In this course, basic psychological processes have been examined from a cross-cultural perspective…sensation and perception, emotions, development, motivation, cognitive abilities, and abnormality.

We will now turn to cultural differences and similarities in terms of social behaviors, starting with social perception and social cognition.

We can make sense of many differences in social behaviors by understanding how people perceive and interpret the events in their lives.

Social perception is the process by which we try to understand ourselves and others.

Where people from different cultures share similar experiences, such as economic insecurity, similar perceptions should occur.

For example, we have already talked about body weight as a sign of__________ in countries where food is scarce.
lower social class
wealth

On the other hand, when people live in very different environments, interpretations of events may be very different.

Social cognition is the process by which we interpret, remember, and then use information about the world and ourselves. According to Eliot Aronson, social cognition tends to be conservative in the sense that people use their memory of past experiences to make judgments about today’s events.

For example, policies adopted by Israeli governments are strongly influenced by memories of _________ while Palestinian behaviors are colored by memories of _____________.
the establishment of the state of Israel in historic Palestine; the Holocaust
the Holocaust; the establishment of the state of Israel in historic Palestine

Past experiences, as well as history, can influence today’s judgments.

Let’s look first at how values and attitudes affect social perception and cognition.

Values

Values are defined as attitudes that reflect a principle, standard, or quality considered by an individual to be most desirable or appropriate.

These are somewhat stable views.

Instrumental and terminal values

Instrumental values are views that specific behaviors are preferred over other behaviors.

Instrumental values often designate moral concerns and affect our views on a variety of issues.

Terminal values are the goals that reflect larger social and personal concerns.

For example, Mary values gender equality and tends to vote for candidates who support equal pay for women. Which type of value is this?
an instrumental value
a terminal value

While Fred could easily throw his used water bottles into the trash, he chooses to take them to a recycling center. This behavior reflects _________.
an instrumental value
a terminal value

Cultural differences in values

Are there major cultural differences in values or do people of all cultures share the same basic values?

In separate studies, Geert Hofstede (1980, 1991) and Shalom Schwartz (1997) studied values across cultures.

Schwartz’s cultural differences in individual values

3 basic issues that make social groups different from each other

1) the extent to which people are independent or dependent upon social groups.
2) their views on prosperity and profit
3) their views on whether it is appropriate to exploit, fit in, or submit to the outside world

Value dimensions

Based upon people’s responses, Schwartz identified 3 dimensions along which people’s values fall.

Type 1: Conservatism vs. Autonomy

Conservative values stress the importance of traditions, the status quo, self-discipline, family, and the social order.

Autonomy values stress the right of individuals to pursue their own ideals and to enjoy the variety of life and its pleasures.

Usually, the dichotomy we are familiar with from politics contrasts conservatism and liberalism.

For example, a person who strongly values autonomy would most likely support
gay marriage
legalization of marijuana
contraception
all of the above

I should point out that while Republicans in the U.S. generally are identified with conservatism and Democrats with liberalism, in practice policies proposed by each party are not purely conservative or liberal.

For example, a significant number of Republicans are libertarians who reflect autonomy values, while others are social conservatives.

Are these contradictory value systems?
yes
no

Likewise, Democrats tend to support all of the examples of autonomy values mentioned above, but may use the power of the government to ensure that citizens do not discriminate on the basis of sexual preference, gender, or race.

If government must intervene to enforce the civil rights of discriminated-against groups, this would _________ the autonomy of those engaging in discrimination.
support
contradict

Type 2: Hierarchy vs. Egalitarianism

Hierarchical values see the unequal distribution of power, resources, and social roles as legitimate, while egalitarianism views people as sharing similar interests and values people being treated equally as human beings.

Financial aid provided to college students who would otherwise be unable to afford college reflects a(n) _____________ value.
hierarchical
egalitarian

Type 3: Mastery vs. Harmony

Mastery values encourage individuals to exercise control over society and to exploit natural resources. Traits associated with mastery values are ambition and high self-esteem.

Harmony values suggest that the world should be kept as it is, preserved and cherished.

A person decides to purchase a very expensive, high performance car that gets low gas mileage. He is probably ___________
high on mastery.
high on autonomy.
high on hierarchy
a and c
all of the above

Schwartz looked at 40 countries in his study and clustered countries into several groups: West European, Anglo (including U.S.), East European, East Asian, Japan, Islamic, and Latin American.

Not surprisingly, Western Europeans tended to be high on ________ and low on ____________.
autonomy; hierarchy
conservatism; egalitarianism
autonomy; egalitarianism

Americans tend to be somewhat in-between East Asians and Western Europeans on these dimensions.

One finding was that the values of discipline, compliance with authority, and order were positively correlated with the size of a household living under one roof.

In other words, the size of a household was correlated with __________ values.
conservative
hierarchy
mastery
a and b

Western and non-western values

An overlapping, but slightly different way of comparing value systems is to cluster cultures into Western and non-Western value systems.

Western cultures are not only more individualistic and egalitarian than non-Western cultures, but value achievement, competition, and the consumption of material goods.

Using Schwartz’s classification, Western cultures would be high in autonomy, egalitarianism, and mastery.
true
false

These values have been linked to economic prosperity and democratic attitudes.

Samuel Huntington (1993) in his influential paper The Class of Civilizations suggested that the gap in values between Western and non-Western cultures would deepen.

Think for yourself: What might be the objections to Western, democratic, competitive, individualistic, and materialistic value systems?

Striving for consistency: the cognitive balance theory

According to Heider’s Balance Theory, people strive for consistency and balance in their attitudes.

According to Heider, three elements are involved in attitude balance:

• (A) is the person who evaluates.
• (B and C) are persons, objects, or issue which are evaluated.

The person can like or dislike B and C. Likewise, B and C can like or dislike each other. The likes and dislikes in this triangle can occur in different combinations, only a few of which are shown below:

Some of the above combinations are balanced, some of them are unbalanced. If unbalanced, attitude change is likely to occur.

So, if A doesn’t like C, and C likes B, what would you predict A’s attitude would be to B?
A likes B
A does not like B.

In Heider’s theory, liking is represented by a “+” sign and disliking by a “-“. A triad is out of balance if one multiplies the signs and the result is negative.

For example, (+1) times (+1) times (-1) = (-1)

When elements are out-of-balance, a person often changes his or her attitudes toward one of the elements. For example, you like your friend Bob, but dislike Adolf Hitler. When you discover that your friend likes Adolf Hitler, the triangle is out of balance. You either have to change your attitude toward your friend or toward Hitler.

Would the following triad be in balance? A likes C. C dislikes B. A dislikes B.
yes
no

The principles of cognitive balance appear to be universal across all cultures.

However, cultural differences occur in terms of what sorts of things are expected to be consistent.

For example, Americans value attitude consistency more than the Japanese.

In some Islamic societies, consistency is expected between religious attitudes and behavior (following religious rules).

Avoiding inconsistency: cognitive dissonance theory

The underlying basis for this theory, originally proposed by Leon Festinger (1957) is the notion that people have a need to organize, simplify, and integrate their perceptions and cognitions.

If, however, one or more cognitions do not seem to fit with the others, an uncomfortable state of psychological tension is produced in the person, who then becomes motivated to reduce the tension by resolving the inconsistency in some way.

For example, suppose that someone who smokes cigarettes believes that smoking is bad for her health.

What is the inconsistency?
Between behavior and attitude
Between behavior and behavior
Between attitude and attitude

In what ways can this dissonance be reduced?

1. Changing a behavior. (Stop smoking)

2. Changing the attitude.

How might this be done?
Distort the extent of the health hazard, i.e., “Smoking isn’t all that dangerous.”
“Smoking is bad, but it keeps my weight down and everyone knows that being overweight is unhealthy.”
“Smoking may be bad for my lungs, but it reduces stress and stress is bad for one’s health.”
All of the above represent ways to minimize the perceived health risk of smoking.


3. A third way to resolve inconsistency is to not think about the issue. Depending upon circumstances, this may or may not be easy.

In a popular book at the time, When Prophecy Fails, Festinger described a cult who believed that the world would end in a flood on December 21, 1954. The members left their jobs and sometimes spouses, sold their possessions, gave away their money, and gathered to wait for a flying saucer to rescue them and carry them to safety. Needless to say, the spaceship didn’t arrive and the world did not end.

What would you predict happened?
Most were disillusioned about the prophecy and went back to try to resume their lives.
Many of the cult members became more fervent believers in the prophecy.

Psychological dogmatism

In situations like we just described, people who don’t change their beliefs and values in the face of compelling facts are referred to as dogmatists.

Dogmatism is defined by Shiraev and Levy as a tendency to be extremely selective, rigid, and inflexible in opinions and subsequent behavior. Attitudes and beliefs are usually organized around one central idea.

Would Shiraev and Levy consider dogmatism a limited mode of thinking?
yes
no

Attributions of success and failure

Earlier in the course, we talked a little about attribution theory. When we observe our own or other people’s behavior, we try to determine why they are behaving in this manner.

Attribution is the process in which we attempt to determine the cause of other’s and our own behavior. We tend to attribute behavior to either situational factors or conversely to something about the other’s traits, a dispositional attribution.

According to Fletcher and Ward (1988), explanations for individuals’ success or failure involve references to 3 variables:

• individual ability
• effort
• task difficulty

Which of the above represent external explanations?
individual ability
effort
task difficulty
a and c

With respect to success and failure, Americans often act to maintain their self-esteem. We do this two ways: through the self-centered bias (also known as the self-serving bias) and through the false uniqueness effect.

If you take credit for personal success and avoid responsibility for failure, one is demonstrating the self-centered bias.

For example, if you are successful at something, say you’ve been elected to some student office or you get a good grade on an exam, you attribute your success to
internal (dispositional) qualities
external (situational) qualities

On the other hand, if you lose the election or do poorly on the exam, you attribute your failure to
internal (dispositional) qualities
external (situational) qualities

The false uniqueness effect refers to our tendency to overestimate our uniqueness and to see ourselves as above average.

In reality, can we all be above average?
yes
no

In one study, 70% of American students felt that they were above average in leadership ability, while 0% felt that they were below average.

You may wonder, how can we think we are above average when there are so many objective criteria out there indicating that we are not?

One, we focus on things that we are good at. Also, we use rather ambiguous criteria.

What would be an example of an ambiguous criterion with respect to feeling above average?
one’s high score on a SAT test
the number of one’s Facebook friends
making the college basketball team
one’s ability to get along with others

Are the self-serving bias and the false uniqueness effects found in all cultures?

Apparently not, because people in Japan and other East Asian cultures exhibit what has been called the unassuming bias.

So, if Japanese and East Asian cultures do not make attributions about success and failure the same way that American do, success might be attributed to ________ factors and failure to ________ factors.
external; internal
internal; external

Self-perception

Interdependent and independent selves

One of the most useful concepts that have been used to understand cultural differences in self was proposed by Markus and Kitayama (1991). They proposed that people in Western, individualistic cultures have what is called an independent construal of self, while people from non-Western, collectivist cultures exhibit an interdependent construal of self.

Independent construal of self

People in individualistic cultures not only emphasize their individual rights and personal goals, but also see themselves as unique and separate from others.

Therefore, with an independent construal of self, individuals focus on personal, internal attributes—ability, intelligence, personality traits, and goals—that make one distinct from others.

Which of the following would not be consistent with an independent construal of self?
friendly
sarcastic
good daughter
intelligent

Interdependent construal of self

Collectivist cultures emphasize the connectedness of people.

An interdependent construal of self would focus on one’s interdependent status with other people. The self would be unbounded, flexible, and contingent upon social context.

By social context, we mean that who a person is depends upon who he or she is with.

People strive to meet and even create social responsibilities because this interconnectedness defines who one is.

Which of the following would not be an example of an interdependent construal of self?
father
BSU student
employee of the state of Massachusetts
All of the above are examples of an interdependent construal of self.

Notice also that by defining oneself in terms of relationships with others, one’s personal qualities are flexible depending upon what relationship is operative.

For example, a woman may have very different personal qualities when at work than when she is at home with her children.

All of this does not mean that people with an interdependent construal of self have no knowledge of their personal attributes that are unique to themselves and independent of context. Rather, these internal attributes are less salient in consciousness, just as we don’t automatically define ourselves in terms of our relationships.

A way to visualize the difference between independent and interdependent construals of the self is to see the independent self as having no overlap with the significant others in our lives, while the interdependent self has substantial overlap.

Consequences for self-perception

In comparing people from the United States and Asian countries, Markus and Kitayama suggested that for those with an independent construal of self, one’s internal attributes, such as abilities or personality traits, are the most salient self-relevant information.

In contrast, those internal attributes are less relevant for those with interdependent selves. They are more likely to think about the self in particular social relationships (me with my father) or in specific contexts (me in class).

Several studies support this.

For example, Americans are capable of thinking of many more abstract, personality traits than people from Asian cultures, such as Japan and Malaysia. Abstract traits are those that are independent of context, either social or otherwise.

Apparently, people with interdependent construals find it difficult and unnatural to state anything in abstract, noncontextual terms.

Japanese culture is collectivist. In a collectivist culture, individuals have many obligations to others that supersede individual preferences. Therefore, self-definitions reflect these social obligations.
true
false

This is true of Japanese subjects. However, when Japanese subjects were asked to describe who they were in various social contexts, they were able to come up with more abstract internal attributes than were Americans.

So, the Japanese are perfectly aware of how they are, they just define who they are within a social context.

“Private” and “public” selves

The private self refers to thoughts and feelings known only to oneself while public self is a concept of self in relation to others and for others.

In relation to the independent and interdependent selves just described, which would show a greater discrepancy between public and private?
individualists
collectivists

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