SOC 764

Social Psychology and Culture

University of Nevada, Reno

Fall 2004

** UPDATED August 27, 2004 **

Instructor: Markus Kemmelmeier, Ph.D.

Office: 304 Mack Social Sciences

Phone: 784-1287

Email: markusk@unr.edu

Times: Wednesdays 2:15 – 5:00

Location: Mack Social Sciences 345

Office hours: Mondays 11 AM –1 PM and by appointment

Homepage

of this course: http://unr.edu/homepage/markusk/Soc764syllabusFall2004.htm

Course description

Culture is one of the hottest topics in contemporary social psychology. This course provides an overview of the ways in which cultural influences help shape human social thinking, values, and behavior. The study of culture is inherently interdisciplinary and course materials come from a variety of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, archaeology, marketing, organizational behavior and political science. Although the course puts an emphasis on how people interpret and act in their cultural environments, the central assumption of this (and any) cultural social psychology is that self and society are inseparably intertwined, resulting in analytically distinct, but interdependent levels of analyses.

Goals

This course has two main objectives. The first is to provide an in-depth examination of important theories and findings pertaining to each research area. The second goal is to develop an appreciation for some of the methodological approaches used in empirical investigations in these areas. To accomplish these goals, the typical reading assignment for each week consists of four papers. At least one of the papers is a chapter or review paper that surveys relevant literature or present a theory on the topic in question. The other papers are primarily original research studies published in peer-reviewed journals.

Format

This course will follow a seminar format. Typically, during the first 45 minutes of class, the instructor will provides some context of the readings for the day. The remainder of class will be open for discussion, and, occasionally, in-class activities. Your active participant is essential to the quality of the course.

Readings

With the exception of one book (see below), all readings are available via the library’s electronic reserve system.

Please purchase the following book:

Nisbett, R. E., & Cohen, D. (1996). Culture of honor: The psychology of violence in the South. Boulder, CO: Westview.

This book is not available at the UNR bookstore because you can purchase them substantially cheaper via the internet, new or used (e.g., alibris.com, amazon.com, bn.com, ecampus.com). The book is also available on reserve at the library.

Requirements

Reaction papers. Every participant is required to write weekly reaction papers. The reaction papers provide you with an opportunity to thoughtful elaborate on your ideas, questions, doubts, or concerns concerning the readings. The preferred format of the reaction paper is a brief essay in which you try to expand on aspects that connect various readings, or in which you critically discuss apparent differences or contradictions between theoretical approaches or empirical findings. You may also wish to apply various theoretical approaches to the same phenomenon and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. You are free to write about anything you wish, as long as you integrate at least three of the readings. The discussion of personal experiences or preferences is perfectly legitimate as long as they help you convey a conceptual point.

Keep in mind that I (MK) have read the papers as well; hence there is no need for extant summary of the papers. Also, it is critical that you argue clearly, support your statements, and present justifications, e.g., for suggested extensions of the present research.

The reaction papers should be around one to two single-spaced pages, and should be turned in no later than 3 PM on Tuesday via email. Please email your brief essay to all students in the course and to me. Given that the reaction papers are a relatively open-ended task, the grading of the content of the reaction paper will be generous with grading focusing on thoughtfulness not “accuracy” of content. However, please be sure to address at least three of the readings of the day in your reaction paper.

Research proposals. Over the course of the semester, every participant is required to write two research proposals. The first research proposal should focus roughly on the material covered in the first half of the course, whereas the second proposal should focus on the material of the second half. You are free to pick any topic of interest to you, as long as you can argue convincingly how it fits the relevant topics. You are required to provide me with a brief statement of what you are planning on writing about at least one week before the final proposal deadline (earlier submissions are strongly encouraged). Alternatively, you have the option of submitting a first draft of your proposal, on which you will receive extensive feedback aimed at helping you hone your proposal. In any case, you are encouraged to meet with me to discuss your topic of interest and strategies of implementing your research question.

The format of a proposal should resemble the introduction and methods section of an article in the empirical social sciences. There are no length requirements; yet the assumption is that proposals are usually no shorter than 8 and no longer than 20 pages (double-spaced). [Remember that length is not necessarily an advantage. Clarity and cogency of presentation is, though.] Use APA style (5^th ed.) or ASA style (4^th ed.) or the style that is used in your home discipline!

The research proposals will be graded based on quality of review of relevant literature, quality of your own analysis and integration of the literature, originality/creativity and quality of writing. (The first two criteria take priority over the second two criteria).

Grading

In-class participation	15%
Weekly reaction papers	15%
Research proposal #1	35%
Research proposal #2	35%
Total	100%

Course schedule & Reading List

August 25	Organizational meeting & “What is culture?” Miller-Loessi, K., & Parker, J.N. (2003). Cross-Cultural Social Psychology. In J. Delamater (Ed.), Handbook of social psychology (pp. 229-253). New York: Kluwer. (REFERENCE)
September 1	Culture: Its nature(s), origin, and implications Becker, H. S. (1982). Culture: A sociological view. In H. S. Becker (Ed.), Doing things together: Selected papers (pp. 11-24). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. Smith, P.B & Bond, M. H. (1993): Culture the neglected concept. In Social Psychology across cultures, Chapter 3. (pp.35-53). Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S., & Heiman, R. J. (1997). Culture and “basic” psychological principles. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.) Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 857-868). New York: Guilford. Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., Schimel, J., Arndt, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (2004). Human awareness of mortality and the evolution of culture. In M. Schaller & C. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundation of culture (pp. 15-40). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Lonner, W. J., & Adamopoulos, J. (1997). Culture as antecedent to behavior. In J. W. Berry, Y. H. Poortinga & J. Pandey (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Vol. 1 Theory and method (pp. 61-77). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
September 8	The study of culture Cohen, D. (2001). Cultural variation. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 451-471. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Peng, K., Greenholtz, J. (2002). What's wrong with cross-cultural comparisons of subjective Likert scales?: The reference-group effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 903-918. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures (Chapter 15: Deep play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight (pp. 412-453). New York: Basic Books. Shweder, R. A., Jensen, L. A., & Goldstein, W. M. (1995). Who sleeps by whom revisited: A method for extracting the moral goods implicit in practice. New Directions for Child Development, 67, 21-39. Gardner, W. L., Gabriel, S. & Yee, A. Y. (1999). I" value freedom, but "we" value relationships: Self-construal priming mirrors cultural differences in judgment. Psychological Science 10, 321-326. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
September 15	Material Culture/Cognitive Archaeology Guest speaker: Thomas Burke, Ph.D. Beach, David 1998 Cognitive Archaeology and Imaginary History at Great Zimbabwe. Current Anthropology 39(1):47-61. [reading of subsequent comments section, pp. 61-70, is recommended but is optional] [available via www.library.unr.edu] Bell, James A. 1994 Chapter 9-Cognitive Archaeology. In Reconstructing Prehistory: Scientific Methods in Archaeology, pp. 312-323. Temple University Press, Philadelphia. Flannery, Kent V. and Joyce Marcus 1998 Cognitive Archaeology. In Reader in Archaeological Theory: Post-Processual and Cognitive Approaches, edited by D. S. Whitley, pp. 35-47. Huffman, Thomas N. 1986 Cognitive Studies of the Iron Age in Southern Africa. World Archaeology 18(1):84-95. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Shanks, Michael and Ian Hodder 1998 Processual, Postprocessual and Interpretive Archaeologies. In Reader in Archaeological Theory: Post-Processual and Cognitive Approaches, edited by D. S. Whitley, pp. 69-95. Whitley, David S. 1998 By the Hunter, for the Gatherer. In Reader in Archaeological Theory: Post-Processual and Cognitive Approaches, edited by D. S. Whitley, pp. 257-274.
September 22	Cultural production and reproduction Lau, I. Y. M., Lee, S., & Chiu, C.-Y. (2004). Language, cognition, and reality: Constructing shared meanings through communication. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The Psychological Foundations of Culture (pp. 77-100). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. O’Reilly, C. A., & Chatman, J. A. (1996). Culture as social control: Corporations, cults, and commitment. Research in Organizational Behavior, 18, 157-200. Kim, H., & Markus, H. R. (1999). Deviance or uniqueness, harmony or conformity? A cultural analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 785-800. [available via www.library.unr.edu] McIntyre, A., Lyons, A., Clark, A., & Kashima, Y. (2004). The Microgenesis of Culture: Serial Reproduction as an Experimental Simulation of Cultural Dynamics. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundations of culture (pp. 227-258). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Rudy, D., & Grusec, J. E. (2001). Correlates of authoritarian parenting in individualist and collectivist cultures and implications for understanding the transmission of values. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 202-212. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
September 29	American culture: Individualism Bellah, R. N., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1986). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life (Chapters 1, 2 & 6: pp. 1-50, 142-163). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Lipset, S. M. (1996). Ideology, Politics and Deviance & Economy, religion and welfare. In American exceptionalism (Chapters 1 & 2, pp. 31-76). New York: Norton. Kinder, D. R., & Mendelberg, T. (2000). Individualism reconsidered: Principles and prejudice in contemporary American opinion. In D. O. Sears, J. Sidanius, & L. Bobo (Eds.), Racialized politics: The debate about racism in America (pp. 45-74). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (1999). Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 279-292. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
October 6	Studying violence: A multi-method approach Nisbett, R. E., & Cohen, D. (1996). Culture of honor: The psychology of violence in the South. Boulder, CO: Westview. [purchase book/book on reserve] Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (2003). Male honor and female fidelity: Implicit cultural scripts that perpetuate domestic violence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 997-1010. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
October 13	Self & Identity Spiro, M. E. (1993). Is the Western conception of the self ‘peculiar’ within the context of the world cultures? Ethos, 21, 107-153. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Matsumoto, H., & Norasakkunkit, V. (1997). Individual and collective processes in the construction of the self: Self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1245-1267. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Kashima, Y., Kashima, E., Farsides, T., Kim, U., Strack, F., Werth, L., & Yuki, M. (2004). Culture and context-sensitive self: The amount and meaning of context-sensitivity of phenomenal self differ across cultures. Self & Identity, 3, 125-141. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Murphy, P. L., & Miller, C. T. (1997). Postdecisional dissonance and the commodified self-concept: A cross-cultural examination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 50-62. [available via www.library.unr.edu] LaFromboise, T., Coleman, H. L., & Gerton, J. (1993). Psychological impact of biculturalism: Evidence and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 395-412. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
October 20	Action, agency and motivation Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (1999). Rethinking the value of choice: A cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 349-366. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Schwartz, B. (2000). Self-determination: The tyranny of freedom. American Psychologist, 55, 79-88. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Miller, D. T. (1999). The norm of self-interest. American Psychologist, 54, 1053-1060. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Menon, T., Morris, M. W., Chiu, C.-y., & Hong, Y.-y. (1999). Culture and the construal of agency: Attribution to individual versus group dispositions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 701-717. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Weisz, J. R., Rothbaum, F. M., & Blackburn, T. C. (1984). Standing out and standing in: The psychology of control in America and Japan. American Psychologist, 39, 955-969.
October 24	*********** Deadline for topic/first draft of research proposal #1***********
October 27	Culture and cognition DeVoe, S. E., & Iyengar, S. S. (2004). Managers' theories of subordinates: A cross-cultural examination of manager perceptions of motivation and appraisal of performance. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 93, 47-61. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Greenfield, P. M. (1997). You can’t take it with you: Why ability assessments don’t cross cultures. American Psychologist, 52, 1115-1124. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Kim, H. S. (2002). We talk before we think? A cultural analysis of the effect of talking on thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 828-842. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: Holistic versus analytic cognition. Psychological Review, 108, 291-310. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
October 31	**************** Research proposal #1 is due ****************
November 3	Relating and interacting Fiske, A. P. (1992). The four elementary forms of sociality: Framework for a unified theory of social relations. Psychological Review, 99, 689-723. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Sanchez-Burks, J., Nisbett, R. E., & Ybarra, O. (2000). Cultural styles, relationship schemas, and prejudice against out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 174-189. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Bellah, R. N., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1986). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life (Chapters 4, pp. 85-112). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. van Baaren, R. B., Maddux, W. W., Chartrand, T. L., de Bouter, C., & van Knippenberg, A. (2003). It takes two to mimic: Behavioral consequences of self-construals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1093-1102. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Allik, J., & Realo, A. (2004). Individualism-collectivism and social capital. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35, 29-49. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
November 10	Morality and emotion Janoff-Bulman, R., & Leggatt, H. K. (2002). Culture and social obligation: When “shoulds” are perceived as “wants”. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 260-270. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Miller, J. G. (1994). Cultural diversity in the morality of caring: Individually oriented versus duty-based interpersonal moral codes. Cross-Cultural Research, 28, 3-39. Haidt, J., Koller, S. H., & Dias, M. G. (1993). Affect, culture, and morality, or is it wrong to eat your dog? Journal of Personality AND Social Psychology, 65, 613-628. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Jensen, L. A. (1997). Culture wars: American moral divisions across the adult lifespan. Journal of Adult Development, 4, 107-121. Mesquita, B. (2001). Emotions in collectivist and individualist contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 68-74. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
November 17	Culture and social identity Billig, M. (1995). Banal nationalism (Chapters 3 & 4, pp. 37-92). London: Sage. Huntington, S. (1993). The clash of civilizations. Foreign Affairs, 72, 22-49. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Sidanius, J., Van Laar, C., Levin, S., & Sinclair, S. (2004). Ethnic Enclaves and the Dynamics of Social Identity on the College Campus: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 96-110. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Taylor, D. M., & Louis, W. (2004). Terrorism and the quest for identity. In F. M. Moghaddam & A. J. Marsella (Eds.), Understanding terrorism: Psychosocial roots, consequences, and interventions (pp. 169-185). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
November 24	Cultural change Putnam, R. D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6, 65-78. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Cerulo, K. A. (2002). Individualism...pro tem: Reconsidering U.S. social relations. In Karen A. Cerulo (Ed.), Culture in mind: Toward a sociology of culture and cognition (pp. 132-171). New York: Routledge. Barber, B. (1992). Jihad vs. McWorld. The Atlantic Monthly, March, 269 (3), 53-65. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Inglehart, R., & Baker, W. E. (2000). Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review, 65, 19-51. [available via www.library.unr.edu] Hermans, H., & Kempen, (1998). Moving cultures: The perilous problems of cultural dichotomies in a globalizing society. American Psychologist, 53, 1111-1120. [available via www.library.unr.edu]
December 1	PRESENTATIONS
December 5	*********** Deadline for topic/first draft of research proposal #2***********
December 8	No class/Dead day
December 12	**************** Research proposal #2 is due ****************