Showing papers in "Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology in 2004"
TL;DR: This paper examined the worldwide distribution of personality profiles using the five-factor model of personality and conducted secondary analyses of data from 36 cultures, finding that geographically proximate cultures often have similar profiles, and multidimensional scaling showed a clear contrast of European and American cultures with Asian and African cultures.
Abstract: It has long been believed that personality traits vary by geographicallocation, but few studies have examined the worldwide distribution of personality profiles. Using the five-factor model of personality—a comprehensive and apparently universal trait structure—we conducted secondary analyses of data from 36 cultures. Distance from the equator and mean temperature were not meaningfully related to personality factors. However, cluster analysis showed that geographically proximatecultures often have similar profiles, and multidimensional scaling showed a clear contrast of European and American cultures with Asian and African cultures. The former were higher in extraversion and openness to experience and lower in agreeableness. A second dimension reflected differences in psychological adjustment. Observed differences between cultures may be the result of differences in gene pools or in features of culture; acculturation studies and the analyses of other natural experiments are needed to understand the origin...
582 citations
TL;DR: This article found that acquiescence has substantive cultural meaning and should not be eliminated from nation-level analyses but rather built into analyses of cultural dynamics, and that high bias in responses to personally relevant items is found in nations high on family collectivism and on a preference for increased uncertainty avoidance.
Abstract: Estimates of acquiescent response bias derived from previously published, large-scale cross-cultural surveys that used Likert-type response scales are compared. Substantial evidence for convergent validity is found, particularly in relation to the surveys that measured value preferences. High bias in responses to personally relevant items is found in nations that are high on family collectivism and on a preference for increased uncertainty avoidance. High bias in responses to descriptions of others is found in nations low in uncertainty avoidance. These findings suggest that national indicators of acquiescence have substantive cultural meaning and should not be eliminated from nation-level analyses but rather built into analyses of cultural dynamics.
487 citations
The Chinese University of Hong Kong1, City University of Hong Kong2, University of Macau3, Simón Bolívar University4, University of Tokyo5, University of Osnabrück6, California State University, Chico7, University of Vienna8, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven9, University of Alberta10, University of Guelph11, Chinese Academy of Sciences12, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic13, Charles University in Prague14, Pedagogical University15, Åbo Akademi University16, University of Lyon17, Tbilisi State University18, International University, Cambodia19, Hong Kong Polytechnic University20, Hungarian Academy of Sciences21, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens22, University of Delhi23, Indian Statistical Institute24, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad25, Padjadjaran University26, University of Haifa27, University of Padua28, Seowon University29, University of Latvia30, American University of Beirut31, Universiti Sains Malaysia32, Universiti Malaysia Sabah33, Tilburg University34, Victoria University of Wellington35, University of Lagos36, University of Bergen37, University of Peshawar38, University of the Philippines39, University of Porto40, University of Minho41, Russian Academy of Sciences42, University of Cape Town43, Autonomous University of Madrid44, National Taiwan University45, Assumption University46, Boğaziçi University47, University College London48, University of Greenwich49
TL;DR: Leung et al. as mentioned in this paper revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups across 41 nations and revealed the culture level factor structure and its correlates across 41 cultures.
Abstract: Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups. The present research was designed to reveal the culture level factor structure of social axioms and its correlates across 41 nations. An ecological factor analysis on the 60 items of the Social Axioms Survey extracted two factors: Dynamic Externality correlates with value measures tapping collectivism, hierarchy, and conservatism and with national indices indicative of lower social development. Societal Cynicism is less strongly and broadly correlated with previous values measures or other national indices and seems to define a novel cultural syndrome. Its national correlates suggest that it taps the cognitive component of a cultural constellation labeled maleficence, a cultural syndrome associated with a general mistrust of social systems and other people. Discussion focused on the meaning of these national level factors of beliefs and on their relationships with individual level factors of belief derived from the same data set.
443 citations
TL;DR: This paper found evidence for response style effects not only in response distributions on rating scales, but also in discrepancies of these distributions with national consumer statistics and self-reported actual behavior in Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Abstract: In cross-cultural studies with social variables such as values or attitudes, it is often assumed that differences in scores can be compared at face value. However, response styles like acquiescence and extreme response style may affect answers, particularly on rating scales. In three sets of data from marketing studies, each with representative samples fromat least threeoutofsix countries(Greece,Italy, Spain,France,Germany, andthe United Kingdom), these two response styles were found to be more present in the Mediterranean than in Northwestern Europe. Evidence for response style effects was not only found in response distributions on rating scales, but also in discrepancies of these distributions with national consumer statistics and self-reported actual behavior.
405 citations
TL;DR: Standardization has become more common in the 1990s, and there is a trend to rely more on standardized data, but an analysis of statistical properties of standardized measures indicates that results based on standardization are ambiguous.
Abstract: The article reviews standardization methods commonly employed to adjust for response bias in cross-cultural research. First, different standardization procedures are reviewed and a classification scheme is provided. Standardization procedures are classified according to the statistical information used (means, standard deviation) and the source of this information (individual, group, or culture). Second, empirical research in JCCP between 1970 and 2002 is reviewed. Standardization has become more common in the 1990s, and there is a trend to rely more on standardized data. Most studies used standardization prior to analysis of variance and factor analytical techniques. However, an analysis of statistical properties of standardized measures indicates that results based on standardization are ambiguous. The use of statistical techniques and the interpretation of results based on standardized data are discussed.
380 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reanalyzed available data on the relationship between individualism-collectivism and social capital within one country (the United States) and across 42 countries and found that states with a high level of social capital (higher degree of civic engagement in political activity, where people spend more time with their friends and believe that most people can be trusted) were more individualistic.
Abstract: Many social scientists have predicted that one inevitable consequence of modernization is the unlimited growth of individualism, which poses serious threats to the organic unity of society. Others have argued that autonomy and independence are necessary conditions for the development of interpersonal cooperation and social solidarity. We reanalyzed available data on the relationship between individualism-collectivism and social capital within one country (the United States) and across 42 countries. In America, the states with a high level of social capital (higher degree of civic engagement in political activity, where people spend more time with their friends and believe that most people can be trusted) were found to be more individualistic. A correspondingly strong association between individualism and social capital was observed in the comparison of different countries. These results support Durkheim’s view that whenindividualsbecomemoreautonomous and seemingly liberated from social bonds, they actuall...
361 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that self-concordance predicts subjective well-being in non-western cultures, where people feel that their goals fit with their underlying interests and values rather than because others say they should pursue them.
Abstract: Sheldon and colleagues have recently focused research attention on the concept of self-concordance, in which people feel that they pursue their goals because the goals fit with their underlying interests and values rather than because others say they should pursue them. Self-concordant individuals typically evidence higher subjective well-being (SWB). But is this also true in non-Western cultures, which emphasize people’s duty to conform to societal expectations and group-centered norms? To address this question, this study assessed goal self-concordance and SWB in four different cultures. U.S., Chinese, and South Korean samples evidenced equal levels of self-concordance, whereas a Taiwanese sample evidenced somewhat less self-concordance. More importantly, self-concordance predicted SWB within every culture. It appears that “owning one’s actions”—that is, feeling that one’s goals are consistent with the self—may be important for most if not all humans.
317 citations
Bradley University1, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile2, University of Tartu3, University of Louisville4, University of Latvia5, University of New Mexico6, Slovak Academy of Sciences7, University of San Carlos8, University of Malta9, Ghent University10, Clemson University11, University of Buenos Aires12, Osaka University13, Illinois State University14, National Autonomous University of Mexico15, University of Brasília16, University of Western Australia17, University of Lima18, Boğaziçi University19, University of Kassel20, University of York21, University of Queensland22, Åbo Akademi University23, Al Akhawayn University24, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur25, University of Hawaii at Manoa26, University of Catania27, University of Otago28, University of Dhaka29, Chemnitz University of Technology30, Knox College31, Comenius University in Bratislava32, University of Rijeka33, University of Malaya34, Vilnius University35, American University of Beirut36, Kwangju Health College37, University of Salzburg38, Utrecht University39, National Computerization Agency40, City University of Hong Kong41, University of Idaho42, University of Zimbabwe43, University of Lisbon44, University of Central Lancashire45, Loyola Marymount University46, University of Natal47, University of Granada48, University of Botswana49, University of Jordan50, Babeș-Bolyai University51, University of Cyprus52, University of Belgrade53, KPMG54, University of Montpellier55, University of Zurich56, University of Alabama57, Baylor University58, Queen's University Belfast59, University of Ljubljana60, University of Haifa61, University of La Serena62, Florida Atlantic University63, University of California, Davis64, University of Dar es Salaam65, Ramapo College66, Cyprus College67, Middle East Technical University68, University of the South Pacific69, VU University Amsterdam70, State University of New York System71, University of the Aegean72, Vrije Universiteit Brussel73, University of Lethbridge74, University of Vienna75, University of Hong Kong76, Yuan Ze University77, Charles University in Prague78, Chonnam National University79
TL;DR: In the International Sexuality Description Project, a total of 17,804 participants from 62 cultural regions completed the RelationshipQuestionnaire (RQ), a self-report measure of adult romantic attachment as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, a total of 17,804 participants from 62 cultural regions completedthe RelationshipQuestionnaire(RQ), a self-reportmeasure of adult romanticattachment. Correlational analyses within each culture suggested that the Model of Self and the Model of Other scales of the RQ were psychometrically valid within most cultures. Contrary to expectations, the Model of Self and Model of Other dimensions of the RQ did not underlie the four-category model of attachment in the same way across all cultures. Analyses of specific attachment styles revealed that secure romantic attachment was normative in 79% of cultures and that preoccupied romantic attachment was particularly prevalent in East Asian cultures. Finally, the romantic attachment profiles of individual nations were correlated with sociocultural indicators in ways that supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment and basic human mating strategies.
314 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and cross-cultural adjustment and test the "cultural fit" hypothesis and find that neuroticism and extraversion were related to psychological and sociocultural adaptation in both sojourning samples.
Abstract: This article describes a study based on two samples of sojourners and hosts in Australia and Singapore. The objectives of this research are (a) to explore the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and cross-cultural adjustment and (b) to test the “cultural fit” hypothesis. The first sample included 165 Singaporean and 139 Australian students in Australia; the second included 244 Australian expatriates and 671 Chinese Singaporeans in Singapore. Correlation analyses were undertaken that examined the relationship between neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as their discrepancies from host-culture norms, and cross-cultural adjustment. Findings demonstrated that neuroticism and extraversion were related to psychological and sociocultural adaptation in both sojourning samples. Agreeableness and conscientiousness were also linked to psychological well-being in both samples and to sociocultural adaptation in the Singaporean sojourning group. There ...
294 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that participants' general conceptions of their emotional lives influenced their memories of emotions, and the degree to which recall of frequency of emotion was related to experience sampling reports of intensity of emotions.
Abstract: Participants included 46 European American, 33 Asian American, 91 Japanese, 160 Indian, and 80 Hispanic students (N = 416). Discrete emotions, as well as pleasant and unpleasant emotions, were assessed: (a) with global self-report measures, (b) using an experience-sampling method for 1 week, and (c) by asking participants to recall their emotions from the experience sampling week. Cultural differences emerged for nearly all measures. The inclusion of indigenous emotions in India and Japan did not alter the conclusions substantially, although pride showed a pattern across cultures that differed from the other positive emotions. In all five cultural groups and for both pleasant and unpleasant emotions, global reports of emotion predicted retrospective recall even after controlling for reports made during the experience sampling period, suggesting that individuals’ general conceptions of their emotional lives influenced their memories of emotions. Cultural differences emerged in the degree to which recall of frequency of emotion was related to experience sampling reports of intensity of emotions. Despite the memory bias, the three methods led to similar conclusions about the relative position of the groups.
238 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between context variables (ecosocial indices) and psychological variables across different nations was investigated, guided by Berry's Ecocultural Framework, and the most important result was the finding that scores of psychological variables showed systematic relationships with cluster membership of countries on ecosocial indices.
Abstract: Relationships between context variables (ecosocial indices) and psychological variables across different nations were investigated, guided by Berry’s Ecocultural Framework. The psychological variables were values (Hofstede; Inglehart; Schwartz; Smith, Dugan, and Trompenaars) and subjective well-being (Diener). The ecosocial indices of religion and affluence had separate and in some ways contrasting relationships with psychological variables. Some religions were related to higher interpersonal power, loyalty, and hierarchy, but lower affluence. Other religions, (particularly Protestantism) and higher affluence were related to intrapersonal aspects, such as individualism, utilitarian commitment, and well-being. The most important result was the finding that scores of psychological variables showed systematic relationships with cluster membership of countries on ecosocial indices. The study proposes a solution to a theoretical and methodological problem of current cross-cultural psychology: the search for cu...
TL;DR: The authors examined ethnic differences in how Asian and white American students cope with interpersonal stressors and tested whether differences in self-construals mediate the relationship between ethnicity and coping, finding that Asian Americans were more oriented toward secondary control and less oriented toward primary control than White Americans.
Abstract: This study examines ethnic differences in how Asian and White American students cope with interpersonal stressors and tests whether differences in self-construals mediate the relationship between ethnicity and coping. Asian Americans were found to be more oriented toward secondary control and less oriented toward primary control than White Americans. Independent self-construal fully mediated the ethnic difference in primary control. Greater orientation toward an independent self-construal accounted for the greater use of primary control among Whites, in relation to Asians. Interdependent self-construal partially mediated the ethnic difference in secondary control. Greater orientation toward an interdependent self-construal accountedforthe greateruse ofsecondarycontrolamongAsians, in relationto Whites. Otherfactors, suchas structural variables, may account for further ethnic variations in secondary control coping.
TL;DR: In this article, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of data from two groups of European American and Asian/Asian American college students reveal six factors underlying items on the Self-Construal Scale that seem to represent four specific aspects of Independence and two specific properties of Interdependence.
Abstract: The Self-Construal Scale (SCS) is an important measure of self-construal. However, new data are needed on the structure of the SCS using more appropriate statistical techniques and investigating the existence of multiple (i.e., more than two) factors. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of data from two groups of European American and Asian/Asian American college students reveal six factors underlying items on the SCS that seem to represent four specific aspects of Independence and two specific aspects of Interdependence. Results also provide initial support for the relative usefulness of these new factors in exploring between-groups differences. Implications for the conceptualization of self-construal and future research are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors examined internally and externally targeted control strategies in response to life stressors in European Canadians, East Asian Canadians, and Japanese, and found that self-enhancing interpretive control was more prevalent among people with Western English-speaking backgrounds.
Abstract: Two studies examined internally and externally targeted control strategies in response to life stressors in European Canadians, East Asian Canadians, and Japanese. In Study 1, European Canadian, East Asian Canadian, and sojourning Japanese university students in Canada recalled a stressful life event and reported their coping strategies. Respondents also reported current and retrospective self-evaluations that allowed assessment of perceived self-changes over time. Study 2 included East Asian Canadian and European Canadian university students in Canada and Japanese university students in Japan. Both studies revealed that several types of internally targeted control strategies were more prevalent among East Asian participants but that a particular type of internally targeted control strategy, self-enhancing interpretive control, was more prevalent among people with Western English-speaking backgrounds.
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of social identity and personality on work outcomes among business students who worked together in culturally diverse teams was examined, and a negative effect of identification with one's cultural background and a positive effect of identifying with the team on well-being were found under conditions of high diversity.
Abstract: The present study examined the influence of social identity and personality on work outcomes among business students who worked together in culturally diverse teams. As predicted, a negative effect of identification with one's cultural background and a positive effect of identification with the team on well-being were found under conditions of high diversity. For commitment, the same pattern of findings was obtained, but now the impact of identification with the team was found regardless of the level of diversity. No support was found for strong positive outcomes associated with the case in which individuals identify with the team and with their cultural background. With respect to personality, the intercultural traits of Emotional Stability and Flexibility were found to have a positive effect on work outcomes under conditions of high diversity. Interestingly, whereas Flexibility had a positive effect on exam grades under conditions of high diversity, a negative effect of this trait was found under conditions of low diversity.
TL;DR: This article examined the cross-cultural equivalence of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in four countries and compared its association with parental warmth and acceptance and depressed mood, finding that parental warmth was significantly related to both positive and negative self-image, each of which was related significantly to depressive symptomatology.
Abstract: Theorists and researchers have raised the question of whether self-esteem has similar meanings and correlates in individualistic and collectivist cultures. This study examined the cross-cultural equivalence of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in four countries and compared its association with parental warmth and acceptance and depressed mood. Participants were 11th graders in the United States (n = 422), the Czech Republic (n = 490), China (n = 502), and Korea (n = 497). Cross-cultural similarities in the factor structure of the self-esteem scale and in the relations of self-esteem to other variables were more striking than cross-cultural differences. Across cultures, parental warmth was significantly related to both positive and negative self-image, each of which in turn was related significantly to depressive symptomatology. There was little evidence for the hypothesis that self-esteem would more strongly mediate the relation between parental warmth and adolescent depressive symptoms in the more individ...
TL;DR: This article examined the influence of Eastern cultural heritage on relationship preferences among second generation immigrants to the West, and explicitly tested the mediating roles of interdependence and familial cultural influence in mate preferences.
Abstract: Two studies examined the influence of Eastern cultural heritage on relationship preferences among second generation immigrants to the West, and explicitly tested the mediating roles of interdependence and familial cultural influence in mate preferences. The first used a between-subjects approach to compare the preferred mate attributes of South Asian Canadians (n= 97) to those of Euro-Canadians (n= 89). The second study used a within-subject approach by using the strength of cultural identity of South Asian Canadians (n= 92) as a predictor of preferred attributes. Both studies found a culture influence on “traditional” mate attribute preferences. Moreover, familial cultural influence (e.g., family allocentrism) was a better mediator of the culture-traditional attribute preference relationship than the more generic measure of interdependent self-construal. The results further suggest that a cross-cultural approach, rather than a strength-of-culturalidentity approach, is better suited to tap into non-consci...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the implications of in accurate knowledge regarding the Israeli social axioms upon how immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union have adapted to the Israeli society.
Abstract: Social axioms are the prevailing common and basic beliefs that supposedly guide behavior in a culture. Lack of accurate knowledge about them may therefore interfere with adaptation to a culture. The present study investigated the implications of in accurate of knowledge regarding the Israeli social axioms upon how immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union have adapted to the Israeli society. Central findings were that a lack of knowledge of the social axioms is negatively related to the sociocultural adaptation of immigrants, that lack of knowledge regarding social axioms had a unique contribution to prediction of adaptation difficulties over the contribution of lack of knowledge about values, and that knowledge of a culture’s prevailing social axioms contributes more to sociocultural adaptation than does actual proximity of the immigrants’ own social axioms to those of the majority. These findings strongly support the utility of social axioms as cultural descriptors.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used latent class analysis to determine psychological acculturation patterns within a Moroccan adult and adolescent population in the Netherlands and found three classes with similar patterns for both populations.
Abstract: Psychological acculturation patterns within a Moroccan adult and adolescent population in the Netherlands were determined through latent class analysis. The Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS) was adapted, and strong psychometric properties were demonstrated. We found Dutch and Moroccan Psychological Acculturation Subscales (D-PAS; M-PAS). Three classes with similar patterns of acculturation were revealed for both populations. One class showed medium scores on the D-PAS and M-PAS items and one class revealed a pattern with high scores on the M-PAS and medium to high scores on the D-PAS items. The third class was characterized by low scores on the D-PAS and high scores on the M-PAS items. These acculturation classes were shown to be meaningful constructs and yield detailed information about acculturation.
TL;DR: For instance, this article examined college students'desires for their children's emotions across cultures and found that people desired high levels of happiness and fearlessness in their children, and that the desire for anger suppression showed greater variability than desires for happiness.
Abstract: The present study examined college students’desires for their children’s emotions across cultures. Atotal of 10,175 respondents from 48 countries on six continents participated. Across nations, people desired high levels of happiness and fearlessness for their children. The desire for anger suppression showed greater variability than desires for happiness and fearlessness. Greater desires for happiness were predicted by being female, by greater individual and national levels of positive affect, by greater beliefs about the appropriateness of positive affect, and by individualism. Greater desires for fearlessness were predicted for sons versus daughters, by being male, by greater individual levels of and beliefs about the appropriateness of positive affect, by lower national wealth, and by higher national levels of negative affect and greater beliefs about the appropriateness ofworrying. Greater desires for anger suppression were predicted for sons versus daughters, by being male, by greater individual and...
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that nation-level studies have a crucial and growing role to play in explaining variations in the findings of individual level studies conducted at different locations, and the extent to which causal explanations of cultural differences can be sustained.
Abstract: As an introduction to the five articles in this section that present data analyses focused at the nation level, three dilemmas pertinent to nation-level studies are discussed. First, reasons are exploredas to why it is valuable for psychologists to give attention to the national contexts within which the behavior of individuals has more typically been studied. Second, there is some discussion of the extent to which causal explanations of cultural differences can be sustained. Finally, it is argued that nation-level studies have a crucial and growing role to play in explaining variations in the findings of individual-level studies conducted at different locations.
TL;DR: This paper found that language serves as a cognitive cue to reinforce culturally normative self-construals and that language-priming effects would be stronger for women than men and that they would primarily occur for self-constructions that are not already latently salient in the respondents' culture.
Abstract: Previous research has argued that language serves as a cognitive cue to reinforce culturally normative self-construals. We hypothesize that language-priming effects would be stronger for women than men and that they would primarily occur for self-construals that are not already latently salient in the respondents’ culture. Also, in contrast to earlier research on language priming of self-construals, we rely on Singelis’s independent and interdependent self-construal scales as closed-ended dependent measures. Using a bilingual sample from Hong Kong (n = 126), we experimentally varied questionnaire language (English vs. Chinese) and found support for all our predictions. The discussion focuses on cue strength as moderator of language-priming effects.
TL;DR: This paper examined cross-cultural differences in interpersonal closeness to different people and whether these differences can be explained by independent and interdependent self-construal, and found that Turkish participants rated their actual and ideal closeness with others higher than Euro-Canadian participants did.
Abstract: The present study examines cross-cultural differences in interpersonal closeness to different people and whether these differences can be explained by independent and interdependent self-construal. Turkish and Euro-Canadian samples of university students were asked to indicate how close they feel and how close they ideally would like to be to family members, romantic partners, friends, and acquaintances. As predicted, Turkish participants scored higher on interdependent self-construal, whereas there was no culture difference on independent self-construal scores. Turkish participants rated their actual and ideal closeness with others higher than Euro-Canadian participants did. Both Turkish and Euro-Canadian participants reported feeling closest and ideally wanting to be closest to their romantic partner, and then to their families and friends, followed by acquaintances. Turkish participants desired more closeness with family members and acquaintances than Euro-Canadian participants did. Interdependent self...
TL;DR: The authors compared the subjective well-being of citizens in 20 nations with those who claim to have ancestors from those nations, and found that the rank order of the wellbeing scores for the citizens of the 20 nations is similar to the rank-order of the scores for Americans with ancestors from the countries of those nations.
Abstract: The authors compare the subjective well-being of citizens in 20 nations with the subjective well-being of Americans who claim to have ancestors from those nations. The results show that the rank order of the well-being scores for the citizens of the 20 nations is similar to the rank order of the well-being scores for the Americans with ancestors from those nations. This finding suggests that the aspects of culture that influence subjective well-being have been passed from people who lived centuries ago to their contemporary descendants at home and in America. Additional analysis suggests that religion may be an important agent in the transmission process.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors found that self-enhancement versus self-transcendence is a more powerful moderator of justice perceptions compared with openness to change versus conservation values.
Abstract: Reactions of full-time employees to reward-allocation decisions by managers that were based either on work performance or on seniority were surveyed in former East Germany and in the United Kingdom. Schwartz’s model of universal human values is predicted to moderate the perceived justice of these reward-allocation principles. It was found that self-enhancement versus self-transcendence is a more powerful moderator of justice perceptions compared with openness to change versus conservation values. The study demonstrates the usefulness of values research in explaining perceptions of justice and highlights the importance of values for justice theories.
TL;DR: This article made a historical analysis of the contents of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (JCCP) in the period between 1970 and 2004, and found that a persistent strong focus on cross-cultural differences and a simultaneous underrating of cross-culture similarities was found.
Abstract: Based on a random sample of 200 empirical articles, the present study made a historical analysis of the contents of Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (JCCP) in the period between 1970 and 2004. In comparison to older studies, recent studies tended to be more social-psychological, and more often employed self-reports, based the choice of cultures on theoretical grounds, and adopted a hypothesis-testing approach. A persistent strong focus on cross-cultural differences and a simultaneous underrating of cross-cultural similarities was found. The majority of studies in which only cross-cultural differences were expected, reported differences and similarities. Methodological and conceptual improvements characterized the past 35 years of publications in JCCP.
TL;DR: The authors investigated whether Canadian and Japanese university students differ in how they deal with uncertainty and found that Canadian students were more uncertainty oriented (UO) as compared to Japanese students, who were more certainty oriented (CO) (p <.001).
Abstract: The present study investigates whether Canadian and Japanese university students differ in how they deal with uncertainty. In addition to examining individual differences in uncertainty orientation, Weinstein's measure of unrealistic optimism and Hofstede’s measures of uncertainty avoidance and individualism-collectivism were examined. Participants were 535 Canadian and Japanese undergraduate men and women. In support of the main prediction, Canadian students were found to be more uncertainty oriented (UO) as compared to Japanese students, who were more certainty oriented(CO) (p< .001). It is interesting to note that significant Uncertainty Orientation Country interactions on the additional measures were also found. Whereas COs showed high levels of unrealistic optimism and uncertainty avoidance and low levels of individualism in Canada, UOs showed this pattern in Japan. These differences are consistent with the theory of uncertainty orientation in terms of whether cultural orientations toward uncertainty...
TL;DR: This article found that self-serving and altruistic motivations tend to be positively linked in higher-income countries with uncomfortably cold or hot climates, unrelated in higher and lower income countries with comfortable climates, and negatively linked in lower-income regions with cold climates.
Abstract: A voluntary worker may have both self-serving and altruistic motivations for helping, which may be positively or negatively linked together. Multilevel analyses of World Values Survey data, representatively sampled from 13, 584 inhabitants of 33 countries, uncover a pattern of cross-cultural differences in balancing these self-and other-directed helping motivations. A voluntary worker’s self-serving and altruistic motivations tend to be positively linked in higher income countries with uncomfortably cold or hot climates, unrelated in higher and lower income countries with comfortable climates and in lower income countries with uncomfortably hot climates, and negatively linked in lower income countries with uncomfortably cold climates. The findings are integrated into existing demands—resources theories as well as past research of helping and altruism on all six inhabited continents.
TL;DR: The cross-cultural generalizability of Chinese personality dimensions, in particular, the personal relatedness dimension of the Chinese personality assessment questionnaire (CPAI), was investigated in samples of Chinese Americans and European Americans as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The cross-cultural generalizability of Chinese personality dimensions—in particular, the Interpersonal Relatedness dimension of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI)—was investigated in samples of Chinese Americans (n= 201) and European Americans (n= 236). Four CPAI factors, including Interpersonal Relatedness, replicated very well in a Chinese American sample and fairly well in a European American sample, indicating that these dimensions are not unique to Chinese populations. Lowacculturation Chinese Americans, but not high-acculturation Chinese Americans, averaged higher than European Americans on the Interpersonal Relatedness dimension. This suggested that the Interpersonal Relatedness dimension, although not culture-unique, is more salient in or characteristic of individuals who retain or identify with traditional Chinese culture. Contrary to previous interpretations of the Interpersonal Relatedness dimension in terms of interdependent self-construals, the dimension was only modestly cor...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether the better-than-average effect occurred in Norway, a country with strong norms for modesty, and whether the same association between unrealistically positive self-appraisals and self-esteem would be observed in Norway and the United States.
Abstract: The “better-than-average” effect, the tendency for people to view themselves as above average on positive characteristics but belowaverage on negative characteristics, is an important manifestation of the motive for self-enhancement. The present research examined whether the better-than-average effect occurred in Norway, a country with strong norms for modesty, and whether the same association between unrealistically positive self-appraisals and self-esteem would be observed in Norway and the United States. Seventy-six American and 102 Norwegian participants were asked to rate the favorability and self-descriptiveness of 42 personality traits, and these ratings were used to generate a self-enhancement index. Norwegians showed significantly less self-enhancement bias than did Americans, and Norwegians showed no association between self-esteem and self-enhancement bias.