PSY321H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Gemeinschaft And Gesellschaft, Evolutionism, Ethnocentrism
Document Summary
Secularization theory, religion is on the decline and people around the world are discovering new secular and rational ways to make sense of their lives. Universalism, sees people from different cultures as largely the same; any observed cultural variability exists only at a superficial level. Case of language, across diverse language groups there are many universal features of word orders and morphemes. Those who grow up without hearing correct grammar (e. g. parents spoke a pidgin language ) end up creating and speaking grammatically complex languages themselves ( creole languages ) Relativism, cultural diversity in ways of thinking reflects genuinely different psychological processes; different cultural practices lead to different ways of thinking. E. g. faces more important to east asians, self-esteem more important to westerners. Evolutionism, cultural variability reflects genuine differences in psychological processes and there is only one way that the mind has evolved to think. Cultural differences in ways of thinking reflect increasing stages of development.
