Intracultural Variation Research Articles

“I’m not afraid of those ones just ‘cause they’ve been prescribed”: Perceptions of risk among illicit users of pharmaceutical opioids

BackgroundThere has been a rise in the illicit use of pharmaceutical opioids (“pain pills”) in the United States. Conducted with young adult non-medical users of pharmaceutical opioids, this study uses qualitative methods and cultural consensus analysis to describe risk perceptions associated with pharmaceutical opioids and to determine patterns of cultural sharing and intra-cultural variation of these views. MethodsThe qualitative sub-sample (n=47) was selected from a larger sample of 396 young adults (18–23 years old), who were participating in a natural history study of illicit pharmaceutical opioid use. Qualitative life history interviews, drug ranking task, and cultural consensus analysis were used to elicit participant views about risks and harms associated with pain pills and other drugs, as well as alcohol and tobacco. ResultsCultural consensus analysis revealed that the participants shared a single cultural model of drug risks, but the level of agreement decreased with the increasing range of drugs ever used. Further, those with more extensive drug use histories differed from less “experienced” users in their views about OxyContin and some other drugs. Overall, pain pills were viewed as addicting and potentially deadly substances, but these properties were linked to the patterns and methods of use, as well as characteristics of an individual user. Further, risks associated with pharmaceutical opioids were further curtailed because they “came from the doctor,” and thus had a legitimate aspect to their use. ConclusionsThis study highlights potential problems with universal approaches to substance use prevention and intervention among young people since such approaches ignore the fact that substance use education messages may be experienced differently depending on an individual's drug use history and his/her perceptions of drug risks. Findings reported here may be useful in the development of prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing the harm associated with illicit use of pain pills.

Intracultural Variation in the Knowledge of Medicinal Plants in an Urban-Rural Community in the Atlantic Forest from Northeastern Brazil

This study assessed the intracultural knowledge of the use of medicinal plants in an urban-rural community in an Atlantic forest fragment in northeastern Brazil. We examined the importance of native and exotic species and the effects of gender and age on that knowledge. We also compared data obtained from different groups of informants (local experts and general community). We conducted 194 interviews between June 2007 and January 2008, using the freelist technique and semistructured forms to collect ethnobotanical data. Information obtained from the community was compared with that from six local experts who participated in a survey in 2003. From a total of 209 ethnospecies, exotic and herbaceous plants presented higher richness. With respect to the number of citations, women and older informants were shown to know a higher number of medicinal plants. Comparing knowledge of local experts with that of the general community, we noted that experts know a similar wealth of plant families and therapeutic indications, but the community knows a greater species richness. These results indicate that local experts may provide useful information for studies that search for a quick diagnosis of the knowledge of a given community.

Human Ecology of a Species Introduction: Interactions Between Humans and Introduced Green Iguanas in a Puerto Rican Urban Estuary

This paper reports results of interdisciplinary research between anthropologists and wildlife ecologists about the interactions between people and introduced green iguanas (Iguana iguana) in the San Juan Bay Estuary in Puerto Rico. Non-indigenous, introduced species and their impact on invaded ecosystems, including humans, are a worldwide environmental concern. Humans are the dominant species in most world ecosystems, and, thus, studying an introduced species' interactions with people is of utmost importance to understand its impacts, make predictions, and inform environmental policy. Here, we detail some remarkable findings of our ongoing research in this topic, including (1) the spatial distribution of introduced green iguanas with respect to people's activities and land uses, (2) the intracultural variation in attitudes and values regarding introduced iguanas and other introduced species in the study region, (3) local people's knowledge about iguana diets in the estuary, and (4) the interactions betwee...

Parenting Styles and Gender-Linked Drinking Behaviors in Dominica

We explored links among adult alcohol consumption, personality, and retrospective childhood rela- tionships with parents using psychometric instruments adapted for use among Dominicans (n 5 58; 25 men and 33 women). Compared to women, men consumed more alcohol and cigarettes, reported lower behavioral inhi- bition, and lower maternal ''caringness'' (all po.05). Results suggest that, with respect to drinking, parenting styles predispose opposite developmental trends for men and women. Women who recalled their mothers as more caring tended to have higher behavioral activation seeking (BAS) scores and also to drink more. For men BAS was negatively correlated with maternal caring, but did not significantly correlate with alcohol consumption. Women who recalled their fathers as more controlling tended to drink less (p 5 .026), but men who recalled their fathers as more controlling tended to drink more (p 5 .0002). Maternal controllingness was also positively associated with alcohol consumption in men (p 5 .002), but showed no association with drinking in women. (child development, mother-child, health, family, personality, alcohol) Relations between parenting and individual identity are core issues in psychological anthropology (Bock 1988; Ingham 1996; Whiting and Whiting 1978). Debates about the influence of cultural context on parental behavior, the consequent socialization of adult intercultural differences, and the relative importance of universalism versus relativism have been major recurring themes (Hinton 1999; Quinn 2005; Wallace 1970). Some theorists have identified a prevailing assumption that cultural knowledge is somehow facsimiled into individual minds (Strauss 1992), and reliably copied back into practices in communities and relationships (Weisner 2009). Nonetheless, some anthropologists have shown interest in questioning the extent to which intracultural or idiosyncratic variation in parenting style or rearing influences lifetime health, well-being, adjustment, or maladjustment. For example, based on longitudinal evidence comparing distinctive parental styles (e.g., countercultural vs. conventional parents in California) Weisner (2009) showed that cultural scripts for parenting can be inconsistent, resulting in unintended consequences such as dependency conflicts and ambivalence among both parents and children.

Use of Network Centrality Measures to Explain Individual Levels of Herbal Remedy Cultural Competence among the Yucatec Maya in Tabi, Mexico

Common herbal remedy knowledge varies and is transmitted among individuals who are connected through a social network. Thus, social relationships have the potential to account for some of the variation in knowledge. Cultural consensus analysis (CCA) and social network analysis (SNA) were used together to study the association between intracultural variation in botanical remedy knowledge and social relationships in Tabi, Yucatan, Mexico. CCA, a theory of culture as agreement, was used to assess the competence of individuals in a domain of herbal remedies by measuring individual competence scores within that domain. There was a weak but positive association between these competence scores and network centrality scores. This association disappeared when age was included in the model. People in Tabi, who have higher competence in herbal remedies tend to be older and more centrally located in the herbal remedy inquiry network. The larger implication of the application of CCA and SNA for understanding the acquisition and transmission of cultural knowledge is also explored.

Sociocultural Influences on the Development of Self-Recognition and Self-Regulation in Costa Rican and Mexican Toddlers

The aim of this study was to examine sociocultural influences on the development of specific sociocognitive developmental milestones. The self-recognition and self-regulation skills of 2-year-old children were assessed in two autonomous-relational cultural contexts: educated, urban, middle-class families from Costa Rica (N= 19) and Mexico (N= 15). These two cultural groups are representative of a consistent pattern of an autonomous-relational Latin American cultural model; there were no differences between the two groups in mothers’ socialization goals, maternal behavior during mother–child play, and toddlers’ self-recognition and self-regulation. As predicted by ecocultural models of development, consistent cultural models emerged: Sociodemographic factors were associated with mothers’ relative emphasis on autonomous socialization goals and lower levels of directive and didactic play. There were also significant correlations between facets of mothers’ cultural models and toddlers’ development of self-regulation, but not self-recognition. This study provides further evidence that the sociocognitive development of children’s self-regulation during the second year is dependent on the “ecological imprint” that is provided by their mothers’ cultural model. Furthermore, the same mechanisms that account for cross-cultural differences also seem to account for intracultural variation in maternal behavior and toddlers’ development.

The relevance of traditional knowledge systems for ethnopharmacological research: theoretical and methodological contributions.

BackgroundEthnopharmacology is at the intersection of the medical, natural, and social sciences. Despite its interdisciplinary nature, most ethnopharmacological research has been based on the combination of the chemical, biological, and pharmacological sciences. Far less attention has been given to the social sciences, including anthropology and the study of traditional knowledge systems.MethodsI reviewed the literature on traditional knowledge systems highlighting its potential theoretical and methodological contributions to ethnopharmacology.ResultsI discuss three potential theoretical contributions of traditional knowledge systems to ethnopharmacological research. First, while many plants used in indigenous pharmacopoeias have active compounds, those compounds do not always act alone in indigenous healing systems. Research highlights the holistic nature of traditional knowledge systems and helps understand plant's efficacy in its cultural context. Second, research on traditional knowledge systems can improve our understanding of how ethnopharmacological knowledge is distributed in a society, and who benefits from it. Third, research on traditional knowledge systems can enhance the study of the social relations that enable the generation, maintenance, spread, and devolution of cultural traits and innovations, including ethnopharmacological knowledge.At a methodological level, some ethnopharmacologists have used anthropological tools to understand the context of plant use and local meanings of health and disease.I discuss two more potential methodological contributions of research on traditional knowledge systems to ethnopharmacological research. First, traditional knowledge systems research has developed methods that would help ethnopharmacologists understand how people classify illnesses and remedies, a fundamental aspect of folk medicinal plant selection criteria. Second, ethnopharmacologists could also borrow methods derived from cultural consensus theory to have a broader look at intracultural variation and at the analysis of transmission and loss of traditional ethnopharmacological knowledge.ConclusionsEthical considerations in the ethnopharmacology of the 21st century should go beyond the recognition of the Intellectual Property Rights or the acquisition of research permits, to include considerations on the healthcare of the original holders of ethnopharmacological knowledge. Ethnopharmacology can do more than speed up to recover the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples to make it available for the development of new drugs. Ethnopharmacologists can work with health care providers in the developing world for the local implementation of ethnopharmacological research results.

Finding Common Ground in the Commons: Intracultural Variation in Users' Conceptions of Coastal Fisheries Issues

Population growth in U.S. coastal areas has spawned conflicts due to increasing competition between commercial and leisure uses of coastal resources. Organizations representing different user groups routinely misrepresent the causes and severity of environmental stresses to further their political and economic agendas, often predicting extinctions of fish and shellfish and undermining balanced and reasoned management alternatives. This article illustrates this phenomenon with data on conflicts stemming from perceived problems concerning marine resources involving recreational and commercial fishers, with additional attention to managers' roles in such disputes. Cultural consensus analysis is used to understand variation in cultural conceptions concerning coastal resource problems among the different groups. Finally, the method's application for resolving environmental conflicts is discussed.

Perceptions of Childhood Obesity on the Texas-Mexico Border

We sought to determine the extent of intracultural consensus in perceptions of childhood obesity among Mexican American mothers living on the Texas-Mexico border. A descriptive, cross-sectional study examined women's judgments about the parameters of childhood obesity. The convenience sample consisted of 61 Mexican American women who were mothers of at least 1 child under age 18. Participants underwent an anthropometric assessment and were surveyed regarding self-perceived weight and household food security. They were then shown photographs of 36 Mexican American boys ages 6 and 7 and asked to sort them into categories by weight status; they also selected 3 children they believed represented the healthiest, most appropriate weight for age. Accuracy scores were computed and examined for bivariate relationships with women's own body mass index (BMI) and survey responses. We found considerable intracultural variation in women's judgments, which could not be explained by the anthropometric and survey variables tested. Women selected a wide range of percentiles as representative of a healthy child. On average, about half of the truly overweight children (BMI>or=95th percentile), however, were considered normal or even underweight. Local perceptions and language may not correspond to CDC/WHO clinical standards. Larger studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

Lessons from beyond the Great Wall: what cross-cultural management researchers can learn from the Middle Kingdom

This paper revisits three studies conducted in the context of China to demonstrate how a single culture has eluded explanation by some of the most well-known cross-cultural studies as well as rendered valid, reliable scales from Western contexts inadequate in that culture. We suggest that cross-cultural researchers can utilise less-explored research contexts to further develop the sophistication of research by a identifying emics b aiming at cultural completeness c contextualising and meaningfully incorporating indigenous thought and knowledge. Looking beyond the three studies, we address the issue of intra-cultural variation, which can assist us to formulate truly cross-cultural approaches, both conceptually and methodologically, and to capture cross-cultural differences that might otherwise be lost to pseudo-etic or parochial approaches.

Where Bad Teeth Come from: A Study in How Cultures Exert Causal Force

This study tests hypotheses about the origins of bad teeth and good teeth. In the process, we show how cultures exert ‘causal force’ and produce what, following the lead of the dental professionals and dental patients who served as our research participants, we call ‘bad teeth. We conducted a mixed method ethnography that integrated narratives from one set of diverse research participants (n=39) with structured interviews from a different set of diverse participants (n=288). We assessed cultural agreements with principal components analysis and used correspondence analysis to clarify significant forms of intracultural variation. The population studied shares a single cultural understanding organized around the assumption that oral health constitutes a cosmetic not a disease category. Quality of life standards, however, varied with work cultures and oral health prevention behaviors reflected cultural norms that bear on appearance. This variation produces an apparent paradox, that the use of oral health services increases with access but may decrease with objective need. Improved oral health may require social marketing that stresses both the socially enhancing objective of healthy teeth and gums and that bad teeth add significantly to the risk of heart disease.

Intracultural Variation in Cross-Cultural Gerontology

Intracultural variation refers to specifically cultural differences between individuals, all of whom belong to the same, larger cultural group. Given shared cultural beliefs and norms, individuals will nevertheless differ in their adherence to these beliefs and norms. For example, Americans may generally know and value participatory democracy and the right to vote, but Americans differ in how well they understand the process or participate in it. In a second sense, intracultural variation refers to the existence of sub-cultural groupings within a larger cultural group. For instance, as regards the latter, researchers interested in multicultural phenomena in the United States often use the broad ethnic categories devised by Office of Budget and Management (Federal Register, October 30, 1997) and employed in Census 2000 to distinguish among ethnic groups. These include five minimum categories for data on race (American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White), plus two categories for data on ethnicity (“Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic or Latino”). Nevertheless, the research community is increasingly aware that important distinctions must be made within these broad categories. For instance, “Hispanic” or “Asian” include multiple distinct national and local cultures. “Black or African American” collapses over differences between African Americans who are descendents of slaves in the U.S. and African or West Indian immigrants. The notion of intracultural variation is related to, but different from, the notion of individual differences. The study of individual differences involves identifying and measuring within-group patterns of variation in independent and dependent variables, but such differences need not be explicitly cultural, nor do they necessarily involve the identification and characterization of subgroups. For instance, at the level of the group, one immigrant community may differ from another in levels of acquisition of English, but inspection of individual differences in formal education, access to resources, and frequency of visits to the home country may well explain these differences. These essentially psychosocial variables may be powerful predictors of English proficiency, but because they do not involve specifically cultural ideation, cultural value sets, or culturally-shaped J Cross Cult Gerontol (2009) 24:115–120 DOI 10.1007/s10823-009-9098-6

English Use Among Older Bilingual Immigrants in Linguistically Concentrated Neighborhoods: Social Proficiency and Internal Speech as Intracultural Variation

This research focuses on patterns of English proficiency and use-of-English among older immigrants living in linguistically concentrated, ethnic neighborhoods. A sample (n = 60) of older Puerto Ricans, who moved from the island to the mainland in their twenties, were divided into English proficiency groups (fluent, high intermediate, low intermediate) via the Adult Language Assessment Scales. Participants then provided self-ratings of their English proficiency (understanding, speaking, reading, and writing), their use of English in social domains (language spoken with own-family, in-laws, spouse, children, neighbors, and workmates), and their use of English in private psychological domains (language of talking to oneself, counting, writing notes to oneself, thinking, dreaming, praying, and expressing feelings). Finally, all participants completed the Puerto Rican Bicultural Scale. Results show a cohort of immigrant elders whose first language is protected by their ethnic neighborhoods but whose domestic and private lives are increasingly permeated by English. In particular, children emerge as powerful forces of language socialization in English for their parents. Further, there are important individual differences by level of proficiency, with a lowest proficiency group that is less acculturated, lower in socioeconomic status, and even more linguistically isolated than groups with higher proficiency. In essence, level of second language proficiency is a potent source of intracultural variation. Methodologically, the paper makes the important point that self-rated patterns of language use are consistent with scores on formal measures of proficiency. The paper also provides empirical verification of the logic of dividing language use into external, social speech and internal, psychological speech.

Brazilian mothers' socialization goals: Intracultural differences in seven Brazilian cities

The present study aimed to investigate Brazilian mothers' socialization goals. The participants in the study were 349 primiparous mothers, whose ages ranged from 17 to 47 years (mean = 26.6 years), who had children aged between 1 and 48 months (mean = 16.4 months). The families were living in seven different cities representing each of the five geographical regions of the country. A scale to evaluate the families' socio-economic status and an interview about socialization goals were used. The answers were coded in five categories defined in previous studies: self-maximization, self-control, lovingness, proper demeanor, and decency. Comparison of the means showed that Brazilian mothers gave more emphasis to self-maximization and proper demeanor than to the other categories, presenting a pattern that fosters the development of children's autonomous—relational selves. The intracultural variation found was related to the different cities studied. GLM results showed main effects of both city size and mothers' educational level on their socialization goals. These findings contribute to the understanding of characteristics of socialization goals related with autonomy and sociocentrism.

Using Freelisting to Identify, Assess, and Characterize Age Differences in Shared Cultural Domains

Freelisting is a brief, paper-and-pencil technique in which participants make lists of items that they believe belong in a particular domain. Where cultural domains are shared, as for young and old in the same society, subtle intracultural differences may be difficult to detect. This article presents a series of techniques for revealing and describing this intracultural variation in freelisted data among young versus old age groups. Older (N = 30) and younger (N = 31) Mexicans in Mexico City made freelists in four quotidian domains: animals, emotions, illnesses, and gendered occupations. We used minimum residual factor analysis (consensus analysis) to establish domain coherence and assess overall consensus concerning contents of the domains. We established subvariation within the overall consensus by comparing levels of observed versus predicted inter-informant agreement. Results showed divergent patterns of inter-informant agreement between young and old participants across domains. Qualitative examination of items with higher salience for young versus old revealed age differences consistent with prior findings in each domain. The concatenation of these techniques renders freelisting an accessible, easily administered tool for probing age and group differences in cultural domains.

Jeepneys: Values in the Streets

Cross-cultural psychological studies mostly focus on differences between countries. This study uniquely focuses on intracultural variations of values based on descriptors of artifact data, jeepneys (public transportation vehicles), and on interviews with jeepney drivers. The sample consisted of 200 jeepneys and their drivers in Manila and Davao, northern and southern regions of the Philippines, respectively. Results indicated that Manila jeepneys featured more decorations and accessories concerned with religion, identity, and Western commercialism, while Davao jeepneys featured more political and civic themes. In interviews about their problems and wishes, Manila drivers expressed more financial and road-related problems and wishes that centered on family and happiness, whereas Davao drivers expressed more family and other people-related problems and wishes dealing with finances and work. Results are discussed focusing on inter-and intracultural variation.

Intra-cultural variation: Explanations in service calls to two Montevidean service providers.

This article offers an intra-cultural pragmatic analysis of some aspects of the interactional behaviour of Uruguayans (Montevideans) in non-emergency service calls to two telephone service centres. In both sets of calls customers telephone to confirm delivery of a service for which there has been some delay. In particular, this study investigates the strategies employed by service representatives to apologize for a perceived company's shortfall. The findings show similarities in the overall organization of both sets of calls as well as in the type of apologizing sub-strategy deployed. Service representatives in both companies coincided in choosing explanations as an expression of remedial work. Although explanations figured in both sets of calls, those given by the call-takers of one of the companies consisted of justifications for the service shortfall and contained explicit expressions of apology, while those of the other company comprised excuses and expressions of evasion of responsibility. The choice of apologizing sub-strategy is explained by the fact that the offence was regarded as non-severe and by the state of consumer rights in the country. The variation observed in the way the explanations were constructed is attributed to the different micro cultures of the companies.

Culture sometimes matters: Intra-cultural variation in pro-social behavior among Tsimane Amerindians

Agent-centered models usually consider only individual-level variables in calculations of economic costs and benefits. There has been little consideration of social or cultural history on shaping payoffs in ways that impact decisions. To examine the role of local expectations on economic behavior, we explore whether village affiliation accounts for the variation in dictator game offers among the Tsimane of the Bolivian Amazon independently of other factors that could confound such an effect. Our analysis shows that significant differences in altruistic giving exist among villages, village patterns are recognized by residents, and offers likely reflect variation in social expectations rather than stable differences in norms of fairness.

Embodied Imagination: Emotional Expression Perception of Dynamic Line-Drawings Created by Artists

The main purpose of this study is to challenge the relation of image generation, expression production, and expressive perception as related to the symbolic transformation of experiences (imagination) and artistic communication; as well as, the linkage between emotion, action, and perception in the dynamic person-object relationship in pictorial perception associated with a high-level experience like the aesthetic. This article reports on a research project that focuses on intra-cultural and inter-cultural (Greek-Canadian) variation of the perceptual experience of artistic, non-representational line-drawing depicting the subjective experience of the emotions of Joy and Fear, as compared to the communicability of the relevant emotional schemas stated in words. A series of experiments was designed to gain insight into the complexities of self-world interaction involving the image generation—as a schematized depiction, the perceptual experience and imagination processes, which are the basis of artistic communication, and emotional concepts that bear cultural diversity. Analysis of the results revealed a shared “embodied” frame of reference cross-culturally especially for the negative emotion of fear. This finding highlights the intersubjective nature of our “embodied” subjectivity, as an imaginative productive act—an enactment of lived significance that induces a shared understanding.

The epistemological basis of selfhood

Multiple definitions and conceptualizations of selfhood have appeared in psychological literature over the years. A fundamental debate that had risen as a result is whether the self is made of universal properties that transcend local factors or whether it is a construction particular to specific conditions of history, culture and individuality. This article begins with a review of different ways by which the self has been understood and construed; it then proceeds to suggest an epistemological framework that generates four distinct types of selves: monolithic–monoformal, relativistic–relational, dialectical–deconstructive, and integral–inclusive. It is claimed that these basic structures consist of much of the cross-cultural and intra-cultural variation in the construction of selfhood.