How does Culture effect Motivation Flashcards
What is self-enhancement?
The motivation to view oneself positively
Is self-enhancement seen as universal?
No, not anymore
Self-enhancement leads to people to have _______?
Self Serving Biases
Self Serving Biases
The tendency to overstate one’s attributes
-typically seen with attributes that DON’T yield concrete negative feedback.
What are the 5 strategies for positive self-enhancement?
- Downward Social Comparison
- Compensatory Self-Enhancement
- Discounting
- External Attributions
- Basking in Reflected Glory (BiRGing)
Downward Social Comparison
-Comparing oneself to someone who is worse off than you
ie I’m comparing myself to those in poverty to make myself feel better
Compensatory Self-Enhancement
-Acknowledging negative feedback, but focusing only on what you’re good at
ie Understanding that I did not perform well on a presentation, but instead focusing on how I’m good at video games
Discounting
-Downplaying the importance or value of an attribute
ie “I’m not good at math, but that’s ok, who actually uses that in real life!?”
External attributions
-Attributing failures to external factors rather than internal factors
ie I failed this test because the world is going bad, not because I studied.
Cross Cultural Research reveals that self-enhancement is more pronounced in ___?
Generally, self-enhancement seems to be associated with having an _____ sense of self.
-West and WEIRD samples
-Independent sense of self
What 2 factors do researchers propose is the reason for cultural variation in self enhancement?
- Proximal (Parental) effects
- Distal (Societal) effects
How do American and Taiwanese mothers differ on the importance of self-esteem?
American Mothers: Consider self-esteem central to child-rearing; it must be cultivated
vs
Taiwanese Mothers: believe that high self esteem may be detrimental
What schools are more likely to promote self-enhancement?
American schools opposed to East Asian schools
What distal factors resulted in a culture of self-enhancement?
1) Effects of Societal Norms (The protestant reformation)
-“Uncertainty in heaven/hell=need to feel good”
2) Individualistic cultures tend to self-enhance more
-As we became more individualistic, people self enhanced more
3) Self reliance becomes difficult to achieve without high self esteem
What do interdependent/collectivistic cultures tend to place focus on instead of Self-Enhancement for motivation?
-Self Improvement (opposed to self-enhancement)
-Much more focus placed on “saving face”
“Face”
Social Value is given by others if one fulfills social obligations and expectations
-ie Mom being overly concerned about ensuring we look the “right way” for an event. “What will the others think?”
“Face” is more easily ___ than ____.
-lost; gained
In cultures concerned with face, people have more of a _____ than a ____.
-Prevention Orientation; Promotion Orientation
What does a difference in Promotion v. Prevention Orientation result in?
-Affects how one responds to failure
Prevention Orientation
-Focusing on weaknesses to avoid future failures
-Typically seen in Interdependent Cultures
Promotion Orientation
-Focusing on successes to strive for advancement
-Typically seen in Individualistic Cultures
In what cultures is conformity very much present?
-Interdependent cultures
-Especially when it comes to “Ingroup”
What is a key goal of motivation in interdependent cultures?
“belongingness with others”
-trying to fit in
What is a key goal of motivation in individualistic cultures?
-motivation to highlight their distinctiveness
-this fosters a sense of independence
Motivation to conform extends to preferences ____?
-For objects
-When given a group of colored pens and 1 eccentric pen, Euro-Americans wanted the standout, while East Asians tended to choose pens in the majority
What main differences are seen in ads across cultures?
Uniqueness vs Conformity
Motivations for control-Beliefs about Control
1) Incremental theory of the world
2) Entity Theory of the world
What are the ways in which people gain control
1) Primary Control
2) Secondary Control
Primary Control-“Influence/Agency”
-Direct
-shaping existing realities to fit our perceptions, goals, and wishes
Secondary Control-“Adjustment”
-Indirect; changing perceptions
- aligning oneself with existing realities
-leaving circumstances unchanged, but exerting control over psychological impact
Changes in the value of choice can occur when
-Collectivistic
-Working Class people (ok with the pen usurped)
-Upper-class people (rated the new pen much lower than the usurped pen)
