Culture and Psychology

     In all cultures of the world, there are cultural stereotypes. Sometimes, the belief in these stereotypes can grow so strong they unconsciously affect our actions. These strong beliefs also can affect our Psychology. This effect can be felt even here in the USA.

    In this blog, I will be taking stories and quotes from Professor Ivers of BYUI. His lesson transcripts can be found here: https://content.byui.edu/file/c615d56d-e670-4fbe-8b8b-64325e977465/1/06%20Culture%20and%20Psychology.html.

    In the islands off the coast of Panama there is an indigenous group called the Kuna. The Kuna have strong a cultural belief in evil spirits. Professor Ivers related the following story. "Another thing written by an anthropologist who spent some time with the Kuna. He says the spirit realm is constantly impinging on the lives of the Kuna as they go about their daily routine.  On balance, however, life is relatively benign for those who behave themselves in moral fashion and take the necessary precautions. The spirits generally respect those who follow the rules." To paraphrase the rest of the story, those who did not follow the rules were attacked. Missionaries working with the Kuna witnessed many of these "attacks". Yet, when these missionaries broke the taboo rules, often unknowingly, they were never attacked. 

    The inference of this story is that the belief in the tradition so conditioned the Kuna that when they broke taboo, they were physically affected. The missionaries, who did not have those beliefs, were unaffected.

    Another example given by Professor Ivers is a study done using a collage exit exam. Two different groups of individuals were given the exam. In both groups, there was a mix of white and African American students. Both groups consisted of students with the same GPA. Each group was administered the same exam, with only one question added on one. The question was to signify the race of the respondent. When all the tests were graded, the African American students who had taken the exam with the racial qualifier scored 50% lower than African American students who did not have that question. Professor Ivers pointed out the study results pointed to a culturally psychological belief that some African American students that they are intellectually inferior to other. The study proved that they were not, (as the other group scored equally with the other race) yet their belief colored their perceptions enough to affect their testing skills.

    Where ever we are, and in whatever culture we live, we all have these limiting paradigms. As teachers, we will need to remember to encourage our students to challenge self-degrading beliefs whether culturally or self-imposed. We can and must help them to succeed.