Social Psychology (14): Cultural Differences 2

What was Hofstede’s main contribution in 1980?

He provided a global map of national cultural differences, influencing psychology's understanding of cultural dimensions.

What is the core idea of Markus & Kitayama’s self-construal theory (1991)?

Western and Non-Western cultures differ in the prevalence of independent and interdependent self-construals.

What does an independent self-construal emphasise?

• Individual autonomy

• Uniqueness

• Personal goals

What does an interdependent self-construal emphasise?

• Connectedness

• Social roles

• Group harmony

What are the 2 claims of Self-Construal Theory?

1. People in different cultures have different construals of the self, others, and their interdependence

2. These construals influence cognition, emotion, and motivation

What are cognitive implications of self-construals?

Differing:

• Attentional patterns

• Memory

• Interpretation of social cues.

What are emotional implications of self-construals?

Varying emotional experiences and expressions across cultures

What are motivational implications of self-construals?

Different goal-setting and reasons for behavior based on social context.

What early tools were used to measure self-construals?

• The Twenty Statements Test

• Likert-type scales

What did Singelis and Sharkey find about cultural differences?

Asian Americans were more embarrassable than Euro-Americans; this was mediated by self-construal type

What happened when self-construal was controlled in Singelis and Sharkey’s study?

Cultural group membership no longer predicted embarrassability, showing mediation.

What problems arise in cross-cultural self-construal measurement?

Unexpected lack of difference between Western and Eastern participants; possibly due to poor sampling measures.

Why is representative sampling difficult in cultural psychology?

It's often opportunistic and not theoretically driven; national-level data may not reflect individual samples.

How did Hofstede rank USA and Japan on individualism?

• USA: 1st (most individualistic)

• Japan: 22nd

What did Takano and Osaka argue about cultural differences in individualism?

Japanese culture is not truly collectivist, differences may stem from psychological, not cultural, processes.

What is attributional style in Western vs Eastern cultures?

• Westerners show dispositional bias

• East Asians are more situational in explaining behavior.

What are cognitive style differences between cultures?

• East Asians: holistic thinking

• Westerners: analytic thinking

What is frame switching?

Bilingual/bicultural individuals switch between cultural frames depending on context (e.g., studies with Hong Kong biculturals).