Culture and Individuation: The Role of Norms and Self-Construals

摘要

Despite mounting evidence that members of Asian cultures are less likely toengage in behavior that makes them appear distinctive (i.e., individuating behavior) thanmembers of prototypical Western culture, the direct mechanisms through which this effectoccurs have not been explored. In the present research, we examined the role of judgmentsof social appropriateness for both acceptance of and comfort engaging in individuatingbehavior, and the role of the divergent self-construals thought to characterize thesecultural groups (i.e., Asian and Euro-Americans). Results indicated that ethnicity moder-ated the relationship between judgments of social appropriateness and acceptance of indi-viduating behavior, and self-construals mediated the relationship between ethnicity andboth acceptance of and comfort engaging in individuating behavior. Limitations andimplications are discussed.