Chapter 17

Culture and Personality

Personality PsychologyPersonality Psychology

Culture and PersonalityCulture and Personality

Are concepts of personality that are prevalent in one culture also applicable in other cultures?

Do cultures differ in the levels of particular personality traits?

Does the factor structure of personality traits vary across cultures?

Are certain features of personality universal?

What is Culture?What is Culture?

Humans everywhere show striking patterns of local within-group similarity in their behavior and thought, accompanied by profound intergroup differences

3 Goals of3 Goals of Cultural Personality PsychologyCultural Personality Psychology

To discover the principles underlying the cultural diversity

To discover how human psychology shapes culture

To discover how cultural understandings in turn shape our personality

3 Major Approaches to Culture3 Major Approaches to Culture

Evoked Culture

Transmitted Culture

Cultural Universals

Evoked CultureEvoked Culture

Evoked CultureEvoked Culture

Phenomena that are triggered in different ways by different environmental conditions

Universal underlying mechanism

Environmental differences

Evoked CultureEvoked Culture

Evoked Cooperation

High-variance conditions

Egalitarianism

Evoked CultureEvoked Culture

Evoked Mating Strategies

Children in uncertain and unpredictable environments have a mating strategy marked by early reproduction

Children from stable homes with predictability opt for a strategy of permanent mating

Evoked CultureEvoked Culture

Honors, Insults and Evoked Aggression

“A Culture of Honor”

How dare you insult me!

Uh Oh

Transmitted CultureTransmitted Culture

Transmitted CultureTransmitted Culture

Representations that exist originally in one person’s mind that are transmitted to other minds through observation or interaction with the original person

Transmitted CultureTransmitted Culture

Cultural Differences in Moral Values

Transmitted to children early in life

Specific to particular cultures

May be cultural universals

Transmitted CultureTransmitted Culture

Cultural Differences in Self-Concept

Self-concepts differ substantially from culture to culture

Interdependence/Independence

Individualism/Collectivism

Vertical-Horizontal Distinction

Transmitted CultureTransmitted Culture

Cultural Differences in Self-Enhancement

The tendency to describe and present oneself using positive or socially valued attributes

Stable over time making them enduring personality features

Intragroup and Intergroup comparisons

Transmitted CultureTransmitted Culture

Personality Variations Within Culture

Effects of Social Class

Effects of Historical Era

Cultural UniversalsCultural Universals

Cultural UniversalsCultural Universals

The attempt to identify features of personality that appear to be universal

These constitute the “human nature” level of analyzing personality

Cultural UniversalsCultural Universals

Personality Characteristics of Men and Women

Tremendous consensus across cultures of gender trait adjectives

May represent stereotypes

May reflect real sex differences

Cultural UniversalsCultural Universals

Emotional Expression

Cultural UniversalsCultural Universals

Personality Evaluation

Are there universal personality descriptors?

Possibility of “dominance” and “warmth”

Cultural UniversalsCultural Universals

Five-Factor Model

Some personality psychologists believe that this model represents more than just ways of evaluating people; it represents universal dimensions along which individuals differ

SummarySummary

Evoked Culture

Transmitted Culture

Cultural Universals