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Psychology 307 Cultural Psychology Lecture 11
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Office Hours

• Prior to the exam, I will have additional
  office hours. If you require assistance, please
  feel free to see me at any of the following
  times

Friday, February 5, 300-430. Monday, February
8, 300-500. Tuesday, February 9, 1030-1200.
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Scoring Your Questionnaire
In order to score your questionnaire, you must
compute 3 scores. For each score, give yourself
1 point for each of the following
responses. Score 1 Yes 10, 14, 22, 31,
39 No 2, 6, 18, 26, 28, 35, 43 Score 2 Yes
3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 32, 36, 44, 48 No 27,
41 Score 3 Yes 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 30,
34, 38, 42, 46
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The Self-Concept, Motivation, and Personality

1. Does cultural variation on the dimension of
   individualism-collectivism influence the way in
   which the self is conceptualized? (continued)
2. Do trait theories adequately describe personality
   in non-Western cultures?

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Does cultural variation on the dimension of
individualism-collectivism influence the way in
which the self is conceptualized? (continued)
(b) Self-consistency

• Research has shown that the self-beliefs of
  people from individualistic cultures tend to be
  more consistent across social contexts than the
  self-beliefs of people from collectivistic
  cultures.

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• Moreover, research has shown that there is a
  greater correlation between consistency of
  self-beliefs and psychological adjustment in
  individualistic cultures than collectivistic
  cultures.

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• Example

Campbell et al. (1996)

• Recruited participants from Canada and Japan.

• Conducted 3 studies.

• In each study, had participants complete
  measures of self-concept clarity (SCC) and
  self- esteem (SE).

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Campbell et als SCC Scale

• 1. My beliefs about myself often conflict with
  one another.
• 2. On one day I might have one opinion of
  myself and on another day I might have a
  different opinion.
• 3. I spend a lot of time wondering about what
  kind of person I really am.
• 4. Sometimes I feel that I am not really the
  person that I appear to be.
• 5. When I think about the kind of person I
  have been in the past, Im not sure what I was
  really like.
• 6. I seldom experience conflict between the
  different aspects of my personality.
• 7. Sometimes I think I know other people
  better than I know myself.
• My beliefs about myself seem to change very
  frequently.
• 9. If I were asked to describe my personality,
  my description might end up being different from
  one day to another day.
• 10. Even if I wanted to, I dont think I could
  tell someone what Im really like.
• In general, I have a clear sense of who I am
  and what I am.
• It is often hard for me to make up my mind
  about things because I dont really know what I
  want.

Reverse-scored item.
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• Across the 3 studies, found that
• (a) the SCC scores obtained by the Canadian
  participants were higher than the SCC scores
  obtained by the Japanese participants.

(b) the correlations between SCC and SE were
higher among the Canadian participants than the
Japanese participants.
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SCC Scores for Canadian and Japanese Participants
(Campbell et al. 1996)
Study Mean SCC ScoreCanadian Participants Mean SCC ScoreJapanese Participants p
1 41.72 34.41 lt.01
2 39.30 35.01 lt.01
3 38.02 34.35 lt.01
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Correlations Between SCC and Self-Esteem for
Canadian and Japanese Participants (Campbell et
al., 1996)
Study Correlation Between SCC and SE Canadian Participants Correlation Between SCC and SEJapanese Participants p
1 .69 .37 lt.001
2 .63 .46 lt.07
3 .59 .08 lt.001
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(c) Self-enhancement

• Research suggests that people from
  individualistic cultures tend to engage in
  self-enhancementthat is, they tend to view and
  evaluate themselves in a positive and socially
  desirable manner.

• Self-enhancement is motivated by a desire to
  bolster ones self-image and demonstrate ones
  unique attributes.

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• In contrast, research suggests that people from
  collectivistic cultures tend to engage in
  self- effacementthat is, they tend to view and
  evaluate themselves in a critical and
  disparaging manner.

• Self-effacement is motivated by a desire to
  diminish ones unique attributes and fit in with
  others.

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• Examples

1. Markus and Kitayama (1998)

• Recruited participants from the U.S. and Japan.

• Examined the frequency with which participants
  endorsed a variety of attributes as descriptive
  of themselves special and ordinary were
  among the attributes presented to participants.

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• Found that
• (a) 96 of European American participants
  described themselves as special, whereas only
  45 of Japanese participants described
  themselves using this term.

(b) 84 of Japanese participants described
themselves as ordinary, whereas only 18 of
European American participants described
themselves using this term.
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2. Heine and Lehman (1999)

• Recruited participants from Canada and Japan.

• Examined
• (a) the frequency with which participants
  endorsed a variety of positive attributes as
  descriptive of themselves.
• (b) the degree to which participants
  experienced discrepancies between their
  actual and ideal selves.
• (c) the correlation between participants
  actual- ideal discrepancies and depression.

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• Participants rated 20 positive attributes.
  Among these were

Adaptable Happy Attractive Hardworking Compete
nt Honest Considerate Patient Creative Self-
confident Decisive Self-motivated Dependable S
ensitive to others Determined Tolerant
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• Found that
• (a) Canadian participants endorsed more
  positive attributes as self-descriptive than
  Japanese participants.

(b) Japanese participants experienced greater
actual-ideal discrepancies than Canadian
participants.
(c) the correlation between actual-ideal
discrepancies and depression was higher among
Canadian participants than Japanese participants.
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Findings for Canadian and Japanese Participants
(Heine Lehman, 1999)
Canadian Participants Japanese Participants p
Self-ratings 85.9 71.1 lt.001
Actual-ideal discrepancies 1.20 1.49 lt.001
Correlation with depression .53 .30 lt.05
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Do trait theories adequately describe
personality in non-Western cultures?

• Personality refers to an individuals
  characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and
  behavior, together with the psychological
  mechanisms behind those patterns (Funder,
  2004).

• Given that research has shown that the
  self-beliefs of people from collectivistic
  cultures are variable across social contexts,
  some theorists (e.g., Shweder, 1991) maintain
  that personality is not a valid construct to
  study in collectivistic cultures.

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• Consistent with this view, Hsu (1985) argues
  that the concept of personality is an
  expression of the Western ideal of
  individualism.

• Similarly, Cross and Markus (1999) maintain
  that personality psychology is an indigenous
  psychology of Western Europeans and North
  Americans, rather than a universal psychology of
  human behavior.

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• In contrast to this view, other theorists
  maintain that the concept of personality is
  universally relevant. In support of their view,
  they note that all cultural groups possess terms
  to describe individuals enduring
  characteristics. Examples

• Pakikiramdam (Filipino sensitive, empathetic)

• Amae (Japanese indulgent, dependent)

• Ren qin (Chinese relationship-oriented)

• Simpatico (Mexican avoiding of conflict)

• Mitratapurne (Hindi friendly)

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• Although a number of theories of personality
  have been proposed (e.g., psychoanalytic theory,
  social-learning theories), researchers who have
  studied personality across cultures have largely
  focused on trait theories.

• According to trait theories, personality is
  best described as a constellation of traits
  (e.g., anxious, conscientious, outgoing). Traits
  are viewed as descriptive summaries of behaviour.

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• Trait theories attempt to identify the traits
  that are most central to describing personality.
  These traits are viewed as the basic dimensions
  of personality or as superordinate traits that
  encompass numerous, more narrowly defined traits.

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The Self-Concept, Motivation, and Personality

1. Does cultural variation on the dimension of
   individualism-collectivism influence the way in
   which the self is conceptualized? (continued)
2. Do trait theories adequately describe personality
   in non-Western cultures?