Cross-Cultural Differences; Self-Construal Flashcards
Changes in concept of “self”
The “self” is influenced by multiple layers of culture
Drastic changes over time how we define ourselves–the concept of “self” has become more complex over the years
e.g. how women can define themselves today vs. 50 years ago
We now identify ourselves using more narcissistic / individualistic traits rather than communal traits more common in the past
Mojaverian & Kim, 2013
Solicited vs. Unsolicited Support
Study 1
- actual support in lab setting
- given opportunity to seek aid or spontaneously receive aid in arithmetic-related tasks
Study 2
- read vignettes describing a hypothetical stressor and a coping scenario involving either solicited or unsolicited support
- asked to rate emotional responses to the vignettes
European-Americans prefer either type of support
Asian-Americans prefer unsolicited support
- Asking for aid makes one stand out, but if unsolicited, it reinforces social belonging and relational ties
- less stress and more positive emotions
Self-esteem mediated cultural differences, suggesting cultural differences in interpretation of unsolicited support
*For Asian Americans, relationship esteem can be a basis of self-worth
Kwan et al., 1997
Study confirmed an additive effect of relationship harmony to self-esteem in predicting life satisfaction across student samples from the United States and Hong Kong
Both self-construals and the 5 factors of personality were shown to influence life satisfaction through the mediating agency of self-esteem and relationship harmony in equivalent ways across these 2 cultural groups
Independent self-construal → self-esteem → life satisfaction
Interdependent self-construal → relationship harmony → life satisfaction
As predicted from the dynamics of cultural collectivism, the relative importance of relationship harmony to self-esteem was greater in Hong Kong than in the United States.
Self-construal (Markus & Kitayan, 1991)
Cross-cultural research bloomed in the early 1990’s, and focused mainly on West vs. East Asian
INDIVIDUAL Independent construal Interdependent construal -------------------- CULTURAL Individualism vs. Collectivism
Dignity culture vs. Face Culture
[details on following flash card]
Independent vs Interdependent Individual Construal
Independent construal • Self as an autonomous, independent person • More affiliated with the western world • More common in men • Correlated with will to self-disclose
Interdependent construal
• Self is defined in terms of connectedness, and our relations to others
• More affiliated with eastern cultures
• More common in females
Individualistic vs. collectivistic Cultural Construal
“Squeaky wheel gets the grease” vs. “The nail that stands out gets hammered down”
Individualistic cultures
• Prefer to make own choices based on preferences
Collectivist cultures
• Prefer others to make decisions/choices
Within the US, we have variation
• Most collectivist = southern states
• Most individualistic = mountain west (possibly due to a reliance on self when frontier was settled)
Dignity culture vs. Face Culture
Dignity culture (USA/ West)
- Intrinsic value of each individual
- All, theoretically, are equal
Face culture (East Asian)
- Individual’s worth is defined by what others think of him/her
- Use of social support
Cognitive Independent Construal
[Independent]
More knowledge about self
More fundamental attribution error
Process stimuli unaffected by contexts
e.g. fish out of the background scene, easier to recognize
Link thinking and talking while problem solving
e.g. can talk through thinking strategies
Articulatory suppression task (e.g. reciting the alphabet) disrupts problem-solving
Less mimicry
Cognitive Interdependent Construal
[Interdependent]
More knowledge about others and relations
Less fundamental attribution error and less complex attributions
Contextually-bound thinking
- sensitive to situation
- holistic
- e.g. cannot notice specific fish outside of its original context
- e.g. cities have more abstract boundaries
Do not link talking and thinking during problem-solving
- Cannot inform us of thinking strategies during problem-solving
- Articulatory suppression task does not affect interdependent as much
Increased cognitive mimicry
Emotional Independent Construal
[Independent]
Ego-focused emotions
Anger, pride, frustration
Empathetic accuracy is higher towards strangers than interdependent
Ideal affect = excitement, high arousal
**Discrepancies from the cultural ideal and actual affect = mental disorder
Emotional Interdependent Construal
[Interdependent]
More attentive to emotions
Empathic accuracy towards those they know
Other-focused emotions
e.g. Sympathy, shame
Ideal affect = calm
*topic of choice in East Asian children’s stories
**Discrepancies from the cultural ideal and actual affect = mental disorder
Motivational Independent Construal
[Independent]
More internal motives
Dislike inconsistency
More self-serving bias
More self-enhancement
Makes us distinct from others
More group-enhancing bias
Unrealistic optimism
Prefer uniqueness
e.g. diamond in the matrix of squares
Motivational Interdependent Construal
[Interdependent]
More social-related motives
Tolerate more inconsistency
“Dialectical self-concept”…Philosophically, recognize constant changing situations; Yin & Yang
More understanding of positive and negative aspects of self
Reflected in psychological measures
More Likert scales in eastern culture
Less self-serving bias
More self-criticism
*criticizing others would makes one stand out
Less group-enhancement bias
More pessimistic
Prefer conformity
*even in advertisements
