Cultural Psychology: Cross-Cultural Aspects and Individualistic Traits

This article explores the cross-cultural aspects and individualistic traits in cultural psychology. It discusses the impact of culture on religion, occupation, income, language, and family dynamics. The interview with Kate McAleese, a Canadian resident of mixed Scottish and Irish origin, provides insights into the complexities of cultural identity and decision-making. The article also highlights the importance of cross-cultural competency in the modern organizational setup.

Running head: CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
Cultural Psychology
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Part 1
I have been fortunate enough to take the interview of an individual belonging from a
different cultural and religious background. As per my perception conducting these interviews
are really very helpful as they help in gaining a huge knowledge about the cross-cultural aspects.
In other words this is very helpful as it has aided me in becoming much more sensible and
proficient both in my personal and my professional lives.
The person whom I interviewed is named Kate McAleese. She is of 22 years of age and
is a resident of Canada. She is of a mixed origin as her father is Irish and her mother is Scottish.
This has resulted in mixed Nationality that is Scottish and Irish. Her mother has a diploma from
Sheridan College in Executive administrative studies and is currently a Librarian Technician at
an elementary school. Her father is in the profession of trade and commerce and has been
engaged there for about 35 years as an electrician. Kate has one sister who has completed her
commerce degree at Humber in marketing. She is currently pursuing her career in the course of
Human Resources Management, Business Commerce program at the Humber University. There
are four members that make up her family and they have no pets. She confirmed that she is not
sure about the religious order that she will follow. In other words she is suffering confusion in
this field as she has been exposed to two different types of culture right from her childhood.
Culture type – collectivistic vs. individualistic
Kate’s father follows the religion of Catholic Christianity whereas her mother happens to
be an atheist. Her sister has decided to follow the Catholic religion thus she is sure about herself
in the aspect of religion. However my interviewee that is Kate McAleese suffers from a state of
confusion regarding which religious sect to follow. Kate’s family is following more of a

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collectivist culture. This is because all of them work together and work for supporting and
helping each other. Thus they like to stay in an interconnected and interdependent manner.
However Kate shows a different nature as she has her own opinions and thoughts. This has
brought a kind of individualistic trait within her. Thus Kate is following the individualistic
culture over the collectivist culture. She is independent in nature and in her thoughts as well.
This is evident that even after reaching a good enough adult age of 22 years and being a college
student she refused to follow the religion of her father and confirmed that she is still trying to
figure out which religious order she wants to follow. Thus she is not showing the interdependent
trait as she confirmed that she is not blindly following the traits of religion or culture that has
been set by her family.
Part 2
I feel that this interview has been very helpful as it has helped me immensely to take up
the cross-cultural platform. I feel that dealing with the cross-cultural aspect is one of the most
important things in the modern day organizational setup. This helps in understanding the
difference and the variations that lie among people because of their culture, origin and linguistic
background. As per the opinion of Tricco et al. (2017) social factors play a major role in the lives
of individuals. Society often sets many predefined and age-old standards that define people.
 Educational standards
Kate confirmed that all the relatives and the extended relatives on the side of her father
are educated. They have all gone to the post-secondary level and have attained high educational
standards. On the other hand the relatives on her mom's side are not that educated. The siblings
of her mother have not received any graduation degree and it was only her mother to receive a

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post-secondary degree. Thus there is an expectation that Kate will also get herself a post-
secondary degree.
 Perspectives on occupation
Kate said during the course of the interview that at some point in time she got a kind of
pressure from her parents. This is because at times her parents had to think about the society and
the maintenance of the societal standards. Nolin (2017) has stated that one of the major
discrimination in Canada is because of income inequalities. There are discriminations and social
oppressions done towards people based on their income status. It is for this reason that Kate’s
parents often forced her to take some occupation that could help her to make money and fame
easily in society.
Kate’s parents often compelled her to go for professions like business law. However she
also confirmed herself to be lucky as her parents are also of a liberal mindset. Thus Kate
confirmed that her parents would not discourage her and her sister if they wanted to select any
professions of their own choice. However at the same time Kate's answers showed that there is a
reflection of the societal pressure prevalent. Rotundo (2017) has stated that there are incidences
of workplace discriminations in Canada against employees based on their social, cultural and
religious backgrounds. Thus her father often asked her to take up the trade and commerce line as
it would help their father to guide them since he belonged from the same.
Her family worries that there might be discriminations against Kate and her sister in the
corporate or the other job sectors which are totally unknown to them. As per the opinion of Boyd
(2018) the survey carried on with the Canadians regarding their workplace harassment
experiences they have shared that there have been discriminations against them because of their

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gender. 22 per cent of Canadians believes they've been discriminated against at work because of
their gender. As Kate is a girl so there is a fear instilled within the minds of her parents.
 Income possibilities
Kate said that income is considered to be important in their family but it is not the most
important elements in their family In other words they value each other’s company and affection
more than the income that is being earned by them.
However Kate said in the course of the interview that while growing up they were always taught
by their parents to get a good educational degree so that it can help them in getting a good
income in the future. This is because if they get a good income then they will be able to establish
a good and respectable position for themselves. Way, Larremore and Clauset (2016), April has
suggested that people often face huge discrimination and harassment in their workplaces due to
their economic backgrounds as well.
It is for this reason that getting a well-paying job is of utmost importance. The problem of
homelessness in Canada is also one of the major concerns. A large portion of the Canadian
population 235000 is rendered homeless every year. Schiff et al. (2016) have identified that
poverty is one of the major aspects that lies beneath this incidence of homelessness. Thus
working at a good job post within a well-paying salary is important to survive in life.
 Language and communication
Kate has confirmed that they mainly communicate in English while they are conversing
verbally and in case of nonverbal communication they prefer in writing and leaving many notes
for one another. However before stepping into the professional world, it is good if Kate develops
a sound competency both in the verbal and the nonverbal form of communication. Rotundo

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(2017)) has suggested that there are several weaknesses in the implementation of employee
rights and protection policies in the workplaces of Canada. Thus Kate must gain a good
proficiency in all the different language forms in order to interact with people coming from
different religious and social backgrounds.
Developing a cross-cultural competency is one of the most important and essential traits
that must be developed in order to work properly by facing cross-cultural competence. For an
instance as per the opinion of Clements and Comeau (2019) Government of Canada has a good
realization about the need for implementing these rules and regulations in the workplace for the
protection of their workers. This shows that the Government understands their responsibility for
providing a safe place to their employees so that equal opportunities can be granted to all the
workers irrespective of their social, religious, ethnic, linguistic, financial and also sexual
background. However FitzGerald and Hurst (2017) have argued in this context that there are
some failures in the follow-up process and the feedback process after the implementation of
these rules. So, the organization often fails to safeguard their employees from being bullied or
harassed. As Kate has a mixed ethnicity of Scottish Irish origin there is a chance that the other
employees at the workplace might bully her if she turns out to be a minority.
Family life processes
 Traditions
Kate says that she has been growing up in a unified family where people abide by the
words of their ancestors. As per Kate, her grandparents wanted all then married couples to stay
together in unity and love. Thus Kate has always seen people adjusting to each other and staying
in a happy bond of love. Thus it is the traditional role. However Kate thinks that it is really

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fortunate on her part to get liberal parents who would not care if Kate decides to stay single or
marries late. Thus Kate has realized that traditions are one of a social and cultural contract that
forces people to adhere to several rules and regulations.
 Gender Roles
Kate said during the course of the interview that she has witnessed more or less gender-
specific roles in her household. As per her opinion her mother carries on all the household works.
It is her m other's duty to do all the cleaning and the cooking of the house Kate refers to these
roles as the traditional and the gender-based roles. It must be noted in this context that the
gender-specific roles are set by society. Thus this evidence proves that empowerment is not
followed properly in this country. It is for this reason that people are bound to work as per the
rules that have been injected within them. It is the society that has segregated work roles and
responsibilities. Even though Canada has been successful in making their country a safe place for
both girls, there are gender stereotypes that still exist in society.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development "Better Life
Index," Canadian women on average spend 254 minutes a day cooking, cleaning or caring
(for children, we assume), whereas men spend 160 minutes on the same tasks (Durand, 2015). This
shows that there is a huge disparity still being followed within the roles and responsibilities.
Though Kate's mother has a professional recognition just like Kate's father, the burden of
households has to be carried on by her mother. Thus the burden of maintaining work-life balance
is only on the women and not the men. However Kate does not want to be subjected to this kind
of culture. Though her family follows a collectivist cultural style and maintains the values of
interdependence and independence, Kate has always shown a trait of independent thinking.

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There can also be a possibility that it is because of such influences that late has seen in her life
right from childhood which made her unsure about marriage. She is not really sure regarding the
decision of marriage as she wants a life where she and her partner will be able to share the
burden equally. Kate is an independent woman and she has developed a kind of literacy and
upgraded thinking pattern. She has also seen these gender specified roles in her family that has
helped her to develop a set of principles of her own.
Family dynamics
Kate informed during the interview that she has always seen her mother to take care of
the family chores like grocery, shops and other such needs. Thus I could confirm this from the
interview that the gender specification role is still very prominent in Canada. Though Kate
belonged from a well-educated family, there is still domination over the females. This is evident
that though Kate's mother is also an educated and employed woman just like her father, still Kate
always mentions that the entire household responsibility is taken care of by her mother. Though
women are being given the rights to education and employment they are also entitled to carry on
the work of taking care of children and maintaining the entire essential household works.
Statistics and cultural norms are telling a different story. According to a joint study from the
University of Toronto and Long Island University, childcare in particular is still viewed as
"women's work. Kate has a disliking towards such typical gender stereotyping in the household.
 Religion
Kate confirmed that she is not sure about the religion that she wants to follow. Her father
is Catholic and mother is an atheist. Her sister has however taken up the Catholic religion. Kate
is not sure if she will take up Atheism or will like to be Catholic (Phys.org. 2018). There might

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also be chances that she converts herself into some other religion. However there is large scale
discrimination that is faced by Muslims in Canada. Thus Kate is still in a state of confusion.
 Food
As per Kate they eat only Greek and Italian food in plenty. They also avoid eating sweets
and any unhealthy food at home. This might be tough for Kate if she goes out to some other
places for her future career. Sweets and desserts are liked by people of different countries. Thus
Kate has to learn how to adapt to the cultures of other people coming from different cultural and
social backgrounds. On asking how she plans to adapt to other cultures, she said that she hopes
to take some cross-cultural training sessions that will help her to learn about the different types
of food habits and beliefs.
 Clothing
Kate answered in the interview that she loves wearing simple and comfortable clothes.
She also has two tattoos on her body and her ears are pierced. She also confirmed that she has
got the idea of getting inked from her mother as her mother also has a tattoo. However if she is
planning to go to places like Japan for her future career, then she will have to work over her
dressing sense. Places like Japan are very particular about their uniform. Thus they will expect
their employees to stay in strictly scheduled uniforms and exposing body tattoos is also not
appreciated. Kate informed that she wants to go to other countries and work with people from
different other cultural and religious backgrounds. This will help her to learn many new and
interesting aspects of the different cultures around the world.

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Thus it can be concluded that this interview has really been very helpful for me as I came
to know about the errors that are existing within the Canadian society. I will be using these
points in order to develop my knowledge and cross-cultural competency in the future.

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