In this course, you may have found it interesting to discover how extensively cu

Question

In this course, you may have found it interesting to discover how extensively culture impacts psychology. Culture influences human development, identity and personality, attitudes and beliefs, and healthcare. As a scholar-practitioner, you may want to create a positive social change. In doing so, reflect on your future role as a scholar-practitioner. Consider the possible future research related to culture and psychology you might be interested in conducting. Think about how you may affect social change.

For this Discussion, reflect on how learning about the impact of culture on human psychology can help you develop as a scholar-practitioner, dedicated to positive social change.

With these thoughts in mind:

1. Post a brief description of two topics related to culture that you might be interested in researching further.

2. Then, as a future scholar-practitioner, explain two ways you might impact social change in relation to culture and psychology.

3. Be specific and use examples to illustrate your points.

Explanation / Answer

Throughout the course, we saw how Psychology addresses the cultural nuances of human life whether it is in terms of the differences across cultures in emotional expressions, values attached to certain attitudes and skills, the types of intelligence or the focus on individualism or collectivism as the case may be. While the course had provided small glimpses of the influence of culture of an individual, it has paved way for the emergence of several questions. I would like to reflect on two such areas of inquisitiveness.

Firstly, the discussion on cultural differences has risen my curiosity about the consequences of inter-cultural contact within the contemporary social reality of multiculturalism. The fact remains that globalisation has not only expanded our Markets and economy but it has also narrowed the gap between different countries and facilitated international migration. As a result, our cities have become more ethnically plural, our schools and workplaces more multicultural and our families more heterogenous in terms of inter-racial and inter religious marriages. All these social developments raise an important issue for further research in Cultural Psychology. How do individuals from diverse cultures adapt to the customs and values of the host society. Is the phenomenon of cultural assimilation a universally cordial process or are there any negative connotations and personal strifes which are experienced by the migrant communities and are yet not fully addressed within the mainstream theories of Psychology? The process of cultural assimilation is worth a study in Psychology for it can propose new ways of resolving inter-group conflicts as it would show how two very different communities with opposing sets of values can live in harmony based on a model of integration and mutual exchange. Thus for instance, if I was to incorporate the theories of cultural integration in a project of social intermixing within schools at the district level, then as a practitioner, Iwould like to begin with increasing cultural exchanges and reorganisation of classrooms based on the principle of ethnic intermixing and this could ensure increase in social contact with individuals of other cultures, class, etc.

Secondly, I would like to raise a question about the nature of knowledge construction within Psychology. A greater sensitivity to the cultural context has made me curious about the relevance ain taken for granted ideas in psychological theories. For instance, considering that most of the tests of intelligence at present such the Stanford Binet Test, The RAT are written tests largely based on mathematical abstract reasoning, how could we tap on the concept of intelligence in non-literate societies which have a rather rich oral tradition and wherein practical everyday functioning is a better assessment of an individual member’s intelligence than a one time score on a written test of abstract reasoning. As a scholar and a future practitioner of psychology, should not my methods be more in tune with the reality of group I am studying rather than try to fit them within my own cultural frame? Theoretical traditions such as existentialism and humanism have marked a crucial landmark in Psychology for their focus on studying the individual within his/her own immediate reality. And my vision as a future practitioner in Psychology is also guided by this mode of thinking where cultural differences in phenomenon such as intelligence, aggresssion, aptitude need to be seen as relative rather than absolute.

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