Culture and social distance: a case study of methodological cautions. 2001

K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA. weinfurk@gunet.georgetown.edu

The authors presented, as a case study of methodological challenges in cross-cultural research, E. S. Bogardus's (1925) Social Distance Scale, which requires respondents to indicate the social distance between themselves and others. The meaningfulness of the scale depends on the assumption that respondents believe that the magnitude of social distance increases as one moves through the social categories of family member, friend, neighbor, coworker, and citizen. The authors tested this assumption for English Canadian, French Canadian, Jewish, Indian, Algerian, and Greek participants, all 1st-generation immigrants in Montreal. The participants rated their willingness to associate with members of each of the other ethnic groups in 5 social categories. The percentage of respondents in each sample whose data conformed to the prediction ranged from 63.7% to 98.0%, with English Canadian, French Canadian, and Jewish respondents providing responses most consistent with the predicted pattern. The Indian and Algerian respondents' data were the least consistent with the predicted pattern, especially when rating members of their own ethnic groups.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D010552 Personality Assessment The determination and evaluation of personality attributes by interviews, observations, tests, or scales. Articles concerning personality measurement are considered to be within scope of this term. Assessment, Personality,Assessments, Personality,Personality Assessments
D011792 Quebec A province of eastern Canada. Its capital is Quebec. The region belonged to France from 1627 to 1763 when it was lost to the British. The name is from the Algonquian quilibek meaning the place where waters narrow, referring to the gradually narrowing channel of the St. Lawrence or to the narrows of the river at Cape Diamond. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p993 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p440)
D004641 Emigration and Immigration The process of leaving one's country to establish residence in a foreign country. Immigration,Labor Migration,Border Crossing,Chain Migration,Emigration,In-Migration,International Migration,Out-Migration,Return Migration,Settlement and Resettlement,Temporary Migration,Turnaround Migration,Border Crossings,Chain Migrations,Crossing, Border,Crossings, Border,Emigrations,Immigration and Emigration,Immigrations,In Migration,In-Migrations,International Migrations,Labor Migrations,Migration, Chain,Migration, International,Migration, Labor,Migration, Return,Migration, Temporary,Migration, Turnaround,Migrations, Chain,Migrations, International,Migrations, Labor,Migrations, Return,Migrations, Temporary,Migrations, Turnaround,Out Migration,Out-Migrations,Resettlement and Settlement,Return Migrations,Temporary Migrations,Turnaround Migrations
D005006 Ethnicity A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships. Ethnic Groups,Nationality,Ethnic Group,Nationalities
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D012929 Psychological Distance The degree of a person's detachment from emotional involvement with people or situations.(APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms accessed 12/29/2020) Distance, Psychological,Psychological Distances
D018864 Cultural Diversity Coexistence of numerous distinct ethnic, racial, religious, or cultural groups within one social unit, organization, or population. (From American Heritage Dictionary, 2d college ed., 1982, p955) Multiculturalism,Pluralism,Cultural Pluralism,Cultural Diversities,Diversities, Cultural,Diversity, Cultural,Multiculturalisms,Pluralism, Cultural,Pluralisms

Related Publications

K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
September 1998, Scandinavian journal of social medicine,
K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
October 1971, Journal of abnormal psychology,
K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
October 2020, Health affairs (Project Hope),
K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
January 1972, Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie,
K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
January 1986, Addictive behaviors,
K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
December 1971, The Journal of social psychology,
K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
March 2023, Social psychological and personality science,
K P Weinfurt, and F M Maghaddam
January 2021, Human studies,
Copied contents to your clipboard!