Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology recent issues

Six Turkish Personality Factors and the HEXACO Model of Personality Structure

Arzu Wasti, S., Lee, K., Ashton, M. C., Somer, O. — 2008-10-10

This article examines the six largest dimensions of the Turkish personality lexicon, as derived from the personality-descriptive terms of Goldberg and Somer's (2000) data set. The six Turkish lexical factors show close correspondences of content to all six dimensions observed in several other languages. In a new data set, the authors then correlate factor scores representing these indigenous Turkish dimensions with the scales of the HEXACO Personality Inventory, which operationalize the six cross-language factors. Results show a pattern of strong convergent and weak discriminant correlations. Overall, findings suggest that the cross-language six-dimensional structure of personality description does generalize to the Turkish lexicon. The Turkish structure also reveals some interesting emic features, particularly with regard to the content of the Openness to Experience factor.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Reactions to Daily Events as Indicators of Cross-Cultural Differences in Self-Construction and Affect

2008-10-10

Every day for two weeks, participants at four sites (2 in the US, 1 in Canada, and 1 in Japan) described their self-esteem and affect and they described the events that occurred each day. Multilevel random coefficient modeling analyses found that the self_esteem of Japanese participants changed more in reaction to daily social events (both positive and negative) than it did for North American participants. For positive social events, the Japanese were more reactive in terms of positive affect than North Americans. For negative social events, the Japanese were more reactive in terms of depressed mood (ND) and deactive positive affect (PD) than North Americans. In contrast, the Japanese were less reactive to negative achievement events than North Americans in terms of PA and anxious mood. The Japanese were more reactive than North Americans to positive achievement events in terms of PA and ND. The results highlight the greater sensitivity of the Japanese to social concerns compared to North Americans, and the greater affective sensitivity of North Americans to failure in achievement domains.

Paradox Lost: Unraveling the Puzzle of Simpatia

Ramirez-Esparza, N., Gosling, S. D., Pennebaker, J. W. — 2008-10-10

Simpatía is a cultural script that characterizes Hispanics as agreeable, friendly, sympathetic, and polite. However, on self-reports Hispanics score lower on Simpatía/Agreeableness than do non-Hispanics. This study reveals that it is the modesty within Simpatía that accounts for these paradoxical findings by driving down scores on Hispanics' self-reports. To test this idea, this study assesses Simpatía/Agreeableness in Mexican American bilinguals using (a) self-reports of Simpatía in English and Spanish and (b) behavioral manifestations of Simpatía in a social interaction task conducted in English and Spanish. As predicted, on self-reports bilinguals score lower on Simpatía when the assessment is in Spanish than when it is in English, but they show more Simpatía-related behaviors in the social interaction task in Spanish than in English. Follow-up analyses show that the results cannot be explained by translation artifacts on the questionnaire, response-style biases, or reference-group effects. The paradox sheds light on the complex interplay between culture and language.

Gaze Display When Thinking Depends on Culture and Context

McCarthy, A., Lee, K., Itakura, S., Muir, D. W. — 2008-10-10

In three experiments, the roles of culture and social factors in individual's eye gaze displays when thinking were examined. Canadian and Japanese participants answered questions requiring thinking to derive the answers in social and nonsocial contexts. Canadian participants looked up when thinking but only when they were aware of being observed. They looked down when they knew they could not be seen. In contrast, Japanese participants looked down when thinking even when they knew they were being observed. These results are inconsistent with the view that eye movement patterns when thinking are driven solely by endogenous brain activities and consistent with the view that thinking-related gaze behaviors are modulated by cultural display rules and social contexts.

Personal and Collective Culpability Judgment: A Functional Analysis of East Asian--North American Differences

Manchi Chao, M., Zhang, Z.-X., Chiu, C.-Y. — 2008-10-10

This research takes a functional perspective and examines the psychological processes underlying personal and collective culpability judgments in European Americans and Chinese in mainland China (Experiment 1), and in European Americans and Asian Americans (Experiment 2). Results indicate that when determining personal culpability for negative events, all three cultural groups consider behavioral causality. However, Chinese and Asian American participants tend to make more extreme collective culpability judgments than do European American participants. Furthermore, activating the goal of delegated deterrence strengthens Chinese and Asian American participants' collective culpability judgments only, whereas activating the goal of group harmony increases the strength of collective culpability in all three cultural groups. These findings suggest that collective culpability serves different functions in different cultural contexts.

Cultural Differences and Similarities in Request Rejection: A Situational Approach

Cheng, C., Woo Young Chun, — 2008-10-10

Using global measures, most studies have shown that Caucasian Americans were more assertive than Chinese. Adopting a situational approach, three studies were conducted to examine situational differences and similarities in request rejection, and its underlying mechanisms for Caucasian Americans and Chinese. Results revealed that (a) Caucasian Americans were more likely to reject requests of moderate legitimacy than Chinese; (b) both cultural groups were similar in request rejection in high- and low-legitimacy situations; (c) both cultural groups were more likely to reject a request when considering their needs and rights, but less likely to reject a request when considering their relationship with the requester; and (d) the self-model of request rejection was more salient for Caucasian Americans but the relational model of request rejection was more salient for Chinese in moderate-legitimacy situations.

The Three-Component Model of Occupational Commitment: A Comparative Study of Chinese and British Accountants

Snape, E., Lo, C. W.-h., Redman, T. — 2008-10-10

The authors find some support for the cross-cultural validity of the Meyer, Allen, and Smith (1993) three-component model of occupational commitment in samples of Chinese and British accountants. Normative and affective commitments are higher in the Chinese sample, and continuance commitment is higher in the British sample. There is some support for hypotheses on the consequences of the components of occupational commitment (occupational withdrawal cognitions and the intention to participate in professional activities). However, contrary to the hypotheses, the authors' analysis suggests that there are no significant differences in these relationships between the two samples. The authors find a significant interaction between affective and continuance commitment in the analysis of occupational withdrawal cognitions, such that the relationship between each of these components and withdrawal cognitions is stronger where commitment on the other component is low.

The Process of Immigrant Adjustment: The Role of Time in Determining Psychological Adjustment

Markovizky, G., Samid, Y. — 2008-10-10

This study examines the role played by length of residence in determining the psychological adjustment of 382 new immigrants from the former Soviet Union during their first 2 years in Israel. Psychological adjustment was evaluated using longitudinal ( n = 133) and cross-sectional (n = 382) designs. The findings partially support the U-curve 3-stage social adjustment model (Lysgaard, 1955). The first stage, occurring from the first days up to 5 months in the new country, is the deterioration stage. The second stage, occurring between 5 and 11 months, is the low well-being stage. The third stage, occurring after more than 11 months, is the recovery stage. Significant differences in psychological adjustment exist between the first and second stages.

A Longitudinal Study of the Adaptation of International Students in the United States

Cemalcilar, Z., Falbo, T. — 2008-10-10

The authors conducted a longitudinal study of international students (N = 90) attending a U.S. university to examine the effects of the initial cross-cultural transition on their psychological well-being and social and academic adaptations. The results indicate a significant decline in self-reports of psychological well-being, increased identification with the host culture, and stable identification with home cultures. Students who exhibit a separation strategy previous to their sojourn have the lowest level of social adaptation to the host culture.

Interpreting GLOBE Societal Practices Scales

McCrae, R. R., Terracciano, A., Realo, A., Allik, J. — 2008-10-10

Some of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Societal Practices scales ask for descriptions of typical personality traits that might be interpreted as judgments of national character. Ratings of national character reflect cultural identities and social dynamics, but previous research suggests that they are unrelated to the mean personality traits of the culture's members. Analyses at the culture level comparing GLOBE scales with aggregate assessed personality traits (n = 34) and with measures of perceived national character (n = 33) showed that these GLOBE scales are better construed as unfounded stereotypes than as actual depictions of the society members' personality traits.

Constructing Tests of Cognitive Abilities for Schooled and Unschooled Children

Alcock, K.J., Holding, P.A., Mung'ala-Odera, V., Newton, C.R.J.C. — 2008-08-22

It is frequently necessary to assess children with little or no schooling to determine their level of cognitive functioning, especially in developing countries. It is not possible, however, to assume that assessments will hold equal validity for children with and without the experience of schooling. The authors, therefore, set out to create a battery of tests suitable for both schooled and unschooled children. They assessed 973 schooled and 645 unschooled children in rural coastal Kenya using culturally adapted cognitive tests. Significant effects of age and schooling were found on all tests. On some tests (verbal knowledge, speeded figure matching, and pattern copying), unschooled children did not improve as much with age as schooled children. The effects of length of exposure to schooling and of age were greater than that of initial enrollment in school. The authors conclude that it is possible to assess unschooled children, but test batteries must be carefully constructed and standardized.

Validation of the Arabic Humor Styles Questionnaire in a Community Sample of Lebanese in Lebanon

Taher, D., Kazarian, S. S., Martin, R. A. — 2008-08-22

The Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) is a measure of two potentially beneficial (affiliative and self-enhancing) and two potentially detrimental (self-defeating and aggressive) humor styles. Validation of the Arabic translation of the HSQ in the Lebanese culture, in which the self is construed as interdependent and in-group relatedness is seen as the primary determinant of well-being, indicates that four humor styles exist in the Lebanese context but that aggressive humor is less clearly distinct in this case, that self-defeating humor may be less clearly maladaptive for the interdependent self of the Lebanese, and that the four humor styles are not as strong predictors of psychological and social well-being in the Lebanese context as they are in the West. The findings suggest conceptual rethinking of humor styles in cultural contexts in which the self is construed as interdependent.

The Voice of Emotion in Chinese and Italian Young Adults

Anolli, L., Lei Wang, , Mantovani, F., De Toni, A. — 2008-08-22

This article outlines an exploratory comparative study of the vocal expression of emotions in Chinese versus Italian cultures. Given a strong relationship between voice and emotion, it is of special interest to analyze whether and how this connection may covariate with cultural influences in shaping emotions. Forty-eight undergraduates (29 Chinese and 19 Italian) are asked to read aloud short stories inducing different emotions (joy, sadness, anger, fear, contempt, pride, guilt, and shame) within a scenario approach. Subsequently, acoustic (sonographic) analysis is carried out on the recorded readings. On the one hand, the results confirm that different emotions may be expressed via variations in the modulation of vocal cues, in both cultures; on the other hand, differences in the specific patterns of vocal cues in expressing emotions are identified between Chinese and Italian participants. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Individualism, Masculinity, and the Sources of Organizational Commitment

Gelade, G. A., Dobson, P., Auer, K. — 2008-08-22

The authors examine the dependence of organizational commitment on satisfaction with job characteristics that are valued differently in 29 nations. Evidence is found for the moderating effects of national culture. Satisfaction with job characteristics that are highly valued in individualistic cultures has an increasingly strong effect on commitment as national individualism increases, while satisfaction with collectivist job characteristics has an increasingly weaker effect. Similarly, satisfaction with job characteristics that are highly valued in masculine cultures has an increasingly strong effect on commitment as national masculinity increases, while satisfaction with feminine job characteristics has an increasingly weaker effect. These findings show that the sources of organizational commitment are culturally conditioned and that their effects are predictable from Hofstede's value dimensions. The authors discuss the practical implications of these findings and suggest that cultural differences in the psychological contract may also affect the relationships between job satisfaction and commitment.

East--West Differences in Attributions for Company Performance: A Content Analysis of Japanese and U.S. Corporate Annual Reports

Hooghiemstra, R. — 2008-08-22

Prior cross-cultural studies indicate that the self-serving attributional bias is more prevalent in Western cultures than in Eastern cultures. There is, however, a dearth of research looking into cross-cultural differences in attributional patterns that is based on publicly available archival data. This study tries to fill that lacuna. It reports the results based on a content analysis of corporate annual reports from U.S. and Japanese companies. The results reported in this study demonstrate that cross-cultural differences found in experimental settings are not necessarily observed in naturalistic settings. Specifically, this study reveals that both U.S. as well as Japanese companies explain company results in a self-serving fashion. Overall, the results support the notion that the nature of the relationship affects the extent to which cross-cultural differences in attributional patterns emerge.

Culture and Personality Among European American and Asian American Men

Eap, S., DeGarmo, D. S., Kawakami, A., Hara, S. N., Hall, G. C.N., Teten, A. L. — 2008-08-22

Personality differences between Asian American (N = 320) and European American men (N = 242) and also among Asian American ethnic groups (Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and mixed Asian) are examined on the Big Five personality dimension. Personality structures for Asian Americans and European Americans closely replicate established norms. However, congruence is greater for European American and highly acculturated Asian American men than for low acculturated Asian American men. Similar patterns are found for the construct loss of face (LOF). Asian American men with a high concern for LOF are less similar in their personality structure to European American men than Asian American men with low LOF concern. Mean differences are also found among Asian American and European American men, who differ significantly on Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Openness, and Neuroticism. Results indicate that acculturation and LOF are significantly associated with these four personality dimensions for both Asian American and European American men.

Maternal Regulation Strategies in the United States and Turkey: A Brief Report

Catay, Z., Allen, R., Samstag, L. W. — 2008-08-22

This study examines the cultural and socioeconomic differences in the regulation strategies of Euro-American and Turkish mothers. Participants are interviewed about how they would manage their children's problem behaviors under hypothetical scenarios. American mothers are found to rely more extensively on appeals to their own authority and on rules, whereas Turkish mothers employ appeals to consequences and other-oriented strategies to a greater degree. Higher socioeconomic status (SES) mothers use strategies that emphasize decision-making capacities more frequently.

Book Review: Kitayama, S., & Cohen, D. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of cultural psychology. New York: Guildford, pp. xviii +894; ISBN-13: 978-1-59385-444-7; ISBN-10: 1-59385-444-7 (cloth)

Poortinga, Y. H. — 2008-08-22

Book Review: Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2007). Multicultural understanding of child and adolescent psychopathology. London: Guilford, 322 pp. ISBN: 978-1-59385-348-8. U.S. $40.00

Rudmin, F. W. — 2008-08-22

Book Review: Minkov, M. (2007). What makes us different and similar: A new interpretation of the World Values Survey and other cross-cultural data. Sofia, Bulgaria: Klasika y Stil Publishing House. ISBN: 978-954-327-023-1, 240 pp

Littrell, R. F. — 2008-08-22

Structural Equivalence of the Values Domain Across Cultures: Distinguishing Sampling Fluctuations From Meaningful Variation

Fontaine, J. R. J., Poortinga, Y. H., Delbeke, L., Schwartz, S. H. — 2008-06-11

The authors examine the cross-cultural equivalence of the internal structure of the values domain, as measured by the Schwartz Value Survey. Data come from 38 countries, each represented by a student and a teacher sample. In seeking to distinguish lack of fit of the theorized value model from a lack of equivalence in the data and the impact of random sampling fluctuations from valid structural differences, the authors find the following: (a) The Schwartz value theory provides an excellent representation of the average value structure across samples; (b) sampling fluctuation causes deviations from this average structure; (c) sampling fluctuation cannot account for all these deviations; (d) samples of students fit the overall value structure better than samples of teachers, and samples from Western countries better than those from non-Western countries; and (e) the deviations from the average structure exhibit a systematic pattern: the higher the level of societal development of a country, the greater the contrast between protection and growth values.

Emotions in Everyday Social Encounters: Correspondence Between Culture and Self-Construal

Nezlek, J. B., Kafetsios, K., Smith, C. V. — 2008-06-11

Relationships between self-construal and emotion experiences in social interactions were examined in two countries. Participants in Greece (a more collectivist culture) and the United Kingdom (a more individualist culture) described the social interactions they had each day for 7 days using a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record. For UK participants, independent self-construal was positively related to positive affect, whereas for Greek participants, independent self-construal was negatively related to positive affect. There were few relationships between interdependent self-construal and affect in either study. The results point to the interplay of cultural values and individual differences in self-construal and their relationships to people's affective experiences.

"Remembering" World War II and Willingness to Fight: Sociocultural Factors in the Social Representation of Historical Warfare Across 22 Societies

Paez, D., Liu, J. H., Techio, E., Slawuta, P., Zlobina, A., Cabecinhas, R. — 2008-06-11

Students from 22 nations answered a survey on the most important events in world history. At the national level, free recalling and a positive evaluation of World War II (WWII) were associated with World Values Survey willingness to fight for the country in a war and being a victorious nation. Willingness to fight, a more benign evaluation of WWII, and recall of WWII were associated with nation-level scores on power distance and low postmaterialism, suggesting that values stressing obedience and competition between nations are associated with support for collective violence, whereas values of expressive individualism are negatively related. Internal political violence was unrelated to willingness to fight, excluding direct learning as an explanation of legitimization of violence. Recall of wars in general (operationalized by WWI recall) was also unrelated to willingness to fight. Results replicate and extend Archer and Gartner's classic study showing the legitimization of violence by war to the domain of collective remembering.

War Exposure, Attachment Style, and Moral Reasoning

Haskuka, M., Sunar, D., Alp, I. E. — 2008-06-11

This study extends the investigation of the effects of war exposure beyond those previously documented (e.g., increased stress and aggression and various types of psychopathology) to include moral reasoning. Three groups from two cultures with different levels of exposure to the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo were compared using Rest's Defining Issues Test. Possible effects of attachment style alone and in interaction with war exposure were also investigated. The results showed that exposure to war has (a) a very strong negative effect on moral reasoning with (b) no moderation by attachment style. However, the evidence suggests that war exposure may change the individual's attachment style from secure to insecure by inducing a more negative model of the other.

Parents' Personal and Cultural Beliefs Regarding Young Children: A Cross-Cultural Study of Aboriginal and Euro-Canadian Mothers

Cheah, C. S. L., Chirkov, V. — 2008-06-11

Parental beliefs about desired socialization goals and the reasons why these goals were important were examined among Aboriginal and European Canadian mothers. These beliefs were examined on personal (desired by mothers for their own children) and cultural (perceived to be desired by mothers from each cultural group) levels; 50 Aboriginal and 51 European Canadian mothers of preschoolers were interviewed regarding their parenting beliefs. Commonalities in the tasks that mothers regard as relevant to a young child's social development were found across both groups. However, several goals, behaviors, and qualities were endorsed differently by mothers from the two cultures, according to cultural values and ideologies that were significant for each culture. Moreover, mothers did not automatically accept all culturally sanctioned values but held these values as significant for their own children in different degrees. The study highlights the significance of contemporary sociocultural issues in the cultural study of child socialization.

Ethnic Group Differences in Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Markers of Anxiety

Gordon, T. L., Teachman, B. A. — 2008-06-11

Ethnic group differences in affective, behavioral, and cognitive measures of anxiety were examined to better characterize the unique triggers and modes of anxious responding across different groups. Using an ethnically diverse sample (N = 112; 39 African Americans, 34 Asian Americans, and 39 European Americans), the study examined differences in anxious responding following three anxiety provocations (physical, social interpersonal, and social performance), each hypothesized to be a primary anxiety trigger for one of the groups. African Americans and European Americans demonstrated greater behavioral avoidance during a physical provocation designed to elicit shortness of breath sensations relative to Asian Americans. Asian Americans reported a higher number of anxious cognitions than African Americans during a social provocation designed to trigger performance concerns. These findings suggest ethnicity should be carefully considered when assessing the predominant triggers of anxiety and modes of anxious responding.

Radius of Trust: Social Capital in Relation to Familism and Institutional Collectivism

Realo, A., Allik, J., Greenfield, B. — 2008-06-11

Countries in which people believe that "most people can be trusted" and where citizens belong to a larger number of different voluntary associations are more individualistic, emphasizing the importance of independence and freedom to choose one's own goals. The present study examines the relationship between social capital and individualism/collectivism using a measure that distinguishes between familism and institutional collectivism. Familism correlated negatively with social capital, whereas institutional collectivism practices exhibited positive associations with social capital, especially with trust and participation in voluntary organizations such as church or religious organizations and labor unions. It is concluded that in societies where trust is limited to the nuclear family or kinship alone, people have lower levels of social capital. Social capital increases as the radius of trust widens to encompass a larger number of people and social networks among whom norms of generalized reciprocity are operative.

On Pancultural Self-Enhancement: Well-Adjusted Taiwanese Self-Enhance on Personally Valued Traits

Gaertner, L., Sedikides, C., Chang, K. — 2008-06-11

Taiwanese participants made better-than-average judgments on collectivistic and individualistic traits, evaluated the personal importance of those traits, and completed measures of psychological adjustment (depression, perceived stress, subjective well-being, and satisfaction with life). Replicating findings from other East Asian samples, participants self-enhanced (i.e., regarded the self as superior to peers) more on collectivistic than individualistic attributes and assigned higher personal importance to the former than the latter. Moreover, better adjusted participants manifested a stronger tendency to self-enhance on personally important attributes. These data are consistent with the view that self-enhancement is a universal human motive that is expressed tactically and at odds with the assertion that self-enhancement is a uniquely Western phenomenon.

The Roles of Independent Self-Construal and Concerns for Face on Advising Rape Victims to Report to Police in Japanese and U.S. College Students

Yamawaki, N. — 2008-06-11

This study investigated differences in Japanese and U.S. college students' tendencies to advise a rape victim—whom they would consider to be their own sister—to seek help from police. It was found that U.S. participants tended to advise the victim to report the rape to the police more often than did Japanese participants. This difference was mediated by independent self-construal and moderated by concern for the victim's face. This study replicated, in a cross-cultural setting, others' findings that participants were less likely to advise victims to report a rape when the victim and offender were acquainted.

"That's Not Fair": Similarities and Differences in Distributive Justice Reasoning Between American and Filipino Children

Carson, A. S., Banuazizi, A. — 2008-06-11

Distributive justice pertains to choices that individuals make in allocating resources to themselves and others. The present study, based on data obtained from Filipino and American fifth graders, investigated the similarities and differences in resource distribution in the context of two hypothetical scenarios. The scenarios made salient the norms of merit and need. It was found that although both the Filipino and U.S. children generally preferred to divide the resource equally, they offered quite different explanations for their choices. U.S. children focused on the equal performance of the characters in the scenarios, whereas the Filipino children tended to be more concerned with the interpersonal and emotional consequences of an unequal distribution. Furthermore, U.S. children favored merit-based distributions as their second choice, whereas Filipino children showed a preference for need-based distributions in their second choices. Whereas concern for harmony in interpersonal relationships guided equality- and need-based distributions in the Philippines, an emphasis on performance guided equality- and merit-based distributions in the United States. The findings were examined also in terms of the cultural orientations of individualism and collectivism in the United States and the Philippines, respectively.

Immigrant Youth in Cultural Transition: The Debate Between the Authors and the Reviewer

Boski, P., Matsumoto, D. — 2008-06-11

Response to Rudmin's Book Review of Immigrant Youth in Cultural Transition

Berry, J. W., Phinney, J. S., Sam, D. L., Vedder, P. — 2008-06-11

ICSEY Data Deserve New Analysis: Reply to Berry, Phinney, Sam, and Vedder

Rudmin, F. W. — 2008-06-11

Are Japanese More Collectivistic Than Americans?: Examining Conformity in In-Groups and the Reference-Group Effect

Takano, Y., Sogon, S. — 2008-04-22

This study examines whether the common view that Japanese are more collectivistic than Americans is valid or not in three respects: First, the authors point out that those empirical studies that were directly related to the commonly accepted definition of individualism and collectivism (I/C) did not support the common view and that those studies whose relations to I/C were merely inferred were inappropriate in judging its validity. Second, the authors show that the reference-group effect (Heine, Lehman, Peng, & Greenholtz, 2002) cannot entirely explain the past questionnaire studies' failure to support the common view. Finally, by replicating Asch's (1956) conformity experiment with 40 groups of 140 Japanese college students belonging to the same college clubs, the authors demonstrate that Japanese conform no more than Americans even in in-groups.

Examining the Cultural Specificity of Approaches To Learning in Universities in Hong Kong and Sydney

Leung, D. Y.P., Ginns, P., Kember, D. — 2008-04-22

Western research has characterized approaches to learning for specific learning tasks as discrete deep and surface approaches, distinguished by whether the intention is to understand or memorize. A more appropriate classification scheme for Hong Kong research is a continuum between deep and surface poles. In this article, the authors examine whether this characterization applies also to the West. University students in Australia (n = 1,146) and Hong Kong (n = 1,266) complete the revised Study Process Questionnaire. There are no effects by either discipline or study level in either country. Multiple-group analyses using structural equation modeling show configural invariance across the two samples, suggesting that the continuum characterization of approaches to learning is likely to be applicable for Western counterparts. Hong Kong students had higher mean scores for both deep and surface approaches, showing their greater use of intermediate approaches.

Self-Compassion and Self-Construal in the United States, Thailand, and Taiwan

Neff, K. D., Pisitsungkagarn, K., Hsieh, Y.-P. — 2008-04-22

Self-compassion is a self-attitude construct derived from Buddhist psychology (Neff, 2003a). It entails being kind rather than harshly critical toward oneself, perceiving one's experiences as part of the larger human experience, and holding painful feelings in mindful awareness. Given that self-compassion is an Asian construct, this study compares self-compassion levels in the United States, Thailand, and Taiwan. Results indicate that self-compassion is highest in Thailand and lowest in Taiwan, with the United States falling in between. Interdependence is linked to self-compassion in Thailand only, whereas independence is linked to self-compassion in Taiwan and the United States. Results suggest that self-compassion levels in these societies are linked to specific cultural features rather than general East—West differences. However, self-compassion is significantly associated with well-being in all three cultures.

Implicit Theories of Creativity Across Cultures: Novelty and Appropriateness in Two Product Domains

Paletz, S. B.F., Kaiping Peng, — 2008-04-22

One potential problem for creativity theory is whether both novelty and appropriateness are equally valid dimensions across cultures. Taking an implicit theory approach, the authors surveyed more than 400 students from Japan, China, and the United States. Using repeated measures scenarios of cooking and textbook products, novelty was found to be important across the three countries for evaluations of creativity. However, the Chinese were more swayed than were the Americans by the novelty manipulation in terms of how much they desired the products. Appropriateness was more important for Americans and Japanese for evaluations of creativity and desire for products. Both novelty and appropriateness had large effects. Rather than relying on assumed country variations, the authors argue that cross-cultural research be used to understand the nature of creativity.

The Cost--Benefit Framework and Perceptions of Decision Strategies: A Comparison of China and the United States

Chu, P.C., Spires, E. E. — 2008-04-22

Cost—benefit theories of decision strategy choice provide a conceptual foundation for studying human decision behavior. Central to cost—benefit theories are decision makers' perceptions of the efficacy and effort of various decision strategies. The authors apply the cost—benefit framework to study perceptions of decision strategies for samples of university students from the People's Republic of China and the United States. The results show cross-cultural differences in the perceptions. Noncompensatory strategies, especially the lexicographic strategy, are perceived more favorably by the Chinese than by the Americans. Strategies using attribute weights are perceived important by the Chinese, more so than by the Americans. Furthermore, the perceived efficient frontiers of the two cultures differ markedly.

An Exploration of the Indecisiveness Scale in Multiethnic Malaysia

2008-04-22

This article examined the construct of indecisiveness, or the inability to make timely decisions, in a multiethnic sample from Malaysia. In all, 164 (84 women, 80 men) Malay participants and 150 (76 women, 74 men) Chinese participants completed a Malay version of Frost and Shows's Indecisiveness Scale. Results showed that interitem reliabilities for both ethnic groups were high. Test-retest reliability with 21 participants after 10 days was also very high. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis testing the equivalency of a hypothesized single factorial structure for Malays and Chinese showed adequate fit for both ethnic groups. Based on single factorial structure, there were significant ethnic differences on overall indecisiveness scores (with Malays being more indecisive than Chinese) but no sex differences. These results are discussed in terms of previous cross-cultural work using the Indecisiveness Scale.

Child Personality in Slovenia and Russia: Structure and Mean Level of Traits in Parent and Self-Ratings

Knyazev, G. G., Zupancic, M., Slobodskaya, H. R. — 2008-04-22

The present study compares structure, mean trait levels, and development of child personality in Slovenia and Russia, using parent and self-reports on the Inventory of Child Individual Differences. Evidence for the Five Factor Model of child and adolescent personality structure is demonstrated across age groups, genders, and countries. In comparison with Russians, Slovenian children are rated higher on Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness. Some of the differences are observed even among toddlers, and these differences increase over age, suggesting that they do not arise solely in the process of socialization. Cultural differences are more pronounced for parent reports than for adolescent self-reports, suggesting that a part of these differences may reflect cultural influences on parent ratings.

Priming Effects of Language On Emotion Judgments in Spanish--English Bilinguals

Matsumoto, D., Anguas-Wong, A. M., Martinez, E. — 2008-04-22

This study examined the possibility that bilinguals judge the emotions of others differently when making those judgments in different languages and the degree to which individual differences in emotion regulation could account for such language differences. Spanish- and English-speaking Mexican bilinguals were asked to judge emotions in facial expressions in Spanish and English. Participants were more accurate in judging emotion in English but inferred greater intensity of subjective experience in the expresser in Spanish. They also had higher emotion regulation scores in Spanish. Their Spanish (but not English) emotion regulation scores completely mediated the judgment differences on emotion recognition and partially mediated the differences in the ratings of subjective experiences of others. Thus, the participants did indeed judge emotions differently as a function of language, and those differences were accounted for by their own emotion regulation processes.