Toward a social psychology of globalization
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the questions of how people make sense of and respond to globalization and its sociocultural ramifications; how people defend the integrity of their heritage cultural identities against the "culturally erosive" effects of globalization, and how individuals harness creative insights from their interactions with global cultures.
Abstract: In most parts of the world, globalization has become an unstoppable and potent force that impacts everyday life and international relations. The articles in this issue draw on theoretical insights from diverse perspectives (clinical psychology, consumer research, organizational behavior, political psychology, and cultural psychology) to offer nuanced understanding of individuals’ psychological reactions to globalization in different parts of the world (Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Singapore, Switzerland, United States, Taiwan). These articles address the questions of how people make sense of and respond to globalization and its sociocultural ramifications; how people defend the integrity of their heritage cultural identities against the “culturally erosive” effects of globalization, and how individuals harness creative insights from their interactions with global cultures. The new theoretical insights and revealing empirical analyses presented in this issue set the stage for an emergent interdisciplinary inquiry into the psychology of globalization.
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490 citations
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01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: It is argued that the meaning embedded in consumption symbols, such as commercial brands, can serve to represent and institutionalize the values and beliefs of a culture.
Abstract: This research argues that the meaning embedded in consumption symbols, such as commercial brands, can serve to represent and institutionalize the values and beliefs of a culture. We conducted four studies to examine how the symbolic and expressive attributes associated with commercial brands are structured, and determine the degree to which this structure varies across three cultures. Relying on a combined emic-etic approach, we identified indigenous constructs of `brand personality' (Aaker, 1997) in two non-Anglo cultures (Japan and Spain), and compared these dimensions to those previously found in the United States. The results of Studies 1 and 2 revealed a set of brand personality dimensions common to both Japan and the United States (Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, and Sophistication), as well as culture-specific Japanese (Peacefulness) and American (Ruggedness) dimensions. Studies 3 and 4 extended this set of findings to Spain. Results from these studies also identified brand personality dimensions common to both Spain and the United States (Sincerity, Excitement, and Sophistication), plus non-shared Spanish (Passion) and American (Competence and Ruggedness) dimensions. The meaning of the culturally-common and -specific brand personality dimensions is discussed in the context of cross-cultural research on values and affect, globalization issues, and cultural frame shifting.
440 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed that cultural intelligence is a critical leadership competency for those with cross-border responsibilities and tested this hypothesis with multisource data, including multiple intelligences, in a sample of 126 Swiss military officers.
Abstract: Emphasizing the importance of cross-border effectiveness in the contemporary globalized world, we propose that cultural intelligence—the leadership capability to manage effectively in culturally diverse settings—is a critical leadership competency for those with cross-border responsibilities. We tested this hypothesis with multisource data, including multiple intelligences, in a sample of 126 Swiss military officers with both domestic and cross-border leadership responsibilities. Results supported our predictions: (1) general intelligence predicted both domestic and cross-border leadership effectiveness; (2) emotional intelligence was a stronger predictor of domestic leadership effectiveness, and (3) cultural intelligence was a stronger predictor of cross-border leadership effectiveness. Overall, results show the value of cultural intelligence as a critical leadership competency in today's globalized world.
289 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review outlines three broad and intertwined themes as the field continues to develop a fuller understanding of ageism: studying both positive and negative aspects of ageisms, taking a lifespan focus, and integrating the study of the ageism with aging.
Abstract: Almost 50 years ago, ageism (negative attitudes toward older adults) was introduced as a significant social issue. Since then, the worldwide population of adults ages 60 and over has rapidly become the fastest growing age group, making the study of ageism an even more pressing social issue. This review outlines three broad and intertwined themes as the field continues to develop a fuller understanding of ageism: studying both positive and negative aspects of ageism, taking a lifespan focus, and integrating the study of ageism with the study of aging. The review also focuses on several timely subthemes such as the need and benefits of expanding measures of ageism and intervening variables, expanding the diversity of study samples, expanding the research methodologies, and expanding the contexts under study toward greater cross-cultural and within-culture investigations. This review and the international, interdisciplinary research showcased in this special issue are intended to set the stage for the next wave of international research on ageism across the lifecycle and of effective interventions and public policies supporting older adults and positive intergenerational relations.
137 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate whether exposure to the mixing of a foreign culture with one's heritage culture can evoke need for closure, a motive that engenders ethnocentric social judgments.
Abstract: Political theorists of globalization have argued that foreign inflows to a society can give rise to collective-identity closure—social movements aiming to narrow the in-group, and exclude minorities. In this research we investigate whether exposure to the mixing of a foreign culture with one's heritage culture can evoke need for closure, a motive that engenders ethnocentric social judgments. On the basis of a proposed identity threat mechanism, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to situations mixing foreign and heritage cultures would evoke need for closure for individuals with low foreign identification but not those with high foreign identification. An experiment with Hong Kong Chinese students varied linguistic and visual cues of Western and Chinese culture and found, as predicted, that exposure to mixed Western/Chinese conditions elevated need for closure for those low in Western identification but not those high in Western identification.
59 citations
TL;DR: This article proposed that cultural norms are closure providers when rendering social judgments, and individuals with higher need for closure would be more likely to conform to the dominant norms in a foreign country when deciding how to respond in that country.
Abstract: Need for closure (NFC) refers to the need for firm answers to reduce uncertainty. We propose that because cultural norms are closure providers, when rendering social judgments, individuals with higher NFC would be more likely to conform to the dominant norms. Furthermore, because ingroup identification increases the perceived contrast between ingroup and outgroup cultures and enhances the perceived consensual validity of the dominant cultural norms within a country, high ingroup identifiers with high NFC would adhere to their native cultural norm when managing situations in their own country; however, they would rely more on the dominant cultural norms in a foreign country when deciding how to respond in that country. Two studies provided consistent support to our hypotheses.
55 citations
"Toward a social psychology of globa..." refers background in this paper
...Torelli et al. also showed that simultaneous activation of two cultures could increase defensive, exclusionary reactions when the perceiver experiences globalization as a threat to their heritage culture (see also Chen & Chiu, 2010; Cheng, Leung, & Wu, 2011)....
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...For example, the need for firm answers has been shown to increase the tendency to rely on one’s heritage cultural perspective (and to exclude other cultural perspectives) as behavior guides (Chao, Zhang, & Chiu, 2010; Chiu, Morris, Hong, & Menon, 2000; Fu et al., 2007)....
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...They are willing to appropriate ideas from foreign cultures to generate creative solutions to a problem (Leung & Chiu, 2010; Leung Maddux, Galinsky & Chiu, 2008; Maddux & Galinsky, 2009)....
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...However, viewing symbols of one’s own culture or a foreign culture alone (monocultural priming) has no creative benefits (Leung & Chiu, 2010)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, it is shown that there has been an effort on the part of the older generation to integrate the European heritage and the newer American social psychology, as a guiding model soon after the Second World War.
Abstract: The term colonization as used in this article does not refer to the suppression of one culture by another, but to a voluntary intellectual submission, eventually resulting in a ''neo-colonial'' relationship in which, in spite of a ''decolonization'' movement, much of the dominant culture has been retained. Contrary to the traditional view, Europe had a rich social psychological literature before the Second World War, and much of this early work still is of interest for contemporary social psychology. The Netherlands is used as an example of the ''colonization'' of Northwest European social psychology after 1945. It is shown that there has been an effort on the part of the older generation to integrate the European heritage and the newer American social psychology. The younger generation, however, according to an analysis of citations, adopted American social psychology, as a guiding model soon after the Second World War. The colonization metaphor draws attention to the power aspects of knowledge transfer. The author concludes that later ''de-colonization'' does not imply a turning away from everything American, but a cross-fertilization of perspectives, leading to a truly international approach. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
54 citations
"Toward a social psychology of globa..." refers background in this paper
...Consequently, global culture exerts its hegemonic influence on some local cultures via voluntary submission to global culture (van Strien, 1997)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a typical Western FTSC stipulates that as a society becomes more industrialized, it undergoes a natural course of social change, in which a communal society marked by communal relationships becomes a qualitatively different, agentic society where market-based exchange relationships prevail.
Abstract: People have a folk theory of social change (FTSC). A typical Western FTSC stipulates that as a society becomes more industrialized, it undergoes a natural course of social change, in which a communal society marked by communal relationships becomes a qualitatively different, agentic society where market-based exchange relationships prevail. People use this folk theory to predict a society's future and estimate its past, to understand contemporary cross-cultural differences, and to make decisions about social policies. Nonetheless, the FTSC is not particularly consistent with the existing cross-cultural research on industrialization and cultural differences, and needs to be examined carefully.
51 citations
"Toward a social psychology of globa..." refers background in this paper
...…theoretical and empirical analyses have been advanced to understand lay people’s understanding of the meanings of globalization and social change (Kashima et al., 2009), reactions to the experiential compression of space and time in globalized cultural environments (Chiu, Mallorie, Keh, & Law,…...
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TL;DR: This article found that high risk Japanese students were more likely to persist on the challenging task upon being given negative feedback compared to being given positive feedback, and high risk students were also lower on levels of interdependence relative to low risk students according to explicit and implicit measures of self-construal.
Abstract: Due to economic structural changes in Japan, an increasing population of youthare“NotengagedinEmployment,Education,orTraining”(NEET).Wearguethatthis state of anomie is associated with a lack of motivation in conforming to inter-dependent norms. To illustrate this type of “deviant” motivation, we conducted astudy in which high- and low risk Japanese students were given either success orfailure feedback upon completing a challenging task. Low risk Japanese studentswere more likely to persist on the challenging task upon being given negativefeedback compared to being given positive feedback. This motivational pattern isconsistentwiththatoftheprototypicalJapanese(Heineetal.).Incontrast,theop-positepatternwasfoundwithhighriskJapanesestudents.Highriskstudentswerealso lower on levels of interdependence relative to low risk students according toboth explicit and implicit measures of self-construal.
50 citations
"Toward a social psychology of globa..." refers background in this paper
...Focusing on the psychological adaptation of individuals Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEETS)—a marginal subculture in Japan that has emerged in response to globalization, Norasakkunkit and Uchida (2011) discussed in this issue a maladaptive response to globalization....
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