Culture and Personality: A Long Past, but a Short History

Fons J. R. van de Vijver www.fonsvandevijver.org

Overview • 1. What is culture and personality?

• 2. How to Study Culture—Personality Link?

• A Short History • Emic-Etic Approaches to Personality

• 3. SAPI Project: Personality in South Africa

• Background • Current State

• 4. Prospects and Conclusions

1. Culture and Personality

• How would your personality be if you would have grown up in rural Kenya/Shangai/…?

4

History

• Current studies build on a long tradition • Field with a long history and a short past

– Started with Freud – Taken up in anthropology

• Psychological anthropology • Freudian theory first systematic theory of personality • Culture as “personality writ large”

– Voluminous literature

Rethinking Psychological Anthropology Continuity and Change in the Study of Human Action, Second Edition

Philip K. Bock (1999)

Problems of Early Approaches • Methodologically often poor studies:

– Evidence often impressionistic – No serious study of interrater issues

– Mead (Coming of Age in Samoa, 1928):

• “[s]he emphatically criticized the neurosis-inducing nuclear family, including the stress of Christian monogamy, and used her Samoan material to demonstrate an alternative to premarital chastity...”

– Freeman (Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and

Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth, 1983): • Challenged all of Mead's major findings. All Samoan

women emulated the taupou system and Mead's informants denied having engaged in casual sex as young women, and claimed that they had lied to Mead

2. Emic-Etic Distinction

• Pike (1967): – "Emic“: an emic account comes from a person

within the culture; indigenous perspective • E.g., what is extroversion in rural Zambia?

– "Etic“: account is a description of a behavior or belief by an observer, in terms that can be applied to other cultures

• E.g., is the structure of extroversion universal?

• Long considered to be conflicting

Cross-Cultural Personality Models

Universality (etic approach) Using imposed etic concepts emphasizes universals or core

similarities in all human beings Are the imposed etic

personality constructs universally applicable?

Cultural specificity (emic approach) Utilizes a culture-specific

orientation - emic concepts Indigenous and culturally

relevant constructs may be missing

Are there personality characteristics that are important to the understanding of personality in the local culture that have been left out in Western measures?

Personality: Evidence for Universality

• Evidence largely based on two lines of research • 1. Five-Factor Model (Costa, McCrae)

– Five factors: Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness

• 2. Three-Factor Model (Eysenck) – Three factors: Extroversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism

Evidence for Cultural Specificity

• Many examples in literature • South-African concept of Ubuntu

–“Meaning” • "humanity towards others" • "I am because we are" • "A person 'becomes human' through other

persons" • "A person is a person because of other persons"

Emic versus Etic?

• Personality is neither completely universal, nor completely culture-specific

• Emic and Etic instead of Emic vs. Etic • How can we combine the two?

– Much evidence in cross-cultural psychology that basic structure of psychological functioning is universal, but manifestations can differ across cultures

3. Study of Personality in South Africa • Why South Africa?

– Multicultural and multilingual society • English as lingua franca

– Current availability of personality inventories • Personality instruments are imported, usually from the US or UK • No culture-informed personality instruments available

• Legal framework: Employment Equity Act 1998: “Psychological testing and other similar assessments of an employee are

prohibited unless the test or assessment being used - a) has been scientifically shown to be valid and reliable; b) can be applied fairly to all employees; and c) is not biased against any employee or group.”

• Project has two aims

– Scientific: enlarge insight in culture—personality relationship in a mixed Western--non-Western context

– Societal: develop instrument that is adequate for all ethnic groups

SAPI Project: South African Personality Inventory

Financially supported by NRF and SANPAD

• The SAPI, an acronym for South African Personality Inventory, is a project that aims to develop an indigenous personality measure for all 11 official languages in South Africa. Participants are Byron Adams (University of Johannesburg and Tilburg University, the Netherlands), Deon de Bruin (University of Johannesburg), Karina de Bruin (University of Johannesburg), Carin Hill (University of Johannesburg), Leon Jackson (North-West University), Deon Meiring (University of Pretoria and University of Stellenbosch), Alewyn Nel (North-West University), Ian Rothmann (North-West University), Michael Temane (North-West University), Velichko Valchev (Tilburg University, the Netherlands), and Fons van de Vijver (North-West University and Tilburg University, the Netherlands).

Languages of South Africa

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa

Afrikaans English isiNdebele isiXhosa isiZulu Sesotho sa Leboa Sesotho Setswana siSwati Tshivenda Xitsonga No language dominant

Language % Language % Zulu 22.70% Sotho 7.60% Xhosa 16.00% Tsonga 4.50% Afrikaans 13.50% Swati 2.50% English 9.60% Venda 2.40% Northern Sotho 9.10% Ndebele 2.10% Tswana 8.00% Other languages 1.60%

How to Study Implicit Personality Models?

• Psycholexical approach – What is important about personality is laid down

in language (Goldberg) – Use dictionaries (e.g., de Raad)

• Variation on psycholexical study approach – Not dictionaries, but interviews were used – Dictionaries available, yet

• Exhaustiveness not documented • Everyday usage may not well be reflected in

dictionaries

Stages of the Project

Qualitative Stage 1 – Identifying personality structure in an indigenous,

comparative study – Generating items

– Piloting items/scales Quantitative Stage 2 (work in progress)

Method •Participants

•Adults from all eleven language groups •Sample guidelines: Socio-economic Status, Education (low, medium, High), Males/Females, Age (18-35 yrs & 35 older) •Interview done in own language

•Instrument •Person descriptions of familiar persons

•Your own personality – Describe yourself •Your best friend of the same sex •Your best friend from the opposite sex •A parent

Example: Venda Data QUESTIONS ITEMS VENDA RESPONSE ENGLISH RESPONSE

1 1 Vha na tshitalulaDiscriminative - favour other children than others

1 1 Vha na tsedaselfish - doesn't like to share food with others

1 1Vho vha vha si na thuthuwedzo

Did not encourage his children to school

1 1Vho vha vha sa koni u tandulula thaidzo

He was unable to deal with his problems

1 1

Vho vha vha si na dzangalelo na zwithu zwa mudzimu Did not believe in God

2 2

Ha pfi -Ha tanganedzi ngeletshedzo dza vhanwe vhathu

Stubborn - Doesn't take other people 's advices

2 2U a thogomela vha lushaka lwa hawe

Caring - Takes good care of his family

2 2

Ha bviseli khagala muhumbulo wawe na vhupfiwa

Doesn't show his feelings and or express his mind

2 2 U na vhudifhinduleli Responsible

2 2 Ha tati dzi khaeduRisk taker - Not afraid of challenges

3 3Tshitalula - Vho vha vha tshi talula vho mazwale

Discriminative - favour other daughter in laws than others

3 3 Zwitshele Likes to gossip

3 3 Thuthuwedzo mmbiInfluence the grand-children to believe evil gods

Stages in Qualitative Data Analysis

• Phase 0: Preparing – Preparation (translating, remove non-

personality data, take synonyms together, collating data)

• Phase 1: Consultation – Language Expert Consultation – Discussions in research group

• Phase 2: Analysis – Conceptual Cluster Analysis

• condensing 53,000 responses to a much smaller number

• retaining as much information as possible • Create homogeneous clusters

Phase 1 Language Expert Consultation

• Around 120 interviews target language - translated into English (approx. 52,000 responses)

• Completed excel data sheet - scrutinized by a language practitioner expert in the target language

• A new excel file with changes by the language expert

Phase 2: Cultural Experts Xhosa Zulu Tsonga Venda Sesotho

Seswati Sepedi Setswana Afrikaans Ndebele

Condensing the Data

Facets Categorising Cleaning Response in English Response in Ndebele

abusive (34) abusive abused He is abused Uhlukulumezekile epilweni

abusive abused him he abused him even when abuse

was not there kade ambuser lokha ingekho

abusive abuses me He abuses me Uyangi hlukumeza

abusive Abusive person An abusive person Umuntu ohlukumezako

Phase 3 Conceptual Cluster Analysis

• Process of condensing data:

1. 53,000 responses

2. 550 subfacets

3. 188 facets

4. 37 subclusters (defined)

5. 9 clusters

Meddlesomeness Conflict Seeking

Interpersonal relatedness

Amiability

Egoism

Empathy

Gratefulness

Approachability

Fairness

Achievement Orientation Thoughtlessness

Dedication

Sociability

Integrity

Dominance

Epistemic curiosity

Materialism Emotional Control

Emotional Sensitivity

Ego Strength

Self-discipline

Active support

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

EXTRAVERSION

INTEGRITY OPENNESS

EMOTIONAL STABILITY

Expressiveness

Positive emotionality

Orderliness

Neuroticism

Encouraging others

Guidance

FACILITATING

Broad-mindedness

Openness to experience

Skillfulness

Aesthetics

INTELLECT

Reasoning

Social Intellect

SOFT-HEARTEDNESS

Hostility

RELATIONSHIP HARMONY

Courage

Balance

Subcluster Facet Example Response (Language)

Approachability Accommodating Addressed us in English so we could understand (Xhosa)

Approachable She is approachable, I could speak to her about anything (S Sotho)

Arrogant He thinks he is better than all the other people (N Sotho)

Flexible Flexible to situation (Tswana) Humble She is a humble and down to earth person (Ndebele) Open for Others Accepts people for who and what they are (English) Proud Is proud and thinks of herself better than others (Swati) Stubborn Was stubborn, did not listen to anybody (Tswana) Tolerant Tolerant (Afrikaans) Welcoming Welcoming – to everyone (Venda) Conflict-Seeking Argumentative Likes to quarrel (Xhosa) Provoking Provocative and calls people names (Swati) Troublesome Creates tension for nothing (Zulu)

Cluster: Relationship Harmony

Interpersonal Relatedness Appeasing If she made you angry she will come to your house and apologise (N Sotho)

Constructive Shares constructive ideas (Xhosa) Cooperative Works well with others (Tswana) Forgiving She holds no grudges (Tsonga)

Good Relations with Another Maintains a good relation with others (Venda)

Peaceful He likes peace amongst people (N Sotho)

Peacekeeping He likes to bring peace where there is misunderstanding (Ndebele)

Well-Mannered Doesn’t ask nicely (Afrikaans) Meddlesomeness Gossiping A person who spreads rumours about other people (S Sotho) Interfering Likes to interfere in other people’s business (English)

Active Support Community Involvement (11/143) There is one person who is always looking after the community (Zulu)

Heedful She listens when you talk to her (S Sotho) Helpful Is helpful when you are in need (Swati) Protective Protective (Xhosa)

Solving Problems of Others If I have a problem, she knows how to solve it (Ndebele)

Supportive I like to give people my support (Tswana) Amiability Friendly She is a friendly person (Tsonga) Irritating He is annoying and irritating (S Sotho) Kind Kind (Venda) Likeable He is loved by everyone (S Sotho) Pleasant He was a nice person to live with (Zulu) Stern Always serious, not smiling (Xhosa) Egoism Generous One who is generous and gives food when asked (Swati) Greedy Greedy (Afrikaans) Jealous A person who is jealous of other people’s possessions (Zulu) Self-Centered All revolves around her, she thinks (English) Selfish Wants everything for himself (Xhosa)

Cluster: Soft-Heartedness

Empathy Agreeing Agreeable (Tswana) Caring Cares about other people (English) Compassionate She feels pity for you when you are in trouble (N Sotho) Considerate Considers others’ feelings (Afrikaans) Humane He is good-natured and shows humanity (Swati) Loving Loving and caring – concerned about my life (Venda) Respectful He respects other people (Tsonga) Satisfying Others Makes people happy all the time (Xhosa) Gratefulness Appreciative She doesn’t appreciate the good of other people (Ndebele) Grateful He is not thankful for what people do for him (N Sotho) Hostility Abusive Abusive – physically and emotionally (English) Aggressive He is aggressive and likes fighting (Tswana) Critical He likes criticising others (Tsonga) Cruel He is a cruel person (S Sotho) Delinquent Mugged people (Xhosa) Denigrating Likes to belittle others (Venda) Distrustful He mistrusts people (English) Exploiting Uses other people (Afrikaans) Intimidating People were afraid of him (N Sotho) Verbally Aggressive Swears at his parents (Zulu)

Wrathful Is wrathful and scolds especially when you have disappointed her (Swati)

In Words,…

• Considerable overlap with Big Five Model – Neuroticism/Emotional Stability – Extraversion – Conscientiousness

• Yet, – Openness split up (Openness and Intellect) – Agreeableness split up and broader in our study

(Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness) – Integrity added (cf. HEXACO model) – Facilitating as additional cluster

• Structure to be confirmed in quantitative work

Additional Analyses

• Interest in salience of clusters per group and in traitedness – Literature (Church): behavior is seen as more trait

based (“traited”) in individualistic countries and as more situational (less traited) in collectivistic countries

1. Categories of Personality Description and Contextualization

Category Examples Description content Trait cheerful, helpful Reified trait (virtue) (has) sense of humor, respect Behavior makes jokes, cares Preferences & perceptions likes, wants, willing to, believes/thinks, hopes, expects

Competency knows, understands, is able to Emotional state (is, gets) afraid, irritated Role (like) a father to me Role-fitting (not) a good father Relational state always there, on good terms, close to me Social identity Christian, Zulu Supernatural belief believes in ancestors Other-referring people respect him, we do things together Similarities & opposites we are similar, is like me Peripheral to personality a divorced, tall, taxi driver, lives in Soweto Others, uncodable a she is the reason I left school, friends are no good Description contextualization Domain helps with house chores Temporal & situational when, if, sometimes, on certain occasions General relational with, to (people, others) Specific relational with, to (her husband) Composite respectful to people when they come to work

• Loglinear analysis of frequencies of responses per category and culture

• Main interest in interactions

Black Coloured & Indian

White

Category P SR P SR P SR

Description content

Trait .34 -17.22 .50 12.72 .64 31.62

Reified trait (virtue) .02 -5.33

.03 2.38

.05 11.17

Behavior .29 7.13 .25 -1.74 .16 -16.23

Preferences & perceptions .26 18.19 .08 -21.08 .07 -26.58

Competency .02 -1.47

.02 2.34

.02 1.59

Emotional state .01 -0.49

.02 2.81

.01 -1.28

Role .01 -0.45

.01 2.47

.00 -1.07

Role-fitting .01 -1.13

.01 2.36

.01 0.71

Relational state .01 -0.68

.01 3.82

.01 -1.71

Social identity .01 3.20

.00 -4.17

.00 -4.28

Supernatural belief .00 2.88

.00 -2.99

.00 -4.50

Other-referring .03 -1.90

.05 7.35

.03 -1.79

Similarities & opposites .00 -2.13

.01 2.98

.01 2.67

Traits more common among Whites, behaviors and preferences more among Blacks

Description Contextualization Black Coloured &

Indian White

Category P SR P SR P SR

Context-free .66 -8.02 .76 5.75 .85 14.87

Domain .02 -0.14 .03 2.82 .02 -2.16

Temporal & situational .04 3.93 .03 -2.65 .02 -7.43

General relational .10 7.01 .05 -8.83 .05 -9.61

Specific relational .14 8.08 .10 -3.46 .05 -17.06

Composite .04 5.56 .02 -4.49 .01 -9.87

Contextualization more common among Blacks than among Whites (in line with traitedness perspective)

Summary

• Both on cluster and facet level, Blacks favor social-relational descriptions, Whites favor personal-growth descriptions, with Indians in the middle – Note: core agreeableness facets (approachable,

flexible, friendly) relatively more salient among Whites

• Tentative interpretation: characteristics more salient for functioning in groups with many contacts with outgroup members

4. Prospect 1. Culture and Personality: The Next Stage

• What would be topics of incoming PhD students?

• New topics in culture and personality will emerge, building on current themes – Personality in other domains than self-reports – Social aspects of personality – Border between personality and social psychology

will become more vague

2. Cross-Cultural Psychology in Sweden

Country 2011 Country 2011

Finland 67936 Thailand 19008

Iraq 55846 United Kingdom 18113

Poland 42743 China (excluding Hong Kong) 15494

Denmark 40468 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 14301

Norway 34812 Afghanistan 12710

Somalia 33003 Turkey 12352

Finland 67936 Romania 10150

Germany 27755

• Total number of immigrants (including second generation) = 1,858,000 ( 19.8% of total population, which is similar to most other Western European countries)

• Relevance of cross-cultural studies in Sweden obvious, yet…

• Few studies in Sweden of – Adequacy of existing instruments for immigrant

groups – Acculturation

• How do immigrants deal with their ethnic and Swedish culture?

• Sweden not a big country on “the cross-cultural psychology map” – Norway and Finland more present

General Conclusion

• Qualitative stage yielded a rich data set – Emic notably in the social-relational domain

• Further quantitative work needed and in progress

• Approach suitable in many other countries – Professionalism requirements demand

psychologists to be sensitive to cross-cultural differences

Thank you very much for your attention

www.fonsvandevijver.org