Culture and Human Psychology

On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered its most powerful earthquake to date, tipping the Richter scale at 9.0. Shortly thereafter, a massive tsunami washed away towns. In the midst of this natural disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station began to have partial meltdowns. There were leaks and explosions of radioactive gas, and another reactor caught fire. It looked like this would be the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

("Japan-Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis", 2011) How did the people from Japan respond to these devastating disasters? How did other countries respond to Japan? Now, consider if the location was different. There are nuclear power plants located throughout the world. Some of the largest ones are in Canada, France, and Ukraine. Do you think the responses from these countries would have all been the same as Japan's?

Individuals behave in ways that reflect the collective culture in which they live. Culture can be defined as an adaptation to the environment that promotes survival. Several factors are assumed to influence culture:

Ecological (e.g., geography, climate, and natural resources)

Social (e.g., density of population, money, government, history, and religion)

Biological (e.g., temperament, and personality of the population)

In your definition of culture, you might consider the aforementioned factors and the way they influence the behavior of individuals within a specific culture.

For this Discussion, select three different cultures. Consider how culture influences human psychology, behavior, and thought processes. 

Discussion Question

With these thoughts in mind:

Your definition of culture. Explain two ways culture influences human psychology. Then describe a specific example of human behavior (e.g., aggression, gender-specific behaviors, or mental health) and explain one way this behavior may be exhibited differently among the three cultures you selected. Support your responses using the Learning Resources and the current literature.

Reference:

Japan-Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. (2011, December 16). The New York Times. Retrieved from 

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html

Cultural Theories

There are as many human development theories as there are people in existence. Cross-cultural psychology focuses on the psychological aspects of other cultures. (Matsumoto, 2001) Some theories explain the cultural impact on human development, while others are broader and focus on the individual.

Some human development theories view culture as an antecedent or consequence of individual behavior, as well as enabling or restricting this behavior. For example, the theories of Bronfenbrenner and Vygotsky focus on the cultural influences of behavior, learning, and social development. Other human development theories, such as Piaget and Kohlberg's, focus primarily on the internal cognitive processes. Consider the similarities and differences of these theoretical perspectives (Gardiner and Kosmitzki, 2010).

For this Discussion, review the definition of culture you developed in your first Discussion as well as those defined throughout this week's Learning Resources. Consider how cultural and human development theories explain the influence of culture on an individual's behavior and reflect on how these theories may be used in cross-cultural psychology. Select two contrasting theoretical approaches to cross-cultural psychology and consider the similarities and differences between these concepts. Support your responses using the Learning Resources and the current literature.

Discussion Question

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by an identification of the two theoretical approaches to cross-cultural psychology you selected. Then, compare two similarities and two differences of those approaches. Finally, provide an example of how one of these theoretical approaches might explain the influences of culture on human behavior in one of the cultures you discussed in this week's first Discussion. Support your responses using the Learning Resources and the current literature.

References

Gardiner, H., & Kosmitzki, C. (2010). Lives across cultures: Cross-cultural human development (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.