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Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
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Peering into the "Magnum Mysterium" of Culture

The Explanatory Power of Descriptive Norms

Garriy Shteynberg

University of Maryland

Michele J. Gelfand

University of Maryland

Kibum Kim

Sungkyunkwan University

The purpose of this research is to test whether descriptive norms, or cognitions about typical beliefs, values, and behaviors of one's group, can explain cultural influence in the domains of blame attribution and harm perception. In Study 1, using participants from the United States and South Korea, the authors find that individuals with lower (vs. higher) collectivistic descriptive norms ascribed more blame after more intentional acts and less blame after less intentional acts. In the second study, using American and South Korean participants, the authors find that individuals with lower (vs. higher) collectivistic descriptive norms perceived more harm after right violations and less harm after duty violations. Collectivistic personal attitudes did not predict the expected differences in attribution of blame or perception of harm. The descriptive norm account of cultural influence provides an alternative to the currently dominant personal attitude paradigm.

Key Words: collectivism • descriptive norms • cultural influence • blame attribution • harm perception

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 40, No. 1, 46-69 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022022108326196
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