Showing papers in "Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology in 2005"

Autonomy and Relatedness in Cultural Context Implications for Self and Family

Abstract: Autonomy and agency are used extensively and often interchangeably; there is a debate regarding their intersections with relatedness and separateness. This scholarship occurs within mainly a Euro-American cultural context that provides an ideological background of individualism, shedding light on psychological thinking. The article attempts to provide a broad overview of the issues involved. Two distinct dimensions, agency and interpersonal distance, are seen to underlie the self constructs involving autonomy and relatedness that are developed in different spheres of psychological inquiry. Autonomy and relatedness are viewed as basic human needs, and though apparently conflicting, are proposed to be compatible. Problems of conceptualization and operationalization are noted that have prevented the recognition of this compatibility. A model is put forward that involves a fourfold combination of the two dimensions, leading to different types of self and the societal and familial contexts in which they develo...

Values and their Relationship to Environmental Concern and Conservation Behavior

Abstract: Recent research has examined the relationship between values and attitudes about environmental issues. Findings from these studies have found values of self-transcendence (positively) and self-enhancement (negatively) to predict general concern for environmental problems. Other recent findings have differentiated between environmental attitudes based on concern for self (egoistic), concern for other people (socialaltruistic), and concern for plants and animals (biospheric). This article reports the results from a study of the relationship between values and environmental attitudes in six countries: Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, India, New Zealand, and Russia. Results show strong support for the cross-cultural generalizability of the relationship between values and attitudes and on the structure of environmental concern. In addition, analyses of the relationship between values and environmental behavior show evidence for norm activation only for self-transcendence; results for self-enhancement show a consistently negative relationship.

The Relation Between Culture and Response Styles Evidence From 19 Countries

Abstract: The authors investigated at the country level the effects of four cultural orientations identified and studied by Hofstede on two commonly recognized response biases: extreme response style and acquiescent responding. Data are presented from approximately 18,000 survey questionnaires completed by employees in 19 nations on five continents (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Malaysia, Portugal, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, and Italy). Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to examine the associations between person-level response styles and country-level cultural orientations. Consistent with theoretical expectations, power distance and masculinity were found to be positively and independently associated with extreme response style. Individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity were each found to be negatively associated with acquiescent response behavior. Further research is ne...

Variation of Individualism and Collectivism within and between 20 Countries A Typological Analysis

Abstract: With data from a 20-nation study (N = 2,533), the authors investigated how individual patterns of endorsement of individualist and collectivist attitudes are distributed within and across national contexts. A cluster analysis performed on individual scores of self-reliance (individualist dimension), group-oriented interdependence (collectivist dimension), and competitiveness (individualist or collectivist dimension) yielded a typology of four constrained combinations of these dimensions. Despite the prevalence of a typology group within a given country, variability was observed in all countries. Self-reliant non-competitors and interdependent non-competitors were prevalent among participants from Western nations, whereas self-reliant competitors and interdependent competitors were more common in non-Western countries. These findings emphasize the benefits for cross-cultural research of a typological approach based on combinations of individualist and collectivist dimensions.

Predicting Expatriate Job Performance for Selection Purposes A Quantitative Review

Abstract: This article meta-analytically reviews empirical studies on the prediction of expatriate job performance. Using 30 primary studies (total N = 4,046), it was found that predictive validities of the Big Five were similar to Big Five validities reported for domestic employees. Extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were predictive of expatriate job performance; openness was not. Other predictors that were found to relate to expatriate job performance were cultural sensitivity and local language ability. Cultural flexibility, selection board ratings, tolerance for ambiguity, ego strength, peer nominations, task leadership, people leadership, social adaptability, and interpersonal interest emerged as predictors from exploratory investigations (K < 4). It is surprising that intelligence has seldom been investigated as a predictor of expatriate job performance.

Cross-Cultural Emotion Recognition among Canadian Ethnic Groups:

Abstract: This study aims to investigate cultural differences in recognition accuracy as well as the in-group advantage hypothesis for emotion recognition among sub-Saharan African, Chinese, and French Canadian individuals living in Canada. The participants viewed expressions of happiness, anger, sadness, fear, disgust, and shame selected from the Montreal Set of Facial Displays of Emotion. These data did not support the in-group advantage hypothesis under the condition of stimulus equivalence. However, both encoder and decoder effects were found. Specifically, French Canadians were more accurate for the decoding of expressions of shame and sadness. Moreover, fear expressions were best recognized when shown by sub-Saharan Africans, suggesting an effect of salience of expressive cues due to morphological features of the face.

Cultural Context and Psychological Needs in Canada and Brazil Testing a Self-Determination Approach to the Internalization of Cultural Practices, Identity, and Well-Being

Abstract: Brazilian and Canadian students reported on the importance and frequency of cultural practices and values reflecting Triandis’s cultural model of individualistic-collectivistic and horizontal-vertical orientations. They also rated their relative autonomy for these practices and the degree to which parents and teachers supported self-determination theory’s psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. It was predicted that in both samples, despite the mean differences, greater relative autonomy and need support would be associated with greater well-being and cultural identity. It was also expected that vertical cultural orientations would be less well internalized in both Brazilian and Canadian groups. Means and covariance structure analyses verified measurement comparability. Results generally supported the hypotheses. Discussion focuses on the importance of internalization across cultural forms, the differentiation of autonomy from individualism and independence, and the relations betwee...

A Cross-Cultural Study of the Levels and Correlates of Life Satisfaction among Adolescents

Abstract: Cross-cultural differences in the perceived levels and correlates of life satisfaction were investigated with 472 Korean and 543 U.S. adolescents. Korean adolescents reported lower global life satisfaction than U.S. adolescents, as well as lower satisfaction with family, friends, school, self, and living environment. Although satisfaction with family, self, and living environment contributed significant and unique variance to the global life satisfaction of adolescents in both cultures, satisfaction with school contributed significantly to global life satisfaction only for Korean adolescents. Level of satisfaction with self was a stronger correlate of global life satisfaction for U.S. adolescents than it was for Korean adolescents. The findings are discussed in terms of individualistic versus collectivistic culture frameworks within the value as moderator model of subjective well-being. Implications for future research and culturally sensitive well-being interventions are also presented.

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Autobiographical Memory On the Universality and Cultural Variation of the Reminiscence Bump

Abstract: Groups from Japan, China, Bangladesh, England, and the United States recalled, described, and dated specific autobiographical memories. When memories were plotted in terms of age-at-encoding highly similar life-span memory retrieval curves were observed: the periods of childhood amnesia and the reminiscence bump were the same across cultures. However, content analysis of memory descriptions of the U.S. and Chinese groups found that memories from the Chinese group had interdependent self-focus (i.e., were of events with a group or social orientation), whereas the memory content of the U.S. group showed an independent self-focus (i.e., were of events oriented to the individual). These findings suggest that there are culturally invariant features of autobiographical memory that yield structurally similar memories across cultures, yet the content of memories is sensitive to cultural influences related to the nature of the self. Findings are discussed in light of similarities and diversity between selves with ...

Social Representations of Events and People in World History Across 12 Cultures

Abstract: Social representations of world history were assessed using the open-ended questions, “What are the most important events in world history?” and “Who are the most influential persons in world history in the last 1000 years?” Data from 6 Asian and 6 Western samples showed cross-cultural consensus. Historical representations were (a) focused on the recent past, (b) centered around politics and war, and (c) dominated by the events of the World Wars and (d) the individual Hitler, who was universally perceived as negative. (e) Representations were more Eurocentric than ethnocentric. (f) The importance of economics and science was underrepresented. (g) Most cultures nominated people (more than events) idiosyncratic to their own culture. These data reflect power relations in the world and provide resources and constraints for the conduct of international relations. The degree of cross-cultural consensus suggests that hybridity across Eastern and Western cultures in the representation of knowledge may be underestimated.

The Construction and Validation of a Social Support Measure for Sojourners The Index of Sojourner Social Support (ISSS) Scale

Abstract: Research on stress, coping, and cross-cultural adaptation has been frequently hampered by the use of inadequate and inappropriate measures of sojourner social support. An attempt is made here to develop an instrument that assesses social support in an acculturation context and integrates generic conceptualizations of the construct with the unique circumstances of a sojourning population. The construction and validation of the Index of Sojourner Social Support (ISSS) Scale were based on three studies. Study 1 describes the process of item generation; Study 2 deals with the development and validation of the ISSS; and Study 3 presents a preliminary cross-cultural validation of the instrument. A cross-validation procedure was used for the validation of both the internal and external structures of the ISSS. On the whole, multiple-groups covariance structure analyses showed the ISSS to possess a stable two-factor internal structure (socioemotional support and instrumental support) and a logical external structu...

Dynamic Stereotypes about Women and Men in Latin America and the United States

Abstract: To test the hypothesis that a group undergoing social change is believed to adopt traits associated with its new roles, this study examined perceptions of women and men of the past, present, and future in Brazil, Chile, and the United States. These dynamic stereotypes, which are present-day beliefs about a group as changing its characteristics, followed the specific profile of role change in each nation. The perception of men as increasing in masculine characteristics, which was found only in Chile and Brazil, cohered with changes in their roles following industrialization and democratization. The perception of women as increasing in masculine characteristics, which was found in all three nations, cohered with their increasing participation in public roles.

Gratitude in University Students in Japan and Thailand

Abstract: The authors surveyed 212 university students in Japan and 284 university students in Thailand, using a multiaspect questionnaire that was designed to investigate cultural similarities and differences in gratitude. The questionnaire included the items involved in hypothetical helping situations: (a) perceived gains of recipients, cost to benefactors, and obligation to help as antecedent variables of gratitude; (b) both positive feelings of gratitude and feelings of indebtedness; and (c) requital to benefactors and increased prosocial motivation of recipients as an outcome of gratitude. In both Japanese and Thai students, positive feelings cor-related with facial and verbal expressions of gratitude and increased prosocial motivation. However, the variable of feelings of indebtedness was positively related to increased prosocial motivation only in Japanese male students.

Structural and Mean-Level Analyses of the Five-Factor Model and Locus of Control: Further Evidence From Africa

Abstract: This study examines the Five-Factor Model of personality and locus of control in French-speaking samples in Burkina Faso (N = 470) and Switzerland (Ns = 1,090, 361), using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and Levenson’s Internality, Powerful others, and Chance (IPC) scales. Alpha reliabilities were consistently lower in Burkina Faso, but the factor structure of the NEO-PI-R was replicated in both cultures. The intended three-factor structure of the IPC could not be replicated, although a two-factor solution was replicable across the two samples. Although scalar equivalence has not been demonstrated, mean-level comparisons showed the hypothesized effects for most of the five factors and locus of control; Burkinabe scored higher in Neuroticism than anticipated. Findings from this African sample generally replicate earlier results from Asian and Western cultures and are consistent with a biologically based theory of personality.

Ethnic Identity in Acculturation Research A Study of Multiple Identities of Jewish Refugees From the Former Soviet Union

Abstract: This study explored the salience and predictive value of the identity dimension of acculturation among 351 Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union in the United States. Whereas bidirectional acculturation models consider only two identities—ethnic identification with the culture of origin (Russian) and identification as a member of one’s new society (American)—this study broadens the examination of identity to include a third component—Jewish identity. Jewish identity was found to be the most salient of the three but predicted only one of the aspects of psychological adjustment—alienation. Findings underscore the need for the acculturation field to incorporate the possibility of more than two cultures into the explanatory framework and to examine the extent to which ethnocultural identities are contextually bound.

Cultural Influences on Categorization Processes

Abstract: Chiu (1972) reported that in a categorization task, Chinese children were more likely to categorize objects based on shared relationships, whereas American children were more likely to categorize objects based on similarity. This research examines whether such findings generalize to adults and whether cultural differences would also be observed in the activation of semantic concepts. In Experiment 1, Chinese adults were equally likely to categorize based on relationships and similarity, whereas Western adults were more likely to categorize based on similarity. Analogous differences in response latencies were observed in a timed task that reflected semantic processing in Experiment 2, and to some extent in a slightly different task in Experiment 3, although differences between the two experiments suggest that the nature of the categorization task determines the extent to which cultural differences are observed. Overall, results suggest that differences in categorization styles are associated with differenc...

Chinese and English Probabilistic Thinking and Risk Taking in Gambling

Abstract: This study investigated cultural differences in probabilistic thinking and risk taking. A View of Uncertainty Questionnaire assessed the probabilistic thinking of Chinese and English gamblers and nongamblers and a hypothetical Horse Racing Task assessed risk-taking behavior (N = 120). The Chinese exhibited significantly less probabilistic thinking and riskier gambling decisions. A path analysis found that degree of probabilistic thinking was one (but not the only) source of the observed cultural differences in risk taking.

Internal-External Causal Attributions and Perceived Government Responsibility for Need Provision A 14-Culture Study

Abstract: This study examines whether locus and importance of causal attributions for poverty mediate effects of gender and political ideology on attitudes toward social welfare provision. The study also examines whether cultural differences moderate effects of causal attributions on attitudes toward social provision. Analyses of data from 14 cultures (N = 4,018) showed a positive relationship between importance of external causes of poverty and support for social provision of basic needs and a negative relationship between the internal causes and the support for social provision. Political conservatives, in particular men, ascribed less responsibility to government for need provision than did liberals. The ideological differences were partially mediated by external and internal attributions, whereas gender differences were mediated by external attributions. Not only did culture moderate effects of causal attributions, cultural differences in support of social provision were also partially but extremely differently...

Individualism-Collectivism and the Attitudes to School Bullying of Japanese and Australian Students:

Abstract: This study examined whether collectivism versus individualism influences participants’ attitudes toward group-based bullying. Student members of a collectivistic culture (Japan; n = 158) versus an individualistic culture (Australia; n = 157) read about a school bullying episode. Collectivistic responses were predicted when the victim was a student from the same culture as the participant, and the classroom group had a norm of bullying versus helping. Individualistic responses were predicted when the participant learned that he or she was personally connected with the bully or the victim. Contrary to predictions, the participants’ attitudes reflected the interaction of nationality and gender, with the gender difference being greater between the Japanese versus Australian participants. In contrast, the participants’ behavior intentions mainly reflected their nationality—the Japanese participants revealed a greater likelihood of bullying, and a lower likelihood of helping a victim, than did the Australians. ...

The Cultural Psychology of Control Illusions of Personal Versus Collective Control in the United States and Japan

Abstract: This study focused on the cultural psychology of control in the United States and Japan. The authors tested a hypothesis that Japanesewould tend to overestimate their ability to control their outcomes collectively compared to personally, whereas Americans would show the reverse tendency. As expected, Japanese participants in the group condition, relative to those in the individual condition, were more optimistic about obtaining a favorable outcome. American men, on the other hand, were more optimistic in the individual condition. Interestingly, similar to the Japanese participants, American women showed a reverse but nonsignificant tendency to be more optimistic in the group condition. These results indicate that the psychology of control is both gendered and cultured.

The Measurement of Implicit Motives in Three Cultures Power and Affiliation in Cameroon, Costa Rica, and Germany

Abstract: This article examines methodological issues related to the measurement of implicit motives in culturally divergent samples. Implicit motives are seen as basic needs shared by all human beings. However, crosscultural comparisons are very restricted because many cross-cultural studies on implicit motives with non-Western cultures developed and discussed culture-inherent stimuli. The aim of the study here was to search for a culture-independent set of picture stimuli measuring two basic motives (affiliation and power motive) in three different cultures. Two pretests and one main study were carried out in Cameroon, Costa Rica, and Germany with student and nonstudent samples, respectively, and an extended methodological cross-cultural analysiswas conducted. Construct bias, method bias, and item bias that threaten the cross-cultural comparability of findings were addressed. In analyses, unbiased culture-independent sets of picture stimuli were identified that can be used for cross-cultural comparisons of these ...

Efficacy of Multicultural Education for Preschool Children A Domain-Specific Approach

Abstract: The efficacy of multicultural curricula for the development of “racial expertise” was examined in 79 pre-school children. Children in preschools with multicultural and emergent curricula (n = 43) were compared with children in preschools with multicultural but no emergent curricula (n = 20) and children in preschools with neither multicultural nor emergent curricula (n = 16) in their responses to the Multi-Response Racial Attitude Scale and domain-specific measures of racial groups knowledge. Results suggest children in preschools with both multicultural and emergent curricula have more domain-specific racial knowledge but not less biased attitudes than other preschool children.

Cracking the Nonverbal Code Intercultural Competence and Gesture Recognition Across Cultures

Abstract: The purpose of this set of studies was to assess whether the ability to distinguish between real and fake gestures in a foreign setting is positively associated with cultural adjustment to that setting. To do so, we created an original videotaped measure of gesture recognition accuracy (the GRT). Study 1 (n = 508) found positive associations between performance on the GRT and length of stay in the foreign setting and between GRT performance and self-reported intercultural communication competence. Study2 (n = 60) replicated the positive association between GRT performance and self-reported intercultural communication competence. It also found a positive association between GRT performance and external perceptions of intercultural communication competence and motivation as rated by observers native to the new cultural setting. Together, findings from the two studies highlight the importance of gesture recognition in the cultural adaptation process and the potential of the GRT measure as a useful assessment...

The Equivalence of the Behavior Problem Index Across U.S. Ethnic Groups

Abstract: In this study, the authors examine the equivalence of the factor structure of a commonly used symptom checklist of behavioral and emotional problems—the Behavior Problem Index (BPI)—across African American, Hispanic, and White children in the United States. The sample is drawn from the 1998 data file of the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a U.S. data set. The results of the study suggest that the BPI is not equivalent across the three ethnic groups. These findings are consistent when equivalence is tested for a one-factor model, a two-factor model using the internalizing and externalizing dimensions of the BPI, and a six-factor model using the subscales of the BPI. Item-level analyses identify the statistically significant items that are associated with nonequivalence across ethnic groups. The implications of nonequivalent measures for cross-cultural research and practice with families and children are discussed.

Early Socialization Contexts and Social Experiences of Infants in Rural and Urban Gujarat, India

Abstract: In this study, the early social experiences of infants from a rural, traditionally agricultural community are compared with those of urban infants of the same region. Using spot observations, infants'daily social experiences were assessed when they were about 3 months of age. Based on overarching sociocultural orientations, the authors expected rural and urban caregivers to provide their infants with the same amount of body contact, kissing, and body stimulation. Based on different educational profiles of the caregivers, less eyetoeye contact, exclusive attention, and object stimulation by rural compared to urban caregivers were expected. Differences between mothers and other caregivers in their interaction with the infant and during distress and nondistress waking states of the infant were explored. The results confirmed their expectations partially. Urban infants experienced more eye-to-eye contact and more exclusive attention but also more body contact. There were no differences in kissing, body stimul...

Linking Societal and Psychological Factors to Homicide Rates Across Nations

Abstract: National rates of homicide vary dramatically and may provide a window into the societal dynamics and their socialized psychological reflections that generate violence. To develop a comprehensive theory of these dynamics, this study examined stable rates of homicide in 56 nations. A selection of societal-level variables was deployed in conjunction with psychological measures of citizen characteristics to predict homicide levels. Using blocked regression, and beginning with economic predictors, the authors discovered that homicide was most powerfully predicted by a linear equation combining societal measures of economic inequality, negative GNP per capita, and the negative sex ratio of men to women. Psychological measures of lower trust in one’s fellow citizens, belief in less social complexity, and preference for mates of higher status as opposed to love also predicted national homicide rates and were able to mediate the effects of the three societal variables on these national homicide rates. This study e...

The Best of Both Worlds Biculturality, Acculturation, and Adjustment Among Young Mainland Puerto Rican Mothers

Abstract: The relations among language acculturation, biculturality, and psychological adjustment were studied in a sample of 54 young mainland Puerto Rican mothers. Participants were interviewed in the language of their choice concerning their level of symptomatology (i.e., depression, anxiety, somatization, hostility, interpersonal sensitivity), language acculturation, monocultural involvement (assessed by separate adherence to American and Puerto Rican cultural values), and dual cultural involvement (assessed by a combination of cultural values). Results indicated that biculturality significantly predicted adjustment above and beyond monocultural involvement. In addition, although biculturality and bilingualism were both significantly related to psychological adjustment, linguistic balance showed a stronger association with adjustment than biculturality. Findings are discussed in light of the family, cultural, and developmental context in which young mainland Puerto Rican mothers are embedded.

Mental Models of Poverty in Developing Nations A Causal Mapping Analysis Using a Canada-Philippines Contrast

Abstract: Causal mapping was used to compare poverty activists and non-activists from Canada and the Philippines (N = 80) in terms of their beliefs about the causes of poverty in developing nations. The causal maps varied as a function of both activist status and country of residence. Activists included more external societal causes in their maps than non-activists, whereas non-activists included more individualistic and internal societal causes. In terms of map structure, Filipino activists included significantly more causal links in their maps than members of the other three groups. A cluster analysis on distance ratios, an index of dissimilarity among the maps, produced three clusters dominated by Filipino non-activists, Canadian non-activists, and Filipino activists, respectively, and a fourth cluster that included a heterogeneous mix of respondents from all four groups. Implications for public education, the effective coordination of antipoverty interventions, and methodological issues related to causal mappin...

Erratum to Kashima and Kashima (1998) and Reiteration

Abstract: The relationships between cultural dimensions and the language use involving pronoun drop (whether the subject of a sentence can be dropped when it is a personal pronoun) and the number of second-person singular pronouns (2PS) available in a language (one or multiple) reported by Kashima and Kashima were reexamined by using a new, correct coding for Hindi and Urdu. The reanalysis reconfirmed the major part of our previous results but indicated the need to revise the previous report that the availability of multiple 2PS pronouns was associated with higher Integration, namely, harmonious interpersonal relationships. The new analysis showed that availability of multiple 2PS and Integration were independent of each other.

Investigating Implicit Trait Theories Across Cultures

Abstract: Implicit trait and contextual theories encompass lay people’s beliefs about the longitudinal stability (vs. instability) of traits; the cross-situational consistency (vs. variability) of behavior; the ability to predict (vs. not predict) individuals’ behavior from their traits; the ability to infer traits from few behavioral instances (vs. the difficulty of doing so); and the importance of traits in understanding people (vs. the greater importance of contextual factors such as roles and relationships). Implicit trait and contextual beliefs were investigated in two individualistic cultures, the United States and Australia, and two collectivistic cultures, Mexico and the Philippines. Hypotheses based on an integration of trait and cultural psychology perspectives were supported. The structure of implicit beliefs replicated well, and trait beliefs predicted judgments about cross-situational consistency of behavior in all four cultures. Implicit trait beliefs were stronger, and implicit contextual beliefs wea...