The SocialCultural Perspective

How ethnicity, gender and culture form our personality

Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Individualism – Cultures where people define themselves according to their personal identity & give priority to personal goals.– Example: I am a outgoing. I am a teacher.

• Collectivism – Cultures where people define themselves according to the group they belong to. Their goals are the goals of the group.– Example: I am Irish Catholic.

Which Culture is the U.S.?

• Capitalism encourages us to amass personal fortunes and shun social programs.

• Movies glorify the person who stands up to authority and stands out from the crowd.

• “Be all YOU can be.”• We are Individualistic.• Eastern Cultures (Japan, China) tend to be

more Collectivist.

Sociocultural Factors affect our Self Concept & Self Esteem

• How we believe other people see us affects our belief about ourselves.• Ethnic groups that have held power have higher views of the

themselves.• White women have a higher dissatisfaction with their appearance.

Why?– Media idea for white female models is on average 9% taller and 16% slimmer

than the average woman in the U.S.

• 58% of high school African American girls were happy with who they were vs. only 22% of white girls. Why is this?– A.A. girls believe that if they are treated negatively it is not because who they

are or what they do but a third factor, prejudice while white girls blame themselves for not meeting the dominant culture’s ideal.

– A.A. girls do not compare themselves to the white models of the media but to other girls in their group.

Acculturation• Acculturation – process of adapting to a new or

different culture. Different paths an immigrant can take to this:– Complete assimilation – stop your native country’s customs

and completely adopt the new country’s customs and language.

– Separation – Retain native country’s customs and language and never fully adopt those of the new country.

– Bicultural – Combine native customs with new country customs and values (melting pot).

• People who are bicultural have the highest self-esteem.

The Social-Cognitive Perspective:

Evaluating the Perspective

Evaluation of Socialcultural Perspective

• Most agree that external forces are internalized and affect how we see ourselves.

• Social perspective allows us to appreciate how culture shapes who we are.

• Criticism: Ignores the influences of unconscious, emotions, conflicts