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Psychology 307: Cultural Psychology

February 11

Lecture 10

A little R&R ….(Review and Reflect)

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Values, the Self-Concept, and Motivation

2. Does cultural variation on the dimension of “individualism-collectivism” influence the self-concept

and motivation?

1. What are the major value dimensions on which cultural groups vary? (continued)

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2. describe Markus and Kitayama’s Model of Self-Construals.

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

3. discuss the results of Lu and Glimour’s research using the Independent and Interdependent Self Scale.

1. describe Schwartz’ Circular Value Structure.

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5. discuss the relation between self-consistency and psychological adjustment across cultures.

4. explain how self-construals influence self-descriptions and self-consistency.

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(c) Schwartz (1999, 2011; continued):

Identified 3 value dimensions on which these cultural groups varied: Mastery vs. harmony, hierarchy vs. egalitarianism, and conservatism vs. autonomy.

What are the major value dimensions on which cultural groups vary? (continued)

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Adjacent values (e.g., hierarchy and conservatism) are compatible with one another. Opposing values (e.g., mastery and harmony) are incompatible with one another.

Schwartz depicted the values that comprise the 3 dimensions in a circular structure.

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Schwartz’s Circular Value Structure

ConservatismMastery

Hierarchy

Harmony

Autonomy

Egalitarianism

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● Of the various value dimensions on which cultures vary, the dimension that has been most studied is Hofstede’s dimension of individualism. This

dimension is often referred to as individualism-collectivism or “IC.”

● In recent years, there has been a proliferation of research on the impact of IC on a variety of psychological constructs, including the self-concept

and motivation.

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● Self-concept: A cognitive schema (i.e., organized knowledge structure) that contains beliefs about the self and controls the processing of self-relevant

information.

● Markus and Kitayama’s (1991) Model of Self-Construals suggests that cultural variation in individualism-

collectivism (IC) is related to cultural variation in the self-concept.

Does cultural variation on the dimension of “individualism-collectivism” influence the self-concept and motivation?

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● The emphasis on independence and personal goals in individualistic cultures leads people to develop an “independent self-construal.”

● The emphasis on interdependence and collective goals in collectivistic cultures leads people to develop an “interdependent self-construal.”

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X XX X SELFX X X X X

FATHER

FRIEND

FRIEND

CO-WORKER

SIBLING

MOTHER

STRANGER

STRANGERX X X X

X X X

X X

X

X X X X

X

X

Out-Group

In-Group

The Independent Self-Construal

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X X SELF X X

FATHER

FRIEND

FRIEND

CO-WORKER

SIBLING

MOTHER

STRANGER

STRANGERX X X

X X

X

X

X X

X X

X

XX

X

X

X

Out-Group

In-Group

The Interdependent Self-Construal

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Independent Self-Construal

Interdependent Self-Construal

Definition of self

Free from social context. Tied to social context.

Structure of self

Stable, bounded, unitary. Variable, flexible, fluid.

Primary tasksUniqueness, self-expression,

realization of internal attributes, promotion of personal goals.

Fitting in, self-restraint, assuming one’s “proper” place,

promotion of others’ goals.

Role of othersSelf-evaluation (i.e., social

comparison).Self-definition.

Basis of self-esteem

Ability to express oneself and one’s internal attributes.

Ability to restrain oneself and maintain harmony with others.

Markus and Kitayama’s (1991) Model of Self-Construals

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● The distinctions between these self-construals are reflected in the following proverbs:

Japanese proverb: “The nail that stands out gets pounded down.”

North American proverb: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

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Independent and Interdependent Self Scale (IISS)(Lu and Gilmour, 2007)

● Subscale 1: Independent Self-Construal

Score 1 (sum of odd-numbered items)

Cronbach’s alpha: .85

Assesses 7 facets: expressing oneself; realizing internal attributes; being independent, unique, consistent;

promoting personal goals; being direct; separation from in-group; self-reliance related to hedonism.

Minimum score = 21; maximum score = 147

Mean score (British sample): 101.4 (SD = 13.5)

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● Subscale 2: Interdependent Self-Construal

Score 2 (sum of even-numbered items)

Cronbach’s alpha: .82

Assesses 7 facets: belonging and fitting in; occupying one’s proper place; engaging in appropriate action; promoting others’ goals; being indirect; family integration; interdependence and sociability.

Minimum score = 21; maximum score = 147

Mean score (British sample): 91.7 (SD = 13.0)

● Correlation between subscales: .28

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● Consistent with this model, research has demonstrated that cultural variation in IC is related to cultural variation in: (a) self-descriptions, (b) self-consistency, (c) self-awareness, and (d) self-enhancement.

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(a) Self-descriptions:

● People from individualistic cultures tend use abstract, global, and stable attributes (e.g., traits) to describe themselves.

People from collectivistic cultures tend to use social categories or affiliations (e.g., social roles) to describe themselves.

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Response of a student from the U.S.:

I like to live life with a lot of positive energy. I feel like there is so much to do and see and experience. However, I also know the value of relaxation. I love the obscure. I play ultimate Frisbee, juggle, unicycle, and dabble on the recorder. I have a taste for the unique. I am very friendly and in most situations very self-confident. I’m almost always happy and when I am down, it is usually because of stress.

Markus and Kitayama (1998) Instructions: Describe yourself briefly.

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Response of a student from Japan:

I cannot decide quickly what I should do, and am often swayed by other people’s opinions, and I cannot oppose the opinions of people who are supposed to be respected because of age or status. Even if I have displeasure, I compromise myself to the people around me without getting rid of the displeasure. When I cannot make a decision I often do it according to other people’s opinions. Also, I am concerned about how other people think about me and often decide on that consideration. I try to have a harmless life. I calm down be being the same as others.

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● Studies that have compared the self-descriptions of people from different cultures have largely

employed the Twenty Statements Test (TST; Kuhn & McPartland, 1954).

● The TST requires participants write 20 statements in response to the question “Who am I?”

● Examples:

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1. Ma and Schoeneman (1997)

Administered the TST to Kenyans and Americans.

The Kenyan sample was divided into subgroups that varied in their exposure to Western culture.

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2. Fryberg and Markus (2003)

Administered the TST to Native Americans and European Americans.

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0.0

0.1

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Personality Traits Abilities

Native AmericansEuropean Americans

0.00

0.02

0.04

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Social Identities Other-FocusedActions

Native AmericansEuropean Americans

Pro

por

tion

of R

espo

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● The self-beliefs of individualists tend to be more consistent across social contexts than the self-beliefs

of collectivists.

● Moreover, there is a greater correlation between consistency of self-beliefs and psychological

adjustment in individualistic cultures than collectivistic cultures.

(b) Self-consistency:

● Examples:

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1. Campbell et al. (1996)

Recruited Japanese and Canadians.

In each study, participants completed measures of “self-concept clarity” (SCC) and self-esteem (SE).

Conducted 3 studies.

SCC: the “extent to which self-beliefs are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and

[temporally] stable.”

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1. My beliefs about myself often conflict with one another. *2. On one day I might have one opinion of myself and on another day I

might have a different opinion. *3. I spend a lot of time wondering about what kind of person I really am. * 4. Sometimes I feel that I am not really the person that I appear to be. *5. When I think about the kind of person I have been in the past, I’m not

sure what I was really like. *6. I seldom experience conflict between the different aspects of my

personality. 7. Sometimes I think I know other people better than I know myself. *8. My beliefs about myself seem to change very frequently. *9. If I were asked to describe my personality, my description might end

up being different from one day to another day. *10. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could tell someone what I’m really like.

*11. In general, I have a clear sense of who I am and what I am. 12. It is often hard for me to make up my mind about things because I

don’t really know what I want. *

Campbell et al’s SCC Scale

* Reverse-scored item.

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Across the 3 studies, found that:

(a) SCC scores were higher among Canadians than Japanese.

(b) SCC scores were more strongly correlated with SE scores among Canadians than Japanese.

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StudyMean SCC Score

Canadian ParticipantsMean SCC Score

Japanese Participantsp

1 41.72 34.41 <.01

2 39.30 35.01 <.01

3 38.02 34.35 <.01

SCC Scores for Canadian and Japanese Participants (Campbell et al. 1996)

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StudyCorrelation Between

SCC and SE Canadian Participants

Correlation Between SCC and SE

Japanese Participantsp

1 .69 .37 <.001

2 .63 .46 <.07

3 .59 .08 <.001

Correlations Between SCC and Self-Esteem for Canadian and Japanese Participants

(Campbell et al., 1996)

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2. Suh (2002)

Recruited Koreans and Americans.

Assessed consistency in expression of 25 attributes across 100 scenarios involving parents, romantic partner, same-sex friend, and a stranger.

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Found that:

(a) self-consistency scores were higher among Americans than Koreans.

(b) self-consistency scores were more strongly correlated with psychological adjustment scores and social aptitude scores among Americans than Koreans.

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Well-Being SocialSkills

Likability

US Korea

Cor

rela

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with

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● The lower levels of self-consistency among collectivists does not indicate less predictability in behaviour: Collectivists show substantial consistency

across time within each relationship (see English & Chen, 2007).

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2. describe Markus and Kitayama’s Model of Self-Construals.

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

3. discuss the results of Lu and Glimour’s research using the Independent and Interdependent Self Scale.

1. describe Schwartz’ Circular Value Structure.

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5. discuss the relation between self-consistency and psychological adjustment across cultures.

4. explain how self-construals influence self-descriptions and self-consistency.