Self esteem and cultural differences Flashcards
Terror Management theory (TMT)
function of self-esteem is to protect us from existential anxiety
existential anxiety
feelings of dread triggered by thoughts of death and meaningless of life
paradigms used in studies evaluating TMT
- morality salience: reminding people they are going to die
- reminders of lack of control
TMT study 1: GOD
- think of a event where you were in control or had no control
- questionnaire on belief in God
- result: no control people believe God was controller, not creator
TMT Study 2: science
high stress vs. low stress
- belief in science scale
- results: more stress=scientism, less stress=no science
Problems with TMT
not a “paralyzing fear” of death like they said
little evidence
- lack external validity
- theory says decrease in self esteem = increase in existential anxiety (WRONG)
sociometer theory
individuals who gained acceptance and support form others survived
- purpose of self esteem: acts as a sociometer (warning signal; gauge your relational value to others) that helps you maintain an adequate level of acceptance
study: sociometer theory
select two people to work with you
- self esteem plummets in those not chosen
the self esteem boom and crash
boom: research inspired a cultural push to boost self-esteem
crash: small effects in experiments trying to boost self esteem
- Asians low self esteem but highest GPA
study: self esteem (SE message)
- students with C,D and F on midterm assigned to three groups: no message, a SE message, a message to take responsibility
- results: SE message grades actually DROPPED
- conclusion: relationship between SE ad grades should be evaluated in correlational studies, not experimental studies
Better-than-average (BTAE)
people tend to rate themselves as better than average in different domains (“Lake Wobegon Effect”)
- BTAE across cultures (personality traits vs specific abilities and positive traits vs neg traits)
- BTAE universal effect; exists across cultures but larger effect on Euro Americans than East Asians
causal attributions
deciding what caused a specific behavior
self serving attributions
attributions consistent with a desire to see ourselves positively
- good = ourselves
- bad = situation
- stronger in Western cultures
Eastern’s are prone to…
group-serving bias
correspondance bias
tendency to assume that someone’s behavior corresponds to who they are as a person
- overestimates traits, underestimates situations (e.g. begin cut off in traffic)
- as you get older correspondence bias increases
- participants in India show less correspondence bias ( less likely than US for traits, more for context)
WEIRD
Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic
More exposure to western culture=
more individualistic self-concept
Pen study
Americans preferred the unique pen more than Asians
- self serving
Memory for objects: cultural difference (Japan and American)
Japanese recalled 60% more of the background than Americans
- Analytical thinking - WEIRD - salient objects
- Holistic thinking - Eastern - collectivist - objects on context, focus on relationships
Chinese did ____ when object was shown on different background
worse
perceptual differences: eye movements
- Americans looked at focal objects
- Chinese looked at surroundings
Motivational = HOT = one’s emotional state influences
- TMT
- self serving attributes
- correspondance bias
- BTAE
- cognitive dissonance
Gestalt Psychology
early 20th century school of psych focused on perceiving patterns - things are defined in context
- Americans are more susceptible to Muller-lyer illusion
cognitive dissonance
the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes.
