SUBJECT

Culture and Society

PSYB17-109

lecture

Bachelor

Faculty of Education and Psychology

Psychology BA

3

Semester 1

Autumn semester

The course emphasizes the significance of cultural and historical approach in psychological research. It examines the different social psychological processes in historical context: how people’s personality and attitudes shape society and history, and how social context shapes human behaviour. Social psychological theories will be applied to analyse group violence, scape goating, genocide, terrorism, collective memory and political attitudes. Besides presenting concepts and dimensions of culture, it briefly introduces cross-cultural and cultural psychology and gives an insight into those theories which interpret human behaviour and development with a focus on culture. It provides students with culture-awareness and culture sensitivity and calls attention to the inherent impact of culture in all human behaviours.
 

Learning outcome, competences
knowledge:

•  Understanding the significance of cultural and historical approach in psychological research
•  Understanding the role of different social psychological processes in historical context
•  Understanding of social psychological mechanisms influencing group violence, scape goating, genocide, terrorism, collective memory and political attitudes.
•  Knowledge and understanding of the main characteristics of the values of diffferent cultures
•  Understanding the interrelationships between human behavior, human development and culture.

attitude:

•  Openness to accepting the values of other cultures
•  Recognition of cultural differences, the importance of individual cultural identities and the complexity of everybody’s identity
•  Openness to exploring and understanding how people’s personality and attitudes shape society and history, and how social context shapes human behaviour

skills:

•  Ability to reflect on the hidden assumptions of one’s own culture and group
•  Ability to identify and critically relate to someone’s own prejudices and ethnocentric views
•  Ability to contribute to the reduction of prejudices and intergroup hostility, to improve intergroup relations.

Content of the course

Topics of the course

•  Culture and its dimensions
•  Approaches: Cross-cultural, cultural psychology, indigenous psychology
•  Socialization and enculturation: acculturation, cultural transmission and individual development
•  Self-development and multicultural identities
•  Gender relations
•  Childrearing in families and communities
•  History, politics, and social psychology
•  Personality and politics
•  Political violence: protest, revolution and scapegoating
•  Political violence: genocide and terrorism
• Collective trauma, collective memory, and social identity
•  Social hierarchy, fairness and social justification
•  Political ideology: motivations (terror management theory)

Learning activities, learning methods

Attendance and active participation in classes, reading compulsory and supportive materials.
Evaluation of outcomes
Learning requirements, mode of evaluation, criteria of evaluation:
requirements

•  Attendance and active participation in classes,
•  Reading compulsory and supportive materials.

mode of evaluation:

•  2 written tests during the semester (dates to be designated at the beginning of the course), the average result of these two tests will be offered as the grade for the course or written exam during the examination period. Both midterm tests and written exam are based on lecture materials and readings

criteria of evaluation:

•  understanding the topics and connections between different topics, concepts discussed in the course,
•  the capacity to place them in a broader background.

Reading list
Compulsory reading list

• Segall, M. H., Dase, P. R., Berry, J. W., & Poortinga, Y. H. (1999) (second edition) Human behavior in global perspective. An introduction to cross-cultural psychology. Allyn&Bacon, pp. 1-8. 25-42. 51-77. 206-221. 237-249.
•  Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307 0919.1014
• Acculturation: definitions, main frameworks, acculturation strategies and influencing factors. Berry, J.W., Breugelmans, S.M., Poortinga, Y.H., Chasiotis, A., Sam, D.L. (2011) Cross-cultural Psychology: Research and Applications. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 13. Acculturation. pp. 307-335.
•  Fiske, A. P., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., & Nisbett, R. E. (1998). The cultural matrix of social psychology. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed., pp. 915–981). Boston: McGraw-Hill. pp. 919-930: from „II. Two contrasting socialities…” till the end of „Self” chapter
•  Keller, H. (2013). Culture and Development: Developmental Pathways to Psychological Autonomy and Hierarchical Relatedness (2). Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 6(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1052
•  Hong, Y., Wan, C., No, S., Chiu, C. (2007) Multicultural identities. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (eds.) Handbook of cultural psychology . The Guilford Press. pp. 323 335.
•  Kagitcibasi, C. (2007) Family, self and human development across cultures. Theoy and application. 2nd edition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Chapter 5: Values of children and the family. pp. 125-164.
•  Morelli, G.A., Rogoff, B., Angelillo, C. (2009) Cultural variatons in young children’s access to work or involvement in specialized child-focused activities. In Smith, P.B. & Best, L. D. (Eds.) Crosscultural Psychology. Volume 2 Developmental Psychology. Sage. pp. 199-220.
• Mérei, F. (1949) Group leadership and institutionalization. In: Human Relations, 1949. II. pp. 23-39.
• Altemeyer, B. (2004) The Other „Authoritarian Personality” In Jost, J.T. & Sidanius, J. (eds.) Political Psychology. Psychology Press, pp. 85-106.
• Feierabend, I.K., Feierabend, R.L. & Nesvold, B.A. (1972) Social Change and Political Violence: Cross-National Patterns. In Feierabend, I.K. et al. (eds): Anger, Violence and Politics. Prentice Hall, pp. 107-118.
• Glick, P (2002) Sacrified Lambs Dressed in Wolves’ Clothing: Envious Prejudice, Ideology, and the Scapegoating of Jews. L. S. Newman, R. Erber (eds.): Understanding Genocide. The Social Psychology of the Holocaust. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 113-143.  Baumeister, R.F. (2002) The Holocaust and the Four Roots of Evil. In: L. S. Newman, R. Erber (eds.): Understanding Genocide. The Social Psychology of the Holocaust. Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 241-259.
  Silke, A. (2003) The Psychology of Suicidal Terrorism In: Andrew Silke (ed.): Terrorists, Victims, and Society. Psychological Perspectives on Terrorism and its Consequences. pp. 93-108.
• Pennebaker, James W. – Banasik, Becky L.: On the Creation and Maintenance of Collective Memories: History as Social Psychology. In Pennebaker, James W. – Paez, Dario – Rimé, Bernard (eds.): Collective Memory of Political Events. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence E. Ass. 1997, pp. 3–20.
•  Howard Schuman – Robert F. Belli – Katherine Bischoping: The Generational Basis of Historical Knowledge. In Pennebaker, James W. – Paez, Dario – Rimé, Bernard (eds.): Collective Memory of Political Events. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence E. Ass. 1997, pp. 47–77.
• Napier, J.E. & Jost, J.T. (2008) Why Are Conservatives Happier than Liberals? In: Psychological Science, Vol.19. pp. 565-572.
• John T. Jost – Vagelis Chaikalis-Petritsis – Dominic Abrams – Jim Sidanius – Jojanneke van der Toorn – Christopher Bratt (2012) Why Men (and Women) Do and Don’t Rebel: Effects of System Justification on Willingness to Protest. In: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Vol.38. No.2. pp. 197- 208.
• Weise, D.R. - Pyszczynski, T. - Cox, C.R. - Arndt, J. - Greenberg, J. - Solomon, S. - Kosloff, S. (2008) Interpersonal Politics : The Role of Terror Management and Attachment Processes in Shaping Political Preferences. In Psychological Science, Vol.19. No.5. pp. 448-455.

      Recommended reading list

•  Berry, J.W., Breugelmans, S.M., Poortinga, Y.H., Chasiotis, A., Sam, D.L. (2011) Cross-cultural Psychology: Research and Applications. Cambridge University Press.
•  Newman, L. S., Erber, R. (eds.) (2002) Understanding Genocide. The Social Psychology of the Holocaust, Oxford University Press, 43-64.
•  Pennebaker, J. W., Paez, D., Rimé, B. (1997) Collective Memory of Political Events, Social Psychological Perspectives. LEA.