Courtesy of Constantine Sedikides

“... 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

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

BREAKTHROUGH

• Focus ona particular dimension of culture

as experienced subjectively by members

• DimensionIndividualism - Collectivism

(Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1990)

• Theory ofIndependent vs. Interdependent Self-Construals

(Markus & Kitayama, 1991)

THEORY OFINDEPENDENT VS. INTERDEPENDENT

SELF-CONSTRUALS

Assumptions:

Culture influences individual self-construals

Self-construals influence individual functioning

WESTERN EASTERNCULTURE CULTURE

. . . . . . . . . . . . USA JAPANUK INDIACANADA CHINAAUSTRALIA

PHILIPINNESGERMANY

INDONESIA

WEST“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

EAST“The nail that stands out gets pounded down.”

WESTERN CORPORATION, SEEKINGTO 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.”

Propositions

• Western culture fosters independent self-construals

Imperative = Individualistic be: independent, unique, separate

• Eastern culture fosters interdependent self-construals

Imperative = Collectivistic value: cooperation, harmony, cohesion

Empirical Evidence

Members of Western culture (Idiocentrics):

• have inflated views of the self

• manifest the self-serving bias

• have unrealistically optimistic

beliefs

Empirical 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

Conclusions

• 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

A REFORMULATION

Culture Perspective

Need for Self-Enhancement:

• Highly prevalent in the West

• Non-Existent in the East

Culture 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

When 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?

Counter-Evidence for Culture Perspective: Implicit Measures

Easterners

– prefer own name letters and birthday dates

– display strong self-positivity biasin response latency or word stem completion tasks

– score equally high with westerners on self-esteem IAT

Conclusions

• Allocentrics have a positive implicit self

• But, how about explicit measures?

• Why do Japanese not show self-enhancement on explicit measures?

“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

Self-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

Reformulation

Need for Self-Enhancement:

Equally prevalent in West and East

Lingering 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?

• 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

Self-Concept Enhancing Tactician Model

Assumptions

– Allocentrics (Japanese) personally valuecollectivistic attributes

– Idiocentrics (Americans) personally value individualistic attributes

Predictions

– Japanese will enhance the individual self on collectivistic attributes

– Americans will enhance the individual self on individualistic attributes

The Data

Collectivistic Behaviours

IND COL

1. Follow group rules 2.67a 6.57b

2. Defend group decisions 3.53a 6.39b

3. Do anything for group 1.82a 6.25b

4. Avoid confrontation with group 1.61a 5.68b

Individualistic Behaviours

IND COL

1. Engage in open conflict withgroup

6.39a 1.64b

2. Desert group when it does notrepresent you anymore

6.21a 1.57b

3. Scream at group when you’reright and group’s wrong

5.86a 1.57b

4. Argue for own case against group

6.36a 1.79b

Collectivistic TraitsIND COL

1. Agreeable 3.32a 6.36b

2. Compromising 2.57a 6.57b

3. Cooperative 3.07a 6.57b

4. Good Listener 3.89a 6.04b

5. Loyal 2.96a 6.64b

6. Patient 3.43a 5.82b

7. Respectful 3.82a 6.43b

8. Self-Sacrificing 2.50a 5.57b

Individualistic TraitsIND COL

1. Free 6.36a 2.43b

2. Independent 6.93a 1.93b

3. Leader 5.82a 2.78b

4. Original 6.39a 2.57b

5. Self-Reliant 6.50a 2.25b

6. Separate 6.07a 1.61b

7. Unconstrained 5.64a 2.21b

8. Unique 6.82a 2.25b

• Participants

- 40 American students

- 40 Japanese studentsHad been away from Japan 2-22 months

• Procedure

Cultural immersion (10 min) - imagine, writewalking along the streetsexperiencing the sights, listening to the soundseating in restaurantsbeing with friends, celebrating with family

Simulation of group-ness (10 min) - imagine, write

membership in 16-person business task-forceproblems: budgetary ,personnel, advertising,

planning

Self-Enhancement on Behaviours

“How likely are you, relative to thetypical group member, to enact eachbehaviour?”

-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)

Positive values reflect self-enhancementNegative values reflect self-effacement

COLIND-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4AmericansJapanese

Self-Enhancement on Traits

“How well does each trait describe yourelative 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

Positive values reflect self-enhancementNegative values reflect self-effacement

COLIND-0.2

0.2

0.6

1

1.4

1.8

2.2 Americans

Japanese

Assumptions

• Interdependents value collectivistic attributes

• Independents value individualistic attributes

Predictions

• Interdependents will self-enhance on collectivistic attributes (personally important)

• Independents will self-enhance on individualistic attributes

(personally important)

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

Session II

48 Independents48 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

Does Self-Construal Predict Behaviour

Self-Enhancement?

CollectivisticIndividualistic-0.6

-0.2

0.2

0.6

1

1.4

1.8IndependentsInterdependents

Does Self-Construal Predict TraitSelf-Enhancement?

CollectivisticIndividualistic-0.6

-0.2

0.2

0.6

1

1.4IndependentsInterdependents

Universal Laws:

• Humans have a need to enhance the self

• Humans enhance the self on personally important dimensions

• Japanese or Interdependents value collectivistic attributes

• Americans or Independents value individualistic attributes

• Japanese or Interdependents self-enhance on collectivistic attributes

• Americans or Independents self-enhance on individualistic attributes

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