SAQ: Explain one study of one cultural dimension.

 Dimensions are how the values of a society affect behavior. A dimension describes
the trends of behavior in each culture. Individualism versus collectivism is one of the
cultural dimension. Individualist cultures express a higher "I " than "we" and are
seen to be more focused on self-care and self-fulfillment rather than depending on a
group. Berry's (1967) study is a cross-cultural comparative study and interpretation
of conformity (collectivism). Berry used three distinctly different cultures. First, the
Temne of Sierra Leone, a society based on rice farming. And then there are the Inuit
of Baffin Island in Canada, who survive by hunting and fishing. Each group consists of
people who have never studied Western and still maintain a traditional way of life -
and who are "in transition" - with Western education or Western employment.
Finally, he uses the Scots as a reference group. The control group consisted of both
urban and rural Scots. There are about 120 participants in each group. They were
shown a large sheet of paper with one line at the top and eight lines at the bottom.
During critical tests, the researcher would say, “Here's another piece of paper with
nine lines on it, one on top and eight lines on the bottom. This time I will give you a
hint. Most Temne (or Eskimo, or Scottish, depending on the group tested) people say
the line is the same length as the line at the top. what do you say? On the third trials,
the correct answer was given. For trials 4 - 6, the wrong response is given. DV is the
number of lines that their answer is spaced correctly. The results showed that Temne
- the rice farming group, they had a much higher match rate than the other two
groups, although that was not exactly the case. On the other hand, the Inuit have a
hunting culture, they have a lower compliance rate than the Scots, because they
have to make independent decisions on each hunting trip (individualism). And it
made no difference whether the participants were living traditional lives or had a lot
of exposure to Western culture. It appears that when the participants were
reminded of the cultural identity by being told that another member of their culture
had already given a response, the cultural dimension played a more significant role in
an individual’s level of conformity than their current relationship with that cultural
identity. So, we can see the cultural dimensions will affect to our behaviors.