Culture & Prevalence of Obesity (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note

Cultural dimensions & obesity

• Geert Hofstede, a professor at Maastricht University, surveyed over 60,000 IBM employees from 50+ countries between 1971-1973 using questionnaires on cultural attitudes and behaviours

• He concluded that cultural dimensions can be used to describe universal patterns of behaviour across cultures

• One of the most researched cultural dimensions is individualism vs. collectivism

Key cultural dimension: individualism vs. collectivism

Individualistic cultures

• Individualistic cultures focus on ‘I/me’ rather than ‘we/us’

• They value independence, competition, and personal achievement

• Members of individualistic cultures may enjoy freedom and choice but risk isolation and lack of support

• Individuals may view their behaviour (e.g., eating habits) as personal choice, even if these go against health advice

• This can contribute to higher obesity prevalence, as people prioritise convenience or preference over group or health norms.

Collectivist cultures

• Collectivist cultures focus on groups such as family, colleagues, or community

• They value interdependence, cooperation and group harmony

• Members of collectivist cultures may enjoy a sense of belonging and community but may feel reduced personal identity and autonomy

• Food choices may reflect group norms (e.g., shared meals, traditional foods), which may encourage cohesion but can also reinforce unhealthy habits

• In collectivist contexts, obesity may be shaped by group expectations, with individuals less likely to go against family or cultural eating traditions

Evaluation of cultural dimensions

Strengths

• The large-scale, global survey produced extensive quantitative data which increases the reliability and generalisability of the results

• Research is regularly reviewed and updated, reducing the risk of temporal validity issues

Limitations

• The findings may be reductionist as they oversimplify complex cultural behaviours into rigid and inflexible categories

• Sample bias is an issue, as the IBM employees were not equally representative of all cultures

  • E.g., there were more employees from the USA and developed countries 

Prevalence of obesity between individualistic & collectivist cultures

• Prevalence rates show how common a disorder or behaviour is within a specific population in a given time period

• For obesity, prevalence is measured using BMI (Body Mass Index): the proportion of people classed as obese within a population (e.g., between Jan 2021–Jan 2022)

Research support for culture & prevalence of obesity

Masood et al. (2019)

Aim:

• To investigate the relationship between individualism vs. collectivism and BMI

Participants:

• 156,192 adults from 53 countries, representing both individualistic and collectivist cultures

 Procedure:

• Data was collected on each participant’s:

  • BMI

  • gender

  • age

  • marital status

  • education

  • occupation

  • socioeconomic status

  • rural/urban location

Results:

• Participants from individualistic countries (e.g., USA) had higher BMI on average than those from collectivist cultures (e.g., Vietnam)

Conclusion:

• National culture (individualism vs. collectivism) has a significant relationship with BMI

• This helps explain cross-cultural patterns of obesity prevalence

Evaluation of cultural dimensions & obesity

Strengths

• Masood obtained a huge sample

  • This means the robust results can withstand statistical testing

  • High external validity means that the findings are generalisable across cultures

• A standardised BMI measure was used increasing reliability and making the research easier to replicate

Limitations

• BMI is simplistic – it does not capture deeper cultural attitudes toward food, body image, or obesity

• Replication on such a large scale would be difficult due to the time and cost involved

Link to concepts

Responsibility

• Research on obesity is socially sensitive, the results of which could be used to stereotype or discriminate against specific social/cultural groups

• The results of research findings in this field should be reported carefully with researcher reflexivity as a priority

Change

• Prevalence rates of obesity may change according to the continuing march of globalisation

  • With increasing access to fast, processed food it is becoming common to see rising obesity rates in collectivist countries such as India, where, traditionally, there was no real obesity problem