Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology RSS feed -- OnlineFirst Articles

Perceptions of Psychological Adjustment, Achievement Outcomes, and Self-Esteem in Japan and America

Brown, R. A. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:27:11 PDT

Evidence reported in the present article suggests that the widely used Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) does not as unequivocally assess positive self-regard in Japan as it does in America. American (n = 98) and Japanese (n = 120) participants assessed high self-esteem (HSE) and low self-esteem (LSE) targets who were depicted endorsing or rejecting RSES items.Results indicate that although both groups of participants had more positive impressions of the HSE relative to the LSE target, the difference was greater for the Japanese. In addition, although the Americans had more positive impressions of the HSE target than the Japanese did, the Japanese had more positive impressions of the LSE target.

Historical Prevalence of Infectious Diseases Within 230 Geopolitical Regions: A Tool for Investigating Origins of Culture

Murray, D. R., Schaller, M. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:27:11 PDT

Regional differences in disease prevalence are associated with a wide array of cross-cultural differences. However, the complex relationships among culture, disease, and other ecological variables remain underinvestigated. Future research into the origins of cultural differences will benefit from the availability of a numerical index identifying the extent to which infectious diseases have been historically prevalent within regions defined by geopolitical borders. This article introduces such an index.This index is based on disease prevalence data obtained from old epidemiological atlases and is calculated for 230 geopolitical regions (mostly nations) around the world.

Cultural and Universal Routes to Authorship Ascription: Effects of Outcome Priming on Experienced Self-Agency in the Netherlands and Japan

Aarts, H., Oikawa, M., Oikawa, H. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:33:32 PDT

The experience of self-agency is a fundamental feature of human experience. Recent research has suggested that self-agency experiences are driven by an unconscious authorship ascription process that relies on an online match between accessible outcome representations and the production of the outcome. Extending this work, this study explores the role of culture in the manifestation of this unconscious authorship ascription process by testing whether subliminal priming of the outcome of an action prior to occurrence increased experiences of self-agency in Dutch and Japanese participants. Results show that outcome priming enhances the experience of self-agency independently of cultural background. However, Dutch participants experienced higher levels of self-agency than did Japanese participants, and this cultural effect was mediated by differences in beliefs of self-determination. These findings suggest that the experience of self-agency has a universal, nonconscious component that operates independently from a more cultural one, reflecting differences in conscious beliefs about the role of the self in choice and control.

Is Schwartz's Value Survey an Interval Scale, and Does It Really Matter?

Lee, J. A., Soutar, G. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:33:32 PDT

Researchers often assume the numerical ratings approach used to measure values, such as Schwartz’s Value Survey (SVS), conforms to an interval scale. Correspondence analysis was used to examine this assumption by analyzing SVS data obtained from four Anglo (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States) and two Asian (South Korea and China) countries. The analysis suggested the SVS did not exhibit the characteristics of an interval scale, with responses across all countries producing larger intervals at the low end of the scale and smaller intervals from the mid to high end of the scale. Further analysis suggested there were significant differences in the traditional SVS means and the means suggested by the correspondence analysis. However, when correlations and Euclidian distances between SVS and correspondence analysis scores were examined, they were very high, suggesting the lack of interval scaling was unlikely to affect the relationships between the SVS value types and other constructs.

A Comparison of Caretaker-Child Conversations About Past Personal Experiences in Thailand and Australia

Winskel, H. — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:56:58 PDT

This study investigated the conversations between caretakers and children about past personal experiences in Anglo-Australian in comparison with Thai culture. Ten Thai and 10 Anglo-Australian caretaker-child dyads were recruited from Bangkok and Sydney. Caretakers were requested to elicit past event narratives from their children, and the three most extended narratives about one topic were selected for analysis. Caretakers’ elicitation strategies and children’s responses were coded into various categories based on McCabe and Peterson (1991), Minami (2002), and Chang (2003). Results revealed that in general Thai conversations about past personal experiences were relatively short and unelaborated in comparison with Anglo-Australian dyads. English-speaking caretakers provided more agreement and approval, and they revised and corrected children more than Thai caretakers, whereas Thai caretakers provided more temporal contextual information. Notably, Anglo-Australian caretakers requested more evaluative responses from their children concerning feelings and thoughts about particular incidents than Thai caretakers, which in turn were reflected in the child’s language. In Thai conversation it appears that concise narratives with contextual information are valued.