extended family, or even community members. For example, in some cultures, children may have multiple caregivers and experience different forms of attachment that do not fit the Western ideal of a single "primary" attachment figure.

Reese

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One criticism of research into ethnocentrism on the Cognitive interview is that it encourages responses of details in different perspectives. For example, people in collectivist cultures are more likely to view events from a group perspective, focusing on the relationships and dynamics rather than the individual details. Therefore, techniques to improve accuracy such as recalling events in different orders or changing perspective might be culturally inappropriate in certain societies where collective memory and social roles play a major part in recall.

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The cognitive Interview - Inaya

The cognitive interview can be considered as ethnocentric because it was designed by Fisher and Geiselman in the USA. It is based on western psychological studies and assumptions about memory and communication which may not consider cultural variations. In Western societies, people are often encouraged to speak freely, provide a lot of details, and focus on their own individual experiences. However, in many other cultures people may comunnicate differently. for example, In cultures where people respect authority figures, they might feel uncomfortable speaking too openly with interviewers, who are often seen as people in power. This could make it harder for them to build the type of collaborative relationship that the CI relies on.

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Bowlys theory of maternal depriviation can be considered ethocentric because of its asumption that the presence of one primary caregive is essential.However, in most collectivist cultures the child forms multiple attachments with other family members who play a significan role in their developement.this overlooks the importance of other attachments and overemphasizes the importance of the precent of a singular primary caregivers precence. Bowlbys theory imposes western values on other cutures as it asumes that the constant of the primary caregiver is essential and could affect developement if cultural practices are different.

ushnah

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the behavioural approach to phobias (two process model) is ethnocentric because it does not apply universally to all cultures. the model explains that phobias are acquired and maintained through conditioning and this idea comes from western psychological research. this emphaises individual experiences and observable behaviour. the model assumes that all cultures develop phobias in the same way, without considering differences in cultures like perception of fear. in non-western or collectivist cultures, phobias can be impacted more by social influence rather than conditioning. for example, in societies where they believe in spirituality, the fear might come from supernatural belief rather than conditioning. therefore, the behavioural approach to phobias is limited in application to fear and mental health across cultures.

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Tanushree

Eyewitness Testimony

Loftus's study of eyewitness testimony is ethnocentric and culture biased because it included forty-five American students as participants and the study was conducted with Westertnized tasks involving car accidents. This is unrepresentative of the wider population as eyewitness accounts around the world often suffer from the own race bias. This is a phenomenon where most people are sharper with recognizing faces in their own race/ethnicity when compared to others. This can lead to invalid eyewitness accounts and false convictions as the study doesn't account for how racial disparities or bias affect it.

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Deeara

Ainsworth’s ‘strange situation’ has been said to have  ‘cultural bias’  in the study by having an ‘ethnocentric’ view of attachment. This is because only Americans were used in this study which raised bias as desirable attachments in the US may not be seen as desirable in other cultures/countries. She suggested that 'secure' attachment was shown when the child showed distress when they were left alone by the mother figure. This led to the misunderstanding of other cultures and how they raise their children so overall, the findings may not be generalized in other countries.

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Shayaan

resistance of social influence is ethnocentric and culturally biased as it was conducted in western context. Western settings prioritise individualism leading to conclusions to cultures that rate individuality more highly. In collectivist cultures resistance behaviours could differ significantly, as the groups harmony is prioritised

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Sana

Romanian Orphan Studies

Studied effects on institutionalisaiton only through studies on Romanian orphans

This is problematic because there could have been lots of confounding factors in the behaviours of Romanian orphans.

Romanian orphans were raised during a difficult time in their country and were put through a lot of traumatic events. It's difficult to disentangle this trauma from the effects of institutionalisation.

Therefore, these findings may not account for effects of institutionalisation in other countries. This is because the sample that contributing to general findings was subject to extraneous variables.

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Manasa

Bowlby’s monotropic theory mainly focuses on western concepts on parenting and forming attachments . For example , Bowlby emphasizes the role of the primary attachment figure in the development of children , however this might not be applicable to everyone . Child rearing is often communal in non western cultures , i.e many cultures believe in multiple attachment figures that are equally important which completely opposes bowlby’s suggestion that a single attachment is necessary for healthy development . Therefore Bowlby”s monotropic theory is culturally biased and hence lacks universality as it cannot be generalized to all individuals.

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Mythili

Ainsworth’s strange situation:

• was conducted specifically on individualistic cultures, ignoring the lifestyle and behaviour of collectivist cultures.

• The whole research was done on the attachment patterns on children and families from western cultures

• When the same strange situation was cross- culturally replicated in collectivist cultures such as Korea and japan, lower rates of secure children were found. This is not true, it is simply the fact that freedom and separation is not as common in collectivist cultures as it is in individualistic cultures.

• This again highlights the fact that most psychological research is done on western participants limiting its applicability to the wider population.

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Ainsworth'a Strange Situation:

Ainsworth conducted her Strange Situation on 100 middle-class American families when finding her three attachment types, and generalised it to all cultures.

She did not take into account how child rearing practices in other cultures may affect the behaviour in the Strange Situation.

Evaluation Point:

One weakness of Ainsworth's Strange Situation is that it suffers from culture bias. The strange situation is based on American attachment behaviours and ignores how child rearing practices in other cultures may affect behaviour in the strange situation. For example, Japanese infants are rarely separated from their parents, therefore, this can result in the child being wrongly classified as being insecure resistant. This means that Ainsworth's Strange Situation is ethnocentric as she took the American attachment types and generalised it to all cultures and assumed universality, when in reality this cannot be done. Therefore, this is a weakness as it reduces the external validity of the procedure and limits its applicability.

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Nora Mahdy

The study of anxiety’s effect on eyewitness testimony, such as Yuille and Cutshall’s (1986) Canadian gun shop study, can be seen as ethnocentric because it is based on cultural assumptions about anxiety and memory recall that may not apply universally. Conducted in Canada, a Western culture, the study assumes that high-stress responses and the impact of traumatic events on memory are similar across cultures. However, in non-Western societies, cultural norms about emotional expression and perceptions of trauma can vary significantly. For example, in some cultures, people may be encouraged to minimize or reinterpret stress responses, which could impact how they recall events. This cultural bias means that findings from Western-based studies like Yuille and Cutshall’s may not fully apply to eyewitnesses from diverse cultural backgrounds, as they may experience and process anxiety differently, affecting the generalizability of the research.

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Ainsworth Strange Situation:

Ainsworth research into attachment types only reflected the norms of the US culture. The study suggested that secure attachment was defined as a baby showing moderate distress when left alone by the primary caregiver (mother). This result has led to the misinterpretation of rearing practices in children. Babies from other countries such as Japan are rarely left on their own, however they are more likely to be classed as insecurely attached as they showed distress on separation. Cultural difference's in children's experience means they respond differently.

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Omar Solh 13B

One limitation of using deviation from social norms to define abnormality is that the definition itself is ethnocentric. This is due to the cultural relativism. This is because a person from one cultural group may label someone from another cultural group as behaving abnormally according to their standards of the person behaving that way. An example of this is hearing voices, which is socially acceptable in some cultures however in the majority of other cultures it would be seen as a sign of mental abnormality such as in the UK. As a result, this creates problems for people from one culture living within another culture group, therefore limiting the generalisability of the definition itself.

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Eyewitness Testimony

Eyewitness testimony is based almost entirely on what the witness “saw” however memory can be falsely reconstructed and altered upon recall in the basis of one’s own cultural and social expectations. For instance, an attack on a white man by a brown man, when recollected by a witness they may recall seeing a weapon in the attackers hand when in reality this was not present. Culture bias may result in recall being unreliable hence, the evidence from eyewitness testimony may not be valid.

Tanisha

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Milgram’s obedience study is ethnocentric and culturally biased because it only included American participants, primarily middle-class men, and took place in a Western context. His findings, often generalized as universal, don’t account for cultural differences in obedience and authority. Later studies in different cultures showed varying obedience levels, highlighting that his results may not apply globally.

Ms Neethu