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

4
BREAKTHROUGH

• 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)

5
THEORY 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.

8
WESTERN 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.
9
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

10

• Empirical Evidence
• Members of Western culture (Idiocentrics)
• have inflated views of the self
  
  
• manifest the self-serving bias
• have unrealistically optimistic beliefs

11
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
  

12
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

13

• A REFORMULATION

14
Culture Perspective

• Need for Self-Enhancement
• Highly prevalent in the West
• Non-Existent in the East

15
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

16
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?

17
Counter-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

18
Conclusions

• 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

20
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
21

• Reformulation
• Need for Self-Enhancement
• Equally prevalent in West and East

22
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?

23
Self-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

26
The Data
27
Collectivistic Behaviours
28
Individualistic Behaviours
29
Collectivistic Traits
30
Individualistic 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

33
Self-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
35
Self-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
37
Assumptions

• Interdependents value collectivistic attributes
• Independents value individualistic attributes

38
Predictions

• 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

41
Does Self-Construal Predict BehaviourSelf-Enhance
ment?
42
Does 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