Module 1: Cultural Dimensions
Readings
Biswas-Diener, R. & Thin, N. (2020). Culture [PDF]. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/y9xcptqw. Copyright © 2020 by Diener Education Fund. This material is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Levine, R. V. (2020). Time and culture [PDF]. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook
series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/g6hu2axd. Copyright © 2020 by Diener Education Fund. This material is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context [PDF]. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Gelfand, M. J., Raver, J. L., Nishli, L. H., Leslie, L. M., Lun, J. …. (2011). Differences between
tight and loose cultures: A 33-nation study. Science, 332, 1100-1104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1197754. Available through PsycInfo Database.
Teaching Materials
- Major Points
- PowerPoint Presentation [PPT]
- Selected video presentations (choose 1 or 2)
- Critical Thinking Questions
Major Points
- About Culture
- Psychology: “Cross-cultural” or “Cultural”
- Culture “in here” “out there”
- Time Orientation
- Polychronic
- Monochronic
- Communication Information
- High Context
- Low Context
- Self-Other
- Individualism Collectivism
- Interdependet- Independent
- Power Distance
- Hierarchical
- Non-Hierarchical
- Race
- Genetic? Social?
- Human Genome Project
Videos
The psychology of culture | Fernanco Lanzer | TEDxAuBG (22:23)
Creative Commons license CC BY- NC — ND 4.0 International
Everything you always wanted to know about culture | Saba Safdar| TEDxGuelphU (17:35)
Creative Commons license CC BY- NC — ND 4.0 International
The psychology of time | Philip Zimbardo (7:07)
Creative Commons license (CC BY- NC — ND 4.0 International)
Critical Thinking Questions
Critical Thinking Questions
- Find a current news article about an event or situation in which cultural differences between persons born and educated in different countries may have played a role (there are always several). Which one of the six Hofstede et al. (2010) dimensions is most useful for understanding what was said and done?
- Are there activities where you might benefit from another culture’s approach to time rather than your usual approach? Give an example.
- Is it fair to conclude that some cultural time practices are more advanced than others? That some are healthier than others? Explain.
Critical thinking questions adapted from:
- Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context [PDF]. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
- Biswas-Diener, R. & Thin, N. (2020). Culture [PDF]. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/y9xcptqw. Copyright © 2020 by Diener Education Fund. This material is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.