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Psychology 307: Cultural Psychology

Lecture 10

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The Self-Concept and Motivation

1. Does cultural variation on the dimension of “individualism-collectivism” influence the way in which the self is conceptualized? (continued)

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

1. explain how self-construals influence self-awareness and self-enhancement motivations.

2. discuss how early educational experiences may foster distinct self-construals among children in China, Japan, and the United States.

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Does cultural variation on the dimension of “individualism-collectivism” influence the way in which the self is conceptualized? (continued)

(c) Self-awareness:

● Self-awareness theory maintains that people oscillate between two states of self-awareness:

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Subjective self-awareness: People consider themselves from the perspective of the subject (i.e., “I”).

Objective self-awareness: People consider themselves from the perspective of others, as an object (i.e., “me”).

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● Research has shown that individualists spend a greater proportion of their time in a state of subjective

self-awareness.

● In contrast, collectivists spend a greater proportion of their time in a state of objective self-awareness.

● Example:

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Heine, Takemoto, Moskalenko, and Lasaleta (2007)

Recruited Japanese and Americans.

Examined the degree to which participants experienced discrepancies between their “actual” and

“ideal” selves, either in front of a mirror or not.

Found that Japanese actual-ideal discrepancies were unaffected when in front of a mirror; American

actual-ideal discrepancies increased.

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USA Japan

No Mirror Mirror

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● Research suggests that individualists tend to engage in self-enhancement—that is, they tend to view and evaluate themselves in a positive and socially

desirable manner.

● Self-enhancement is motivated by a desire to bolster one’s self-image and demonstrate one’s unique

attributes.

(d) Self-enhancement:

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● In contrast, collectivists tend to engage in self-effacement—that is, they tend to view and evaluate

themselves in a critical and disparaging manner.

● Self-effacement is motivated by a desire to fit in with others and maintain “face.”

● Examples:

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1. Markus and Kitayama (1998)

Found that Americans used the term “special” to describe themselves more frequently than Japanese.

Japanese used the term “ordinary” to describe themselves more frequently than Americans:

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Special Ordinary

Japanese Americans

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Found that 93% of European-Canadians vs. 55% of Japanese had self-esteem scores exceeding the midpoint of the scale.

2. Heine, Lehman, Markus and Kitayama (1999)

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3. Endo and Meijer (2004); Heine et al. (2001); Snibbe et al. (2003); White and Lehman (1999)

Found that Americans were more likely than East Asians to use tactics to enhance their self-view: Downward social comparison, compensatory self-enhancement, discounting, attributing failure to

external causes, basking in the reflected glory of others.

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The Self-Concept and Motivation

1. Does cultural variation on the dimension of “individualism-collectivism” influence the way in which the self is conceptualized? (continued)