Read each term where it’s used
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In Augment’s notes, a marked term shows its definition when you hover or tap it, and each page ends with the terms it introduces.
88 terms from Sociocultural approach, each defined in a sentence or two, with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
The cultural and psychological change that follows continuous first-hand contact between two or more cultural groups, such as when immigrants settle in a new society.
An acculturation strategy in which a person gives up their heritage culture and takes on the culture of the host society.
A relatively lasting evaluation of a person, object, group or idea, made up of feelings, beliefs and tendencies to behave in a particular way towards it.
A visual illusion in which a stationary point of light in a completely dark room appears to move, used to study how group norms form in ambiguous situations.
The tendency to display one's connection with a successful group, such as a winning team, in order to raise one's own social identity and self-esteem.
A bidimensional model of acculturation that crosses two questions, whether to keep one’s heritage culture and whether to seek contact with the host culture, to give four strategies: integration, assimilation, separation and marginalisation.
Identification with, and competent participation in, two cultures, usually a heritage culture and a host culture; the individual-level outcome of the integration strategy.
An unpleasant state of psychological tension that arises when a person holds two related cognitions, such as a belief and knowledge of their own behaviour, that are inconsistent, which motivates them to reduce the inconsistency.
A cultural orientation in which people see themselves mainly as members of close in-groups, such as the extended family, and give priority to group goals, loyalty and harmony over personal goals.
The principle that once people have committed themselves to a position or action, especially publicly, they feel pressure to behave consistently with that commitment.
A change in behaviour in response to a direct request from another person who has no authority to give orders, often without any change in private attitudes.
A deliberate method of making a request that increases the chance that the person asked will agree, such as the foot-in-the-door or door-in-the-face technique.
A change in behaviour or belief that brings a person into line with a group, as a result of real or imagined group pressure rather than a direct request or order.
Research that compares behaviour or mental processes in two or more cultures, using the same method or measure in each, to find out which findings are universal and which are culturally specific.
A measurable aspect of a culture’s shared values on which whole cultures can be placed and compared, such as individualism–collectivism or power distance, used to explain cross-cultural similarities and differences in behaviour.
The principle that behaviour and beliefs should be understood and judged in relation to the culture in which they occur, rather than by the standards of the researcher’s own culture.
The shared beliefs, values, norms, practices and symbols of a group, passed from one generation to the next and shaping the identity and behaviour of its members.
A cross-cultural comparison built from the features that several emic studies show to be genuinely shared by the cultures being compared, rather than imposed from one culture.
Any strategy used to lessen cognitive dissonance, such as changing behaviour, changing an attitude or belief, adding consonant cognitions or making the dissonant cognition seem unimportant (trivialisation).
A compliance technique in which a large request that is likely to be refused is followed by a smaller request, which is then more likely to be accepted as a concession.
The error of drawing conclusions about individuals from data that describe groups, such as assuming that a person holds the values indicated by their country’s average cultural dimension score.
The tendency to value a goal, group or outcome more highly when much effort, cost or suffering was spent reaching it, which reduces dissonance between the effort and a disappointing result.
An approach to research that studies behaviour from inside one culture, using the concepts, categories and meanings of its members, usually through qualitative methods such as interviews and participant observation.
The process by which a person learns the norms, values, beliefs and behaviours of their own culture, mostly in childhood, through family, peers, school, media and everyday practices.
The tendency to judge other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture, often treating one’s own way of thinking or behaving as normal or superior.
A qualitative research approach in which a researcher studies a cultural group in its natural setting over a long period, mainly through participant observation and interviews, to describe its way of life from the inside.
An approach to research that studies behaviour from outside a culture, using concepts and standardised measures assumed to apply to all cultures, so that different cultures can be compared.
A compliance technique in which a person is first asked to agree to a small request, which makes them more likely to agree to a larger, related request later.
A process of enculturation in which children learn by taking part in real community activities alongside more experienced people, who adjust their support as the child’s skill grows.
A culture in which much of the meaning of a message is carried by the situation, the relationship and non-verbal cues rather than the explicit words, so communication tends to be indirect.
The culture of the larger society in which immigrants, refugees or sojourners settle, also called the host society or receiving society.
A technique in which people publicly advocate a behaviour and are then reminded of their own failures to perform it, creating dissonance that is most easily reduced by changing their behaviour.
The error of applying a concept or measure developed in one culture to another culture as if it were universal, without checking whether it has the same meaning or relevance there.
A social group to which a person feels they belong and with which they identify.
The tendency to evaluate, reward and treat members of one's own group more favourably than members of other groups.
A cultural orientation in which people see themselves mainly as independent individuals, give priority to personal goals and rights, and have relatively loose ties beyond the immediate family.
A dissonance paradigm in which a person is led to act or speak against their own attitude with little external justification, usually leading them to change the attitude to fit the behaviour.
An acculturation strategy in which a person keeps their heritage culture while also taking part in the host culture and seeking contact with its members.
A model of acculturation proposed by Bourhis and colleagues (1997) in which relations between immigrants and the host community depend on how well the acculturation orientations of both groups match, shaped by state integration policies.
The deepest level of conformity, in which a person privately accepts the group's view as correct, so the change in belief and behaviour lasts when the group is absent.
The idea that acquiring a behaviour through observation is separate from carrying it out, so a behaviour can be learned but only performed later, when the expected consequences make it worthwhile.
A compliance technique in which a person agrees to a request at a low cost, and the cost is then raised; many still comply because they feel committed to their earlier decision.
A culture in which most of the meaning of a message is carried by explicit words, so communication tends to be direct and relies little on shared context or non-verbal cues.
An acculturation strategy, often not freely chosen, in which a person has little involvement with either their heritage culture or the host culture.
A cultural dimension contrasting societies that value achievement, competition and distinct gender roles (masculine) with societies that value caring, cooperation, quality of life and overlapping gender roles (feminine).
The degree to which a measure, such as a translated questionnaire, assesses the same construct in the same way in different cultures, so that scores can be fairly compared.
The four processes (attention, retention, reproduction and motivation) that Bandura proposed take place between observing a model and imitating the model’s behaviour.
A research method in which participants are divided into groups on a trivial or random basis, with no contact, history or conflict, to test whether categorisation alone produces in-group favouritism.
The demonstration of a behaviour by a model (a live person, a media character or a verbal description) that an observer may learn and later imitate.
A change in behaviour in response to a direct order from a person who is seen as having legitimate authority.
Learning that takes place by watching the behaviour of others and its consequences, without the learner having to perform the behaviour or be reinforced directly.
A social group to which a person feels they do not belong and against which their own group is compared.
A person’s understanding of how others try to influence them, which can make compliance techniques less effective once the person recognises that a technique is being used.
The motivation to see one's in-group as different from and better than relevant out-groups, which social identity theory proposes maintains a positive social identity.
Dissonance that follows a choice between similarly attractive options, usually reduced by rating the chosen option more positively and the rejected option more negatively (the spreading of alternatives).
A cultural dimension describing how far the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally, for example between parents and children or managers and employees.
Cialdini’s six general rules that make people more likely to agree to requests: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity.
The emotional side of adapting to a new culture: a person’s well-being, self-esteem and mental health, including the absence of depression and anxiety, during acculturation.
An unpleasant motivational state that arises when a person feels their freedom to choose is threatened, leading them to resist the pressure or do the opposite of what is asked.
The social norm that people should repay what others give them, so that receiving a favour or a concession creates a sense of obligation to return it.
Steele’s theory that people can protect a threatened self-image, including reducing dissonance, by affirming another valued part of themselves rather than resolving the original inconsistency.
An extension of social identity theory proposing that people define themselves at different levels (personal or group) depending on context, and conform to the norms of the group they categorise themselves into.
A person’s belief in their capability to organise and carry out the actions needed to succeed in a specific task or situation.
Bem’s theory that people often infer their own attitudes by observing their own behaviour and its circumstances, as an outside observer would, without needing a state of tension.
An acculturation strategy in which a person keeps their heritage culture and avoids contact with, or adoption of, the host culture.
The behavioural side of adapting to a new culture: how well a person learns the skills, language and social rules needed to manage daily life, school or work in the host society.
A perspective in psychology that explains behaviour and mental processes through the social groups, relationships and cultures people belong to, including social influence, norms and cultural values.
A Māori model of health developed by Mason Durie in 1984 that represents well-being as a meeting house with four walls: spiritual, mental and emotional, physical, and family well-being, standing on the land.
A compliance technique in which an offer is improved, by adding extras or lowering the price, before the person has had a chance to respond to the original offer.
A cultural dimension describing how strong a society’s social norms are and how far deviation from them is tolerated: tight cultures have many strict norms and punish deviance; loose cultures have weaker norms and tolerate it.
A cultural dimension describing how far members of a society feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and try to reduce uncertainty through rules, structure and planning.
A model that places acculturation on a single line running from the heritage culture to the host culture, so that gaining the new culture means losing the old one.
A decrease in the likelihood of a behaviour in an observer that results from seeing a model punished for that behaviour.
An increase in the likelihood of a behaviour in an observer that results from seeing a model rewarded for that behaviour.
The cognitive process of sorting people, including oneself, into social groups, which exaggerates differences between groups and similarities within them.