Title: Courtesy of Constantine Sedikides
1- Courtesy of Constantine Sedikides
2- ... it is a mistake to consider the processes
- in social psychology as basic in the
- natural science sense. Rather, they
- may largely be considered the psychological
- counterpart of cultural norms.
-
- Gergen, 1973
3 INHERENT PROBLEMS
- Research on Culture
- Did not define or operationalise the construct
well - Compared countries rather than cultures
- Used limited methodological repertoire
- Was plagued by measurement
- equivalency problems
- Hence Could not explain adequately
between-culture differences
4BREAKTHROUGH
- Focus on
- a particular dimension of culture
- as experienced subjectively by members
- Dimension
- Individualism - Collectivism
- (Hofstede, 1980 Triandis, 1990)
- Theory of
- Independent vs. Interdependent Self-Construals
- (Markus Kitayama, 1991)
5THEORY OFINDEPENDENT VS. INTERDEPENDENTSELF-CO
NSTRUALS
- Assumptions
- Culture influences individual self-construals
- Self-construals influence individual functioning
6- WESTERN
EASTERN - CULTURE
CULTURE - . . . . . .
. . . . . .
- USA JAPAN
- UK INDIA
- CANADA CHINA
- AUSTRALIA PHILIPINNES
- GERMANY INDONESIA
7- WEST
- The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
- EAST
- The nail that stands out gets pounded down.
8WESTERN CORPORATION, SEEKING TO ELEVATE
PRODUCTIVITY Look in the mirror and say I am
beautiful 100 times before coming to work each
day. EASTERN CORPORATION, SEEKING TO ELEVATE
PRODUCTIVITY Begin your day by holding hands
and telling each other that he or she is
beautiful.
9Propositions
- Western culture
- fosters independent self-construals
- Imperative Individualistic
be independent, unique, separate - Eastern culture
- fosters interdependent self-construals
- Imperative Collectivistic
value
cooperation, harmony, cohesion
10- Empirical Evidence
- Members of Western culture (Idiocentrics)
- have inflated views of the self
- manifest the self-serving bias
- have unrealistically optimistic beliefs
11Empirical Evidence
- Members of Eastern culture (Allocentrics)
- do not have inflated self-views
- do not manifest the self-serving bias
- do not have unrealistically optimistic beliefs
- self-efface
12Conclusions
- Enhancement of individual self is not observed in
Eastern culture - Allocentrics (Japanese) do not have a need for
self-esteem - Heine, Lehman, Markus, Kitayama, 1999,
- Psychological Review
13 14Culture Perspective
- Need for Self-Enhancement
- Highly prevalent in the West
- Non-Existent in the East
15Culture PerspectiveNeed for Self-Enhancement
Not Universal
- the empirical literature provides scant
evidence for a need for positive self-regard
among Japanese - the need for self-regard must be culturally
variant - the need for self-regard is not universal,
but rather rooted in significant aspects of North
American culture - Heine, Lehman, Markus, Kitayama, 1998,
Psychological Review, p. 766
16When Constraints are Lifted
- What happens when contextual or cultural
constraints are lifted (or substantially
reduced)? - The case of Implicit Measures
- Do Easterners NOT self-enhance on implicit
measures?
17Counter-Evidence for Culture Perspective
Implicit Measures
- Easterners
-
- prefer own name letters and birthday dates
- display strong self-positivity bias
- in response latency or word stem completion
tasks - score equally high with westerners on self-esteem
IAT
18Conclusions
- Allocentrics have a positive implicit self
- But, how about explicit measures?
- Why do Japanese not show self-enhancement on
explicit measures? -
19- One of the necessary conditions for the
formulation of universal theories and laws is
that they be phrased in sufficiently abstract
form as to allow for the insertion of specific
objects, cases, places, events, and times as
variables. - - Schlenker, 1974
20Self-Concept Enhancing Tactician Model
Universal Laws People have a fundamental need
to enhance the individual self to think
positively of the self to protect the
self People enhance the individual self on
personally important attributes
21- Reformulation
- Need for Self-Enhancement
- Equally prevalent in West and East
22Lingering Questions
- Why do allocentrics (Japanese) and idiocentrics
(Americans) differ on explicit measures of
self-enhancement? - Do Japanese and Americans enhance the self in
different ways?
23Self-Concept Enhancing Tactician Model
- Self-enhancement is tactical and opportunistic
- People are skilled in recognising cultural norms
or roles - People strive to fulfil these roles
- People rate themselves positively on dimensions
- that imply successful role fulfilment these
dimensions are personally important -
24- Assumptions
- Allocentrics (Japanese) personally value
- collectivistic attributes
- Idiocentrics (Americans) personally value
individualistic attributes
25- Predictions
- Japanese will enhance the individual self on
collectivistic attributes - Americans will enhance the individual self on
individualistic attributes
26The Data
27Collectivistic Behaviours
28Individualistic Behaviours
29Collectivistic Traits
30Individualistic Traits
31- Participants
-
- - 40 American students
- - 40 Japanese students
- Had been away from Japan 2-22 months
32- Procedure
- Cultural immersion (10 min) - imagine, write
- walking along the streets
- experiencing the sights, listening to the sounds
- eating in restaurants
- being with friends, celebrating with family
- Simulation of group-ness (10 min) - imagine,
write - membership in 16-person business task-force
- problems budgetary ,personnel, advertising,
planning
33Self-Enhancement on Behaviours
- How likely are you, relative to the
- typical group member, to enact each
- behaviour?
- -5 much less than the typical group member
- 0 about the same as the typical group member
- 5 much more than the typical group member
- (self superiority)
34 Positive values reflect self-enhancement Negativ
e values reflect self-effacement
35Self-Enhancement on Traits
- How well does each trait describe you
- relative to the typical group member?
- -5 much worse than the typical group member
- 0 as well as the typical group member
- 5 much better than the typical group member
36 Positive values reflect self-enhancement Negativ
e values reflect self-effacement
37Assumptions
- Interdependents value collectivistic attributes
- Independents value individualistic attributes
38Predictions
- Interdependents will self-enhance on
collectivistic attributes
(personally important) - Independents will self-enhance on individualistic
attributes (personally
important)
39- Session I
- 206 participants
- Singelis (1994) self-construal scale
- Participants divided into
- Interdependents
- high on interdependent items
- low on independent items
- Independents
- high on independent items
- low on interdependent items
40- Session II
- 48 Independents
- 48 Interdependents
- Procedure identical to Study I
- Exception
- How personally important is each ?
- 1 extremely unimportant to me
- 5 neither important nor unimportant to me
- 9 extremely important to me
41Does Self-Construal Predict BehaviourSelf-Enhance
ment?
42Does Self-Construal Predict TraitSelf-Enhancement
?
43- Universal Laws
- Humans have a need to enhance the self
- Humans enhance the self on personally important
dimensions
44- Japanese or Interdependents value collectivistic
attributes - Americans or Independents value individualistic
attributes
45- Japanese or Interdependents self-enhance on
collectivistic attributes - Americans or Independents self-enhance on
individualistic attributes
46- Clarifications
- For Japanese Being a good self means being
better than others on culturally-valued and,
thus, personally-valued attributes - For Americans Being a good self means being
better than others on culturally-valued and,
thus, personally-valued attributes - Both strive to excel on culturally-prescribed or
desirable dimensions - Personal importance a proxy for desirability