Text 7 CULTURE AND PSYCHOLOGY
1 The academic discipline of psychology was developed largely in North America and Europe. Some would argue it’s 
been remarkably successful in understanding what drives human behavior and mental processes, which have long been 
thought to be universal. But in recent decades, certain researchers have started questioning this approach as they argue 
that many psychological phenomena are shaped by the cultures we live in.
2 Experimental psychologists typically study behavior in a small group of people, with the assumption that this can 
be generalized to the wider human population. If the population is considered to be homogeneous, then such inferences 
can indeed be made from a random sample group. However, this isn’t in fact the case. Psychologists have long 
disproportionately relied on undergraduate students as sample groups to carry out their studies, simply because they are 
readily available to researchers at universities. More dramatically still, more than 90% of participants in psychological 
studies have come from countries that are western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (W.E.I.R.D). Clearly, 
these countries are neither a random sample nor representative for the entire human population. The problem with such 
a framework is related to the absence of any attention to cultural differences.
3 Recent studies have shown that cultural differences in thinking styles affect memory, attention, and perception. 
Consider which two of the following objects go together: a panda, a monkey, and a banana. Respondents from Western 
countries routinely group the monkey and the panda together as both are animals. This is indicative of an analytic thinking 
style, in which objects are largely perceived independently from their context. In contrast, participants from Eastern 
countries will often select the monkey and the banana because these objects belong in the same environment and share 
a relationship (monkeys eat bananas). This is a holistic thinking style, in which an object and its context are perceived to 
be interrelated.
4 In a classic demonstration of cultural impact on thinking styles through experimentation, participants from Japan 
and the USA were presented with a series of animated scenes in a first task. Each scene lasted about 20 seconds and 
showed various aquatic creatures, sea plants, and rocks in an underwater setting. In the next one, which measured 
memory, both groups of participants were equally likely to remember noticeable objects, a larger fish for instance. 
However, Japanese participants were better than American participants at recalling background information, such as the 
color of the water. This is because the holistic thinking of Eastern cultures focuses on background just as much as 
foreground. 
5 Social psychologists have long claimed people are much more likely to describe themselves and others in terms of 
stable personal characteristics. However, the way people describe themselves seems to be culturally bound. Individuals 
in the western world are indeed more likely to view themselves as free, autonomous and unique individuals, possessing a 
set of fixed characteristics. But in many other parts of the world, people describe themselves primarily as a part of different 
social relationships, strongly connected with others. This is quite common in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 
6 The difference in the way people define themselves has even been demonstrated at the brain level. In a brain-
scanning study (fMRI), Chinese and American participants were shown different adjectives and asked how well these traits 
represented themselves. They were also asked to think about their mother while being scanned. In American participants, 
there was a clear difference in brain responses between thinking about oneself and their mother in the “medial prefrontal 
cortex”, which is the region of the brain which is typically associated with self-presentations. However, in Chinese 
participants, there was little or no disparity between the self and mother. This suggests that their self-presentation shared 
a large overlap with the presentation of a close relative.
7 Another domain that was originally dominated by studies using W.E.I.R.D. sample groups is mental health. 
However, culture can also influence our understanding of mental health in different ways. Because of the existence of 
cultural differences in behavior, the framework – which is based on detecting deviant or abnormal behaviors – isn’t 
complete. Thus, what may be seen as normal in one culture like modesty could be seen as deviating from the norm in 
another and be considered social phobia. 
8 Clearly, culture has a massive effect on how we view ourselves and how we are perceived by others, but we have 
only begun scratching the surface. The field now known as “cross-cultural psychology” is increasingly being taught at 
universities across the world. The question now is to what extent it will impact psychology as a discipline going forward.      Read the text and answer the questions below.
1. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is FALSE about psychology experiments? 
A) It is a common practice among psychologists to conduct them in small groups. 
B) Participants are selected randomly whether the population is homogeneous or not. 
C) Undergraduate students make up a large portion of participants because of their accessibility. 
D) The majority of participants have backgrounds that represent the human population inadequately. 
2. According to paragraph 3, people from Western countries tend to pick the monkey and the panda because they ---. 
A) are likely to think about animals holistically 
B) often look into the connection among objects 
C) focus on individual objects and assign them to categories 
D) analyze options in terms of the environment they are found in 
3. The word “one” in paragraph 4 refers to ---. 
A) task B) scene C) underwater setting D) classic demonstration
4. According to paragraph 4, American participants ---. 
A) remembered equally the color of the water and the larger fish 
B) did better than Japanese ones in remembering noticeable objects 
C) paid equal attention to background and foreground in animated scenes 
D) were less likely than Japanese participants to remember the color of the water 
5. We can infer from paragraph 5 that if a man from India were asked to describe himself, he would be more likely to say: 
A) I love chicken curry. 
B) I am intelligent and funny. 
C) I am a father of three boys. 
D) I am staying at my friend’s house.
6. The word “disparity” in paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ---.
A) configuration B) sensitivity C) utility D) variation
7. The text includes information about all of the following EXCEPT ---. 
A) the time length of the brain-scanning study (fMRI) 
B) the name of the brain part examined in the study 
C) an example of a behavior that could be seen abnormal 
D) the primary places where the field of psychology originated 
8. What is the text MAINLY about? 
A) Theories describing mental health should take cultural differences into account. 
B) Human behavior was previously thought of as universal, particularly in the Western world. 
C) Most psychological experiments are conducted in what the writer calls “W.E.I.R.D” countries. 
D) The way culture affects how we understand the world is challenging the foundations of psychology.