How Self-Construal Shapes Emotion: Cultural Differences in the Feeling of Pride

Transcription

1 NEUMANN ET AL. HOW SELF-CONSTRUAL SHAPES EMOTION Social Cognition, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2009, pp How Self-Construal Shapes Emotion: Cultural Differences in the Feeling of Pride Roland Neumann Universität Trier Nina Steinhäuser Universität Würzburg Ute R. Roeder Universität Münster Previous research has shown that members of collectivist cultures usually experience less pride than do members of individualist cultures. The current study suggests that such differences are due to either interdependent or independent self-construals. We predicted that individuals with a predominantly interdependent self-construal would experience more pride than individuals with a predominantly independent self-construal if others are successful. This thesis was tested in a study that compared Chinese and German students responses to scenarios in which others were successful. Consistent with our prediction, the findings revealed that Chinese students felt relatively more pride in these situations than German students did. In a second study, German students thought about achievements of others or their own achievements after having been primed with either an interdependent or an independent self-construal. We found that thinking about the achievements of others resulted in more pride after priming of the interdependent rather than the independent self-construal, whereas thinking about own achievements resulted in more pride after priming of the independent rather than the interdependent self-construal. These findings suggest that self-construal exerts an influence on feelings of pride. According to cognitive approaches to emotion, the individual construction of meaning plays a crucial role in the elicitation of emotion (Lazarus, 1991; Roseman, 1991; Weiner, 1986): for example, the perception of whether or not a situation might have implications for one s own well-being is usually regarded as a central element of appraisal models. Thus, differences in both the quality and the inten- Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Roland Neumann, Universität Trier, Fachbereich I Psychologie, Universitätsring 15, Trier, Germany. neumann@uni-trier.de. 327

2 328 neumann ET AL. sity of an emotion are traced back to a person s individual concerns. These concerns are represented in the individual construction of the self that is shaped by culture (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1989). Self-construals are assumed to account for a variety of cultural differences between collectivist and individualist cultures (Triandis, 1989) in reasoning (Choi, Nisbett, & Norenzayan, 1999), judgment (Gardner, Gabriel, & Lee, 1999), and emotion (Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Triandis, 1989). According to Triandis (1989), in collectivistic cultures the self is defined as embedded within larger social structures, whereas in individualistic cultures the self is defined as autonomous and independent from others. Expressing one s independence from others is therefore an important concern for members of individualist cultures. Conversely, members of collectivist cultures place emphasis on a person s relationship to the social structures in which he or she lives. These cultural differences are reflected in differences in self-construal (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), such as a predominantly independent self in Western cultures and a predominantly interdependent self in Eastern cultures. More recent approaches to self-construal suggest that the construction of meaning is determined by the accessibility of the respective self-construal (Gardner et al., 1999; Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000; Kuehnen, Hannover, & Schubert, 2001). Thus, self-construal can be chronically accessible because of the frequency of activation within a culture, or temporally accessible because of recent activation. Such a view is able to explain why bicultural individuals sometimes switch their frame in response to cues or symbols that are associated with one culture or the other (Hong, Morris, Chiu, & Benet-Martinez, 2000). Another implication is that selfconstrual can be made temporally accessible and influence information processing despite being nondominant within a given culture (Gardner et al., 1999; Kuehnen, Hannover, & Schubert, 2001). But how can differences in self-construal account for differences in the emotion of pride? According to Ortony, Clore, and Collins (1988), the cognitive antecedents of pride involve approving of one s own praiseworthy action. On the basis of our previous argumentation, one might assume that one s own praiseworthy action will elicit intense feelings of pride only if the independent self-construal is more accessible than the interdependent self-construal. Interestingly, Ortony, Clore, and Collins (1988) add that one feels proud also when a close other is successful. In this case, one might assume that the achievements of others will elicit intense feelings of pride only if the interdependent self-construal is more accessible than the independent self-construal. For example, a person might feel proud if the institution with which she or he is affiliated is nationally recognised for its excellence (p. 136). Thus, the more one feels associated with a successful other person or group (Heider, 1958), the more one basks in reflected glory (Cialdini et al., 1976). Heider (1958) characterized the fact that the self can involve different levels of inclusion as unit formation. More recently, Brewer and Gardner (1996) differentiated among the personal, the relational, and the collective level of selfconstruction. In our research, we focused mainly on whether self-construal exerts an influence on pride responses to the achievements of others. The most important distinction is thus between self and others, and the category of others implies both the relational and the collective level. We predicted that the praiseworthy action of others will elicit more pride in persons with an interdependent self-construal than in those with an independent selfconstrual. Based on accessibility models of self-construal (Hong, Morris, Chiu, &

3 HOW SELF-CONSTRUAL SHAPES EMOTION 329 Benet-Martinez, 2000; Kuehnen, Hannover, & Schubert, 2001), it should not matter whether the self-construal is chronically or temporally accessible. Thus, in Study 1 we examined whether Chinese participants feel more pride than German participants if exposed to the achievements of others with whom one can form a unit. In Study 2, we tested the assumption that the temporary change of self-construal through a priming manipulation exerts an impact on the elicitation of pride in the achievements of others and one s own achievements. Experiment 1 The goal of Experiment 1 was to investigate whether the praiseworthy actions by others elicit more pride in persons with an interdependent self-construal than in those with an independent self-construal. Because cultures chronically activate self-construal, we decided to test this assumption by comparing the responses of Chinese and German participants to the achievements of others. 1 If cultural differences in self-construal are responsible for cultural differences in the feelings of pride, we expected that the achievements of others will elicit relatively more pride in Chinese than in German participants. Such a finding would be at odds with previous studies showing that members of individualistic cultures experience relatively more pride than members of collectivistic cultures (Mauro, Sato, & Tucker, 1992; Scollon, Diener, Oishi, & Biwas-Diener, 2004; Sommers, 1984). However, these findings might not be that surprising if one takes into account that these studies typically employed only scenarios with own achievements. Preliminary support for the assumption that members of collective cultures feel greater pride in the achievement of others comes from a study (Stipek, Weiner, & Li, 1989) in which Chinese and American students were asked to describe situations that might cause someone to feel pride. They found that Chinese were less likely than Americans to claim their own effort as a source of pride. Thus, it is conceivable that the achievements of others elicit relatively more pride in members of a collectivistic culture than in members of an individualistic culture. We assume that this difference is due to cultural differences in self-construal. A further indicator for the effect of self-construal on pride might be the way individuals deal with their emotion. Previous research has shown, for example, that individuals with a predominantly interdependent self (Surinamese and Turks) indicate that emotions such as pride, anger, sadness, happiness, and shame involve the urge to share the feeling with others, and the tendency to overestimate the percentage of those who feel the same (Mesquita, 2001). Based on these findings, we predicted that pride in the achievements of others is more likely to be shared by Chinese than by German participants. Moreover, we expected that Chinese participants will be more convinced than German participants that others share their pride response. Thus, our research strategy was twofold: First, we wanted to show that members of a collectivistic culture would be associated with more pride in the achievements of others; second we expected that the interdependent self-construal in Chinese participants would be associated with the urge to share this feeling. 1. Because numerous other intercultural studies have investigated the influence of one s own personal success on pride, we wanted to restrict ourselves to the new aspect of the influence of others success.

4 330 neumann ET AL. Method Twenty-one students (20 women, mean age = 19.9) at the Universities of Shanghai and Peking and 28 students (21 women, mean age = 23.5) at the University of Würzburg participated in a questionnaire study. Participants were tested in groups of up to 15 persons. They were greeted by the experimenter and asked to complete the questionnaire. A problem for our research study was the fact that the Chinese language has several different words for the English word pride. Had we used the specific Chinese term for pride in the achievement of others, we would have forced the expected effect. In order to leave it up to our participants which concept they wished to use, we decided to present a questionnaire to both the Chinese and the German sample in English. Actually, Bond and Young (1982) provided evidence that Hong Kong bilinguals endorsed East Asian values to a greater extent when answering in English than in Chinese. Other studies, however, have shown the opposite pattern (Ross, Xun, & Wilson, 2002). Given that answering in English reduces the activation of the interdependent self in Chinese participants, we ran the risk that the expected cultural difference would not be obtained. However, we decided that it would be more persuasive if we obtained the expected cultural difference despite this influence, rather than forcing our participants to use a specific term for pride they would not have chosen spontaneously on their own. As was pointed out previously, the category of others implies both the relational and the collective level (Brewer & Gardner, 1996). In order to examine whether these levels have an impact on pride responses, our questionnaire included both situations with achievements of a single person and achievements by a whole group. On the first page of the questionnaire, participants had to indicate their sex, age, and whether they had spent any time abroad. They were then asked to imagine as vividly as possible being told that a person from their own country had received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Subsequently, they had to indicate their feeling of pride on a rating scale ranging from 1 = nonexistent to 7 = extraordinarily strong. A further indicator for the effect of self-construal might be the way individuals deal with their emotions. The more individuals have an urge to share their emotion or believe others will share their emotion, the more the interdependent rather than the independent self-construal is accessible. In order to assess how individuals deal with feelings of pride, we included two items from Mesquita s (2001) research that records the sharing of feelings. Thus, our participants were asked to indicate (1) How strong is your wish to share this feeling with others? and (2) How strong is your belief that most others would react with the same kind of feelings? Answers were provided on the same rating scale used for the pride item. Subsequently, the same responses were assessed toward three other scenarios. In the second scenario, participants were asked to imagine as vividly as possible that a person they knew from their childhood had published a world-famous bestseller. In the third scenario, participants were asked to imagine that a team at their university had won an international soccer championship. In the fourth scenario, participants were asked to imagine that researchers from their university had developed a successful drug against cancer. They were then asked to translate

5 HOW SELF-CONSTRUAL SHAPES EMOTION 331 the item pride into their native language. Native speakers checked the correct meaning of their translation. The following Chinese concepts are regarded as correct: Mǎn, zì zūn, zì háo, zì fā, jiāo, ào dé, ào àn, jiāo jīn, wù ào, ào shì, xuān áng, ào wù, xuān xuān, dé yì. Results All participants provided correct translations for the term pride in their own language. Participants responses were averaged across the four scenarios (Cronbach s α =.80) and subjected to a single-factor, between-subjects ANOVA with Culture as independent variable (Chinese, German). As expected, the main effect for Culture on the reported feeling of pride was significant, F(1, 48) = 29.8, p <.001. Inspection of Figure 1 reveals that Chinese participants (M = 5.31) were prouder than German participants (M = 3.87). We then computed separate scores for achievements of single other persons (Nobel Prize item and famous bestseller item) and for achievements of groups (soccer item and drug item). A 2 x 2 ANOVA with Culture (Chinese, German) and Inclusion Level (Relational, Collective) revealed exclusively a main effect for Culture, F(1, 48) = 30, p <.001. Apparently, in our research the category of others implies both the relational and the collective level. Since the items that assess social sharing were correlated, r =.62, p <.001, the items were averaged (α =.77) and subjected to a single-factor, between-subjects ANOVA with Culture as independent variable (Chinese, German). This analysis revealed that Chinese participants were more willing to share their feeling with others and had a stronger belief that others would react with the same kind of feeling (M = 4.95) than German participants (M = 4.21), F(1, 47) = 14.4, p <.001. Discussion Our first study provides evidence for our assumption that cultural differences in self-construal exert an influence on pride responses: We found that Chinese participants felt prouder than German participants in response to achievements of relevant others. Cultural differences were reflected not only in the intensity of the elicited emotion, but also in the quality of the elicited experience. Similar to previous findings (Mesquita, 2001), we found that participants with a predominant interdependent self were more willing to share their feeling with others and to believe that others would experience the same feeling than participants with a predominant interdependent self. These findings suggest that, in line with our assumptions, differences in self-construal between collectivistic and individualistic cultures are responsible for the differences in emotional responses to the achievements of others. However, these findings can alternatively be interpreted as an effect of pride on self-construal, meaning that pride might have an important function in reaffirming cultural values such as the connectedness with others. Moreover, because of the correlational design of the study, it is conceivable that other processes, such as modesty, contribute to the obtained effect. But since modesty biases are usually found in collectivist cultures, the findings in Experiment 1

6 332 neumann ET AL , , Chinese Chinese German German FIGURE 1. Feelings of Pride as a Function of Culture Note. The scale ranged from 1 (nonexistent) to 7 (extraordinarily strong). are not easily reconciled with such an explanation. Nevertheless, it is important to demonstrate the causal role of self-construals in the evocation of pride. Experiment 2 Experiment 2 focused on the process that is assumed to underlie the influence of culture on the feeling of pride. Although culture may strongly determine self-construals that are chronically accessible, the accessibility of self-construals may also shift in response to situational determinants (Gardner et al., 1999; Kuehnen, Hannover, & Schubert, 2001; Trafimow et al., 1991). In a series of studies, Hong et al., (2000) simulated the experience of switching between cultural frames by exposing participants to culturally laden symbols such as flags, for example. To experimentally induce a shift in self-construal, we presented German students with either independent or interdependent self-priming before exposing them to the same scenarios used in Experiment 1. To make either an independent or interdependent self-construal more accessible, we employed a procedure where participants are asked to think about either similarities with or differences to their family and friends (Trafimow et al., 1991). A second aim of Experiment 2 was to test whether participants would respond differently to their own achievements as compared to the achievements of others. That is, participants were presented with the same scenarios used in Experi-

7 HOW SELF-CONSTRUAL SHAPES EMOTION 333 ment 1, except that they were required to imagine their own achievement instead of the achievement of others. We expected an interaction between priming and achievement: activating the interdependent self should elicit more pride in German students while being exposed to the achievement of others, whereas activating the independent self should elicit more pride while being exposed to their own achievement. Method One hundred and three German students at the Technische Universität Dortmund participated in this study (89 females). The procedure was similar to Experiment 1, except that in Experiment 2, emotional responses to the achievements of others and one s own were assessed, and either the independent or the interdependent self-construal was made accessible through a priming procedure. To manipulate the self-construal accordingly, participants were required to either think about similarities with or differences to their family and friends (Trafimow et al., 1991). Thinking about similarities to one s family and friends has been shown to activate the interdependent self, whereas thinking about differences to one s family and friends has been shown to activate the independent self. Participants were informed that the priming task and the subsequent questionnaire belonged to different studies. After the priming procedure, half of the participants were exposed to the same scenarios that were used in Experiment 1, whereas the other half was exposed to scenarios where participants were required to imagine their own achievements instead of the achievements of others. Thus, in this condition they were asked to imagine as vividly as possible (1) being told that they had received the Nobel Prize for literature (scenario 1), (2) being told that they had published a world-famous bestseller (scenario 2), (3) being told that they were a member of their university team and had won an international championship (scenario 3), (4) being told that they were a member of a team of researchers at their university who had developed a successful drug against cancer (scenario 4). Following each scenario, they were asked to indicate their feeling of pride on a rating scale ranging from 0 = nonexistent to 7 = extraordinarily strong. 2 To determine whether the manipulation of the accessibility of the self-construal was successful, the Self-Construal Scale (Singelis, 1994) was administered. After completing the questionnaire, participants were thanked and debriefed. Results Manipulation Check. To find out whether the priming procedure had the expected influence on self-construal, participants responses to the Self-Construal Scale (Singelis, 1994) were analysed. To that end, the items that measured independent self-construal and the items that measured interdependent self-construal were separately averaged and subjected to a 2 (independent scale vs. interdependent 2. Note that we have changed the rating scale from Experiment 1 to Experiment 2.

8 334 neumann ET AL. scale) x 2 (similarity vs. dissimilarity priming) ANOVA with Priming as betweensubjects factor, and Scale as within-subjects factor. This analysis revealed that our participants rated themselves as being more independent (Independent Scale M = 2.60) than interdependent (Interdependent Scale M = 2.26), F(1, 102) = 40.9, p <.001. This main effect was qualified by a marginal Priming x Scale interaction, F(1, 102) = 3.2, p <.07, indicating that participants tended to be more interdependent ( M = 2.32) after thinking about similarities than after thinking about differences (M = 2.20), whereas they tended to be more independent ( M = 2.64) after thinking about differences than after thinking about similarities (M = 2.57). The effect of Priming was nonsignificant, F < 1. Pride. Participants pride responses (Cronbach s α =.87) were subjected to 2 (others achievement vs. own achievement) x 2 (independent vs. interdependent priming) two-factor, between-subjects ANOVA with Priming and Achievement as independent variables. A main effect for Achievement, F(1, 102) = 4.6, p <.05 and an Achievement x Priming interaction emerged, F(1, 102) = 4.6, p <.05. No main effect for Priming was obtained F < 1. Inspection of Figure 2 reveals that participants were prouder when thinking about own achievements (M = 5.7) than when thinking about the achievements of others (M=3.6). Most importantly, the Achievement x Priming interaction emerged because thinking about the achievements of others after the interdependent priming resulted in more pride (M = 4.0) than after the independent priming (M = 3.2), whereas thinking about own achievements resulted in less pride (M = 5.6) after the interdependent priming than after the independent priming (M = 5.9). 3 Discussion In the present studies, we provide evidence for the assumption that self-construal exerts an influence on the experience of pride. In Study 1, Chinese participants felt pride more intensively than Germans in response to the achievements of others. Thus, in line with our expectation, achievements of others elicited more pride in members of collectivist cultures. This finding contrasts with prior research showing that members of individualist cultures experience more pride (Mauro, Sato, & Tucker, 1992; Scollon, Diener, Oishi & Biwas-Diener, 2004; Sommers, 1984). Moreover, Chinese participants were more apt to assume that others would react with the same kind of feeling, and exhibited a greater desire to share their feelings than did members of individualistic cultures. In Study 2, German participants were prouder in responding to the achievements of others after we increased the accessibility of the interdependent rather than the independent self, whereas they responded with more pride in their own achievements after we increased the ac- 3. Similar to Experiment 1 we computed separate scores for achievements of single other persons (Nobel Prize item and famous bestseller item) and for achievements of groups (soccer item and drug item). This time we found that German participants were prouder about the relational than about group level events, F(1, 102) = 16.5, p <.001. A closer look at the data revealed that this is due to the fact that participants were prouder in response to the bestseller item than to all other items. Moreover, we obtained a marginal significant Priming x Inclusion Level interaction, F(1, 102) = 2.7, indicating that the impact of Priming was stronger for the group level than for the relational level. No other effect was reliable, F < 1.

9 HOW SELF-CONSTRUAL SHAPES EMOTION ,6 5, , Other Achievement Interdependent Own Achievement Independent FIGURE 2. Feelings of Pride as a Function of Priming and Achievement Note. The scale ranged from 1 (nonexistent) to 7 (extraordinarily strong). cessibility of the independent rather than the interdependent self. The finding that temporally activated self-construals exerted a causal role on the evocation of pride rules out alternative explanations for the obtained cultural variation. These findings support our assumption that the activated self-construal underlies the influence of culture on the feeling of pride. We therefore suggest that whenever the self-construal is compatible with the information provided in a given situation, relatively more pride is elicited than if the self-construal is incompatible with the information. Thus, achievements of others might elicit more pride whenever the self is more closely related to others than if the self is independent of others. In contrast, own success is more likely to elicit pride in persons with an independent self-construal. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a causal influence of different selfconstruals on the emotion of pride has been demonstrated. The present findings support the notion that pride is an emotion that is elicited to the extent that an achievement is assimilated to the self (Neumann & Seibt, 2003). Whether the achievement is assimilated or contrasted away from the self is determined by the currently active self-construal. 4 This self-construal is shaped not only by the cul- 4. Tesser et al. (1988) introduced an important exception to the rule that the achievements of relevant others evoke feelings of pride: such feelings are elicited only if the achievement of the relevant other is not highly self-defining and is relevant to the self.

10 336 neumann ET AL. ture, but also by factors of the social context. In this respect, Heider (1958) suggested that what is perceived as belonging together depends on what is currently salient in a situation. For example, at a celebration where a colleague receives an academic award, I might feel prouder when members of other universities are present than when they are not. This example indicates that it might be highly context-dependent who can be conceived of as a relevant other. Further research is needed to study the flexibility of the association with others and its impact on the feeling of pride. Consistent with other researchers (e.g., Heine, Lehman, Markus, & Kitayama, 1999), we believe that the Chinese are usually much more modest than individuals in the Western world. Modesty, however, seems to be involved only if one s own achievements are the focus of attention. If the achievements of others are the source of pride, one need not be modest at all. Since cultural differences in the experience of pride obtained in previous research usually involved individual achievements, these findings might confound modesty bias and self-construals. Our findings show, at the least, that obtained cultural differences are influenced by the situational context. References Bond M. H., & Young, K. S. (1982). Ethnic affirmation versus cross-cultural accommodation: The variable impact of questionnaire language. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 13, Brewer, M.B., & Gardner, W.L. (1996). Who is this we? Levels of collective identity and self-representations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, Choi, I., Nisbett, R. E., & Norenzayan, A. (1999). Causal attribution across cultures: Variation and universality. Psychological Bulletin, 125, Cialdini, R. B., Borden, R. J., Thorne, A., Walker, M. R., Freeman, S., & Slaon, L. R. (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, Gardner, W. L., Gabriel, S., & Lee, A. Y. (1999). I value freedom, but we value relationships: Self-construal priming mirrors cultural differences in judgment. Psychological Science, 10, Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. Hilsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, Hong, Y-y., Morris, M. W., Chiu, C-y., & Benet- Martinez, V. B. (2000). Multicultural minds: A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition. American Psychologist, 55, Kuehnen, U., Hannover, B., & Schubert, B. (2001). The semantical-procedural interface model of the self: The role of self-knowledge for context-dependent versus context-independent modes of thinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press. Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, Mauro, R., Sato, K., & Tucker, J. (1992). The role of appraisal in human emotions: A cross cultural study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, Mesquita, B. (2001). Emotions in collectivist and individualist context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, Neumann, R., & Seibt, B. (2003). Being unique in outperforming others: Mechanisms underlying the elicitation of pride. Universität Würzburg. Unpublished Manuscript.

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