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INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS - ATTRACTION - ETIC & EMIC APPROACH

6 important questions on INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS - ATTRACTION - ETIC & EMIC APPROACH

What is an emic approach to looking at culture?

The emic approach refers to when a researcher immerses themselves in the culture they want to study (insider view). Researchers develop their research question based on their interactions with local people, whilst working with local people who have local knowledge of the culture and language skills to help carry out the research.

Using the etic approach, how is culture looked at?

The etic approach involves viewing other cultures through the lens of your own culture (outsider view), aiming to find "universal behaviours". It is used in cross-cultural psychology to compare behaviour across specific cultures.

Why is the etic approach known as a deductive approach?

An etic approach decides what to study and how to analyse it before arriving in the culture, making it deductive. The hypothesis is pre-decided, based on pre-existing theories and concepts.

What is a limitation of the emic approach?

A limitation of an emic approach is that the research takes a long time to complete and may have limited application. In addition, since the tests are created specifically for that culture it is not possible to establish a high level of reliability, compared to etic approach research.

What is the purpose of using an emic approach to study culture and group behaviour?

1) Understand local context: discover how people within a culture group think, perceive the world and explain their own behaviours.
2) Avoid Ethnocentric Bias (tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to judge other cultures, behaviors, or beliefs).
3) Understand the unknown aspects of cultures that may not be able to be directly translated or understood.

What is the purpose of using an ETIC approach to study culture and group behaviour?

1) To identify Cross Cultural Patterns, identify universal traits across all cultures (e.g. Biological experience of puberty, basic facial expressions for emotions)
2) To provide an Objective perspective, an outsider perspective can identify underlying patterns/issues that the group itself might not notice.

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Psychology (2)

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