Globalization and Behavior

Yukiko enjoys working for an international company in Tokyo.  This month, she was given the award for being "employee of the month."  She often gives advice to her boss and she enjoys the independence her boss gives her to pursue her own projects.  When she goes home to her family, she struggles with having to be the "obedient daughter" and is often resentful of the demands that her family puts on her.  According to Berry's acculturation model, which acculturation strategy is she displaying?

• Integration

• Separation

• Assimilation

• Marginalization

Answer explanation

Yukiko is showing that she has a positive attitude about the globalized culture but a negative attitude toward her local culture.  This is an example of assimilation.

Which of the following is an example of an emic approach to understanding mental illness in Rwanda after the genocide?

• Rwandan psychologists using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, developed by Aaron Beck, to treat PTSD patients.

• American psychologists translate a test used to diagnose PTSD into Kinyarwanda - the local language.

• American psychologists consulting with local healers to determine which symptoms they think best show that people have not coped well with the genocide.

• American psychologists looking for symptoms of PTSD using the DSM 5.

Answer explanation

When Western psychologists use local expertise to solve a problem, rather than relying on Western "truths", this is an emic approach.  Although translating a test into Kinyarwanda is helpful for the local culture, it is still the same Western test, and so it is still an etic approach.

John studied Mandarin at university.  Now he has taken his first job working for a Chinese pharmaceutical company.  He is finding it very difficult to adapt to his new work environment.  He feels that decisions are rather top-down and that there is not enough discussion about major decisions.  He also feels that management is often intrusive in his personal life. He knows he has only been there for about a month, but he is really struggling with his work.  What do psychologists call this?

• Identity confusion

• Marginalization

• Delocalization

• Acculturative stress

Answer explanation

John is going through a bit of culture shock - what psychologists call acculturative stress.  He will need to adopt to the Chinese culture if he is going to be successful in his new job.  If he were delocalized, he would be rejecting his own culture.  If he were marginalized, he would feel that he didn't belong in either his own culture or in the Chinese culture.  Identity confusion is linked to marginalization.

Which of the following did not play a key role in the Japanese adoption of the Western understanding of depression?

• Power distance - important members of the Japanese community endorsed the use of Prozac

• Lawsuits against companies for the death of employees for "karoshi" - death by overwork - led to the perception that suicide was not something that should be seen as honorable.

• Japanese doctors educated in the US returned to Japan and began diagnosing people with depression.

• American psychologists tried to educate the Japanese about mental health after the Kobe earthquake.

Answer explanation

Although it is theoretically possible that Japanese doctors trained overseas would play a role in this change, it was the media that played the greatest role in convincing the Japanese that depression was not healthy - and they could do something about it.

Which of the following is not a symptom used to diagnose hikikomori?

• Addiction to the Internet or online gaming.

• Persistent social withdrawal for at least six months.

• No motivation to participate in school or work

• Experiences anxiety when having to engage with others.

Answer explanation

Although Internet addiction and online gaming are often what we see fills the days of hikokomori, it is not a symptom of the disorder.

In Norasakkunkit & Uchida's (2014) study, which word describes the characteristic of the Hikikomori students that they studied?

• Separated

• Marginalized

• Integrated

• Assimilated

Answer explanation

The local culture may alienate many Japanese youths who may then decide not to conform to the cultural norms, but do not identify with or know how to access the globalized culture, and so they withdraw from society.

In Norasakkunkit & Uchida's (2014) study, they did not study participants with an actual diagnosis of hikikomori.  Instead, they use students who self-reported many of the symptoms that hikikomori display. What type of study is this?

• Analogous study

• Matched pairs design

• Prospective study

• Illusory correlation

Answer explanation

Analogous studies use people that are similar to those that have the disorder but have not been diagnosed.  This type of research is often done in abnormal psychology to avoid ethical issues, but there is a concern that the samples may not be generalizable to people who actually have the disorder.

Which research method was used in Becker et al's (2002) study of eating disorders in Fiji?

• A correlational study

• A natural experiment

• A true experiment

• A naturalistic observation

Answer explanation

The study was a natural experiment.  The introduction of Western television was the independent variable - but this was not manipulated by the researcher.

To what extent can we use Becker et al's (2002) study to support the theory that globalization has led to a rise in eating disorders?

• The study showed a rise in anorexia in the local community.

• The study found that dieting and there was an increase in purging behavior; however, the girls were not diagnosed with eating disorders.

• The study found that although there was an increase in dieting, there were no negative habits that were outside the norm.

• The study showed that although young Fijians had changed their idea of what beauty is, their behavior was not changed.

Answer explanation

None of the girls in the study were actually diagnosed with a disorder, but there was an increase in "eating disorder related behaviours" over the course of the study.

Novotny and Polansky (2011) used which research method to investigate the link between globalization and tolerance of Muslims in the Czech Republic and Slovakia?

• Unstructured interviews

• Naturalistic observation

• Correlational study

• A quasi-experiment

Answer explanation

The researchers compared the participants' scores on questionnaires about their knowledge of Islam and their attitudes toward Muslims.  No variables were manipulated and there was no IV.