Challenges a psychologist may face in exploring his/her own values, standards, and assumptions about human behavior…

What might prevent psychologist from valuing and respecting differences…?

 

There are many forms or types of human heterogeneity that constitute diversity such as gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, race, ethnicity, mental and physical ability, age and so on, which normally should shape for everyone and much more for psychologists an inclusive worldview. The fact that someone is a Mental Health specialist does not automatically mean that s/he has adopted an inclusive worldview, as there are several cases where even some psychologists get caught up in prejudices or even stereotypes towards certain categories of people or towards certain minority groups.

Sometimes, these biases and prejudices are taking place in our minds unconsciously, and this is why we should always have the fear that it is possible to act paternalistically, strictly, suspiciously, with arrogance or superiority and thereby hurt others unintentionally. For example, a psychologist during sessions might come across with a person who has a different religion and as a result s/he could realize that one of their practice or custom of the client may sound immoral such as the clitoridectomy or the marriage of teen girls in some countries and regions of Middle East. According to the worldview of the psychologist who grew up in a western country, such practices are not just immoral but also unacceptable.

If a helping professional wants not to be judgemental and getting rid of his/her bias, then s/he should try to have empathy in order to gain and show a better understanding of different points of view. Culture is always at the roof of communication’s challenges. This is happening, because our culture shapes the way we see the world (worldview), and the way we approach the other people. If we have a different culture, this means we don’t share common experiences and this makes it difficult to understand why other people have the one or the other behavior, stance or practice. So, we strongly believe, for having empathy, it is vital to be eager to know the culture of the other minority groups who live among us, in order to discover who they really are and stop making assumptions based on stereotypes. We need to remember that according to the “contact hypothesis” of Allport, the contact between people of different groups can lead to the reduction of prejudices under certain conditions. “Specifically, when individuals with negative attitudes toward specific groups find themselves in situations in which they engage in positive social interactions with members of those groups, their behavior is inconsistent with their attitudes…The contact hypothesis fundamentally rests on the idea that in-groups that have more interactions with a certain out-group tend to develop more positive perceptions and fewer negative perceptions of that out-group” (McLeod, 2023). 

 

 In conclusion, what a psychologist needs first of all to know, is to be aware that his/her worldview could become a “trap”, since s/he could impose his/her own worldview upon other less powerful groups. In other words, psychologist’s worldview might prevent him/her from valuing and respecting differences. Secondly, the psychologist should not afraid of contacting and/or try to be related to one another, since this is the key to opening channels for a better cross – cultural communication. 

 

Source:

 (Saul Mcleod, 2023). https://www.simplypsychology.org/contact-hypothesis.html, retrieved at 11:00 am, 5/28/23.

 

By Nicholas Kouravanas & Eleni Papadopoulou, Psychologists, MSc.