Multicultural minds. A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition

Unveiling the Impact of Smokers' Self-Construals on the Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Campaigns: A Comparative Analysis of E-Cigarettes and Combustible Cigarettes

Objective

This research conducted two studies in South Korea to explore the relationship between smokers' self-construals and the types of cigarettes they use, emphasizing their combined effects on cessation campaign effectiveness.

Methods

Study 1 explored how smokers' self-construals influenced their intentions to quit smoking or vaping, considering their primary cigarette usage. Study 2 further investigated this relationship within cessation campaigns, employing messages framed by both self-construal (independent vs. interdependent) and cigarette type (combustible vs. electronic).

Results

The results of Study 1 showed that individuals with a strong interdependent self-construal were more likely to express intentions to quit smoking or vaping when using e-cigarettes compared to combustible cigarettes. Similarly, Study 2 demonstrated that cessation messages for e-cigarettes were more effective in eliciting intentions to quit when presented with an interdependent self-construal frame, while messages for combustible cigarettes showed greater effectiveness with an independent self-construal frame.

Conclusion

Campaigns solely focused on independent self-construals might not effectively persuade e-cigarette users to quit, as they may prioritize communal wellbeing over individual benefits. Adapting anti-e-cigarette campaigns to align with the values of interdependent self-construals could yield better outcomes in promoting cessation among e-cigarette users.

To Know all is to Forgive all: The Effect of Foreign Experiences on Forgiveness

By going abroad, individuals get the opportunity to explore a new country and to immerse themselves in a new culture. Despite being personally and professionally rewarding, little is known about interpersonal attitudes and behavior change that accompany living abroad experiences. The current research examines whether foreign experiences influence forgiveness. Drawing on the Structure-Appraisal Model of Multicultural Experiences and literature examining the positive effect of foreign experiences on self-control related to the suppression of impulsive retaliation, we propose that international experiences lead to a greater tendency to forgive. As predicted, we found that foreign experiences correlated positively with forgiving motivations toward transgressors across different measures of forgiveness and diverse samples (Studies 1-2). Study three compared forgiveness of individuals who had lived abroad with forgiveness of individuals who had plans to live abroad but had not done so yet. We found consistent support for the hypothesis that living abroad has an impact on forgiveness. By employing an experimental design, Study four established the causal effect of international experiences on forgiveness. Taken together, these findings suggest that when individuals experience foreign cultures, they learn to understand interpersonal conflicts from different perspectives and show greater leniency and forgiveness toward transgressions.

Culture and self-construal in the age of globalization: an empirical inquiry based on multiple approaches

Introduction

There are three main types of culture in human society, namely, individual-oriented, relationship-oriented and social-oriented cultures. In history, there are two main positions on the relationship between culture and self-construal: the cultural determinist position and the interaction position. After analyzing literature critically, we propose that the interaction position is more persuasive than the cultural determinist position. A self-construal model was constructed from an interactionist and polycultural perspective, pointing out the relationship between three cultures and self-construal. We argue that individuals interacting with cultures in the context of globalization can develop a more integrated self-construal. The present study proposes the existence of polycultural self-construal, and aimed to explore how self-construal factors relate to cultures.

Methods

Three approaches-psychological tests, priming with cultural icons and content analysis-were used to explore mechanisms between cultures (individual-oriented, relationship-oriented, and social-oriented cultures) and self-construal. In Study 1, we recruited 460 undergraduate students as participants through campus advertising to complete three psychological tests, namely, the Cultural Identity Scale (CIS), the Marlowe-Crowne Social Approval Scale (MC-SDS), and the Polycultural Self-construal Scale (PSCS). In Study 2, we created icon materials that could prime the three cultures. The experimental process was divided into two stages: priming and measurement. First, 165 participants were presented with icon materials on the computer screen to activate the corresponding culture, and then they were asked to complete the PSCS. In Study 3, the experimental procedures were followed as for Study 2. Then the Ten Statements Test (TST) was used. Each of the 178 participants gave 10 different responses to the question of "Who am I?." Each participant's "I am …" narratives were qualitatively processed using content analysis.

Results

The individual-oriented culture mainly affects the individuality and equality factor of self-construal. The relationship-oriented culture mainly impacts the relationality factor of self-construal, while the social-oriented culture mainly affects the collectivity and equality factors of self-construal. There were no significant differences in the effects of the three cultures on the autonomy factor of self-construal. The multi-components of the polycultural self-construal are difficult to interpret based on one culture type. All three cultures have specific and shared effects on human self-construal.

Contextualizing Bicultural Competence Across Youths' Adaptation From High School to College: Prospective Associations With Mental Health and Substance Use

Bicultural competence, the ability to navigate bicultural demands, is a salient developmental competency for youth of color linked with positive adjustment. This study investigated how discrimination experiences informed developmental trajectories of behavioral and affective bicultural competence across youth's adaptation from high school to college, and how these biculturalism trajectories predicted later adjustment (i.e., internalizing symptoms and binge drinking). Data were collected between 2016 through 2020 and included 206 U.S. Latino youth (Mage=17.59, 64% female, 85% Mexican origin, 11% first and 62% second generation immigrants). Linear latent growth analyses revealed that youth who experienced greater time-varying discrimination demonstrated lower concurrent behavioral and affective bicultural competence. Higher behavioral bicultural competence intercepts were associated with fewer internalizing symptoms in the third college year. No other significant associations emerged for internalizing symptoms or binge drinking. These findings have implications for mental health equity among Latino youth during a critical period of psychopathology onset.

The motivating effect of monetary over psychological incentives is stronger in WEIRD cultures

Motivating effortful behaviour is a problem employers, governments and nonprofits face globally. However, most studies on motivation are done in Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) cultures. We compared how hard people in six countries worked in response to monetary incentives versus psychological motivators, such as competing with or helping others. The advantage money had over psychological interventions was larger in the United States and the United Kingdom than in China, India, Mexico and South Africa (N = 8,133). In our last study, we randomly assigned cultural frames through language in bilingual Facebook users in India (N = 2,065). Money increased effort over a psychological treatment by 27% in Hindi and 52% in English. These findings contradict the standard economic intuition that people from poorer countries should be more driven by money. Instead, they suggest that the market mentality of exchanging time and effort for material benefits is most prominent in WEIRD cultures.

How Multicultural Experiences Influence Malevolent Creativity

A wealth of studies have revealed that foreign experiences affect various cognitive abilities. One well-established finding is that living abroad can increase creative thinking skills. However, there has been little research on the dark side of creativity. Here, we hypothesized that exposure to foreign experiences can also foster malevolent creativity, which refers to the deliberate application of original ideas to turn a profit at someone else's expense. Consistent with our hypotheses, Studies 1 and 2 found that student participants with foreign experiences showed greater malevolent creativity than those without such experiences. Relying on non-student adults, Study 3 replicated the findings of Study 1 using a different behavioral outcome of malevolent creativity. Study 4 found that participants who had decided to move overseas but had not yet done so demonstrated reduced levels of malevolent creativity compared to participants who had lived abroad, which minimized the possibility of reverse causality. Study 5 utilized an experimental design methodology and provided causal evidence for the effect of foreign experiences on malevolent creativity. These findings contribute to understanding about the range of effects that foreign experiences can have on different types of creativity.

Lay Misperceptions of Culture as "Biological" and Suggestions for Reducing Them

Culture is typically studied as socialized and learned. Yet lay intuitions may hold that culture is associated with biology via perceptions of race, presenting a problem for those who study culture: There may be a mismatch between how psychologists study culture and how their research is interpreted by lay audiences. This article is a call to researchers to recognize this mismatch as a problem and to critically evaluate the way we study culture. We first describe evidence that laypeople tend to associate culture with notions of folk biology. Next, we propose three suggestions for researchers: explicitly address whether biological processes are, or are not, relevant for studying culture in their work; consider using multiple methods because different methods for studying culture may come with assumptions about culture as more tied to socialization or biology; and represent all people as cultural by studying multiple forms of culture and by contextualizing all psychological research. Last, we provide an example for how researchers can implement these suggestions to encourage more accurate interpretations of findings.

Cognitive-Cultural Looping Mechanism of Urban Space Conceptualization

A crucial point for urban design is the acknowledgement that urban material structures are not only constituting a set of cognitive-cultural affordances that shapes people's behavior and experiential world, but likewise that the design process itself is an expression of cultural conceptualizations possibly evoked by ongoing cultural practices and perceptions, thus forming a dynamic loop. In this paper, we outline a framework for the study of material, cultural and social mechanisms interacting with human cognition, behavior and emotions. We attempt a conceptual model that integrates dynamic interactions between cognitive-cultural affordances and our conceptualization of the environment and provides a few illustrative case examples. The model proposes a set of dynamic relations between cognitive and cultural processes at shorter time scales modifying conceptualizations and environmental affordances on longer timescales, while these - in turn - come to guide and constrain processes at the shorter timescales. The model has important implications for our understanding of the role of environmental design, especially urban design, as bridging between aspects of human situated experience, behavior, social and cultural norms and material culture.

Deviation from Design: A Meta-Analytic Review on the Link Between Social Media Use and Less Connection Between the Self and Others

Social media were designed to connect people and support interpersonal relationships. However, whether social media use is linked to the connection between the self and others is unknown. The present research reviewed findings across psychology to address whether social media use is linked to defining and expressing the self as connected to others (i.e., interdependence) versus separate from others (i.e., independence) and whether this link appears in both individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Eligible studies reported an association between social media use (e.g., time spent, frequency of use) and a characteristic supportive of independence (e.g., narcissism, envy, self-enhancement). Meta-analytic results of 133 effect sizes across the reviewed studies show that social media use is linked to independence rather than interdependence. This relationship was more pronounced in collectivistic cultures than in individualistic cultures. These findings suggest that characteristics linked to social media use differ from what one might expect based on the design of social media to connect people.

Mapping Chinese Personality: An Assessment of the Psychometric Properties of the NEO-PI-3 in Monolingual and Bilingual Studies

The NEO-PI-3 is a fourth-generation instrument that has been shown to improve the psychometrics and readability of its immediate precedent, the NEO-PI-R. We examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of the NEO-PI-R and NEO-PI-3 using three datasets (Ns = 913, 299, 403) collected using both monolingual and bilingual designs. The Chinese NEO-PI-3 scales displayed a five-factor structure in which the facets had the highest loadings on their intended factors. The structure demonstrated strong invariance across both languages (English vs. Chinese) and gender groups, maintained high test-retest reliability, and attained slightly better internal consistency than the NEO-PI-R. We also examined the affective underpinnings of personality factors and well-being measures using the Chinese Circumplex Model of Affect. Consistent with past findings, Neuroticism and Extraversion were most related to affect, while Satisfaction with Life and Subjective Happiness shared the affective core of pleasant feelings and medium arousal. Based on these results, the Chinese NEO-PI-3 appears to be a sound instrument to measure personality in Chinese communities and to compare personality across cultures.

Cantonese media promotes Chinese cultural identification: structural equation modeling based on Malaysian Chinese

Introduction

Language media from one's hometown is an important means of maintaining cultural identification, especially for minorities. Cantonese media plays an active role in shaping the Chinese cultural identification of ethnic Chinese all over the world. To date, few researchers have undertaken quantitative empirical analyses of the mechanism through which Cantonese media influences cultural identification.

Methods

Using data from 642 Malaysian Chinese, this study established a structural equation model with the partial least squares method.

Results

We found that the emotional affinity of ethnic Chinese to Cantonese media can influence identification with Chinese culture through the perceived value of Cantonese media and cognition of Chinese culture. The perceived value of Cantonese media (IE = 0.208) and cognition of Chinese culture (IE = 0.068) play partial mediation roles. Meanwhile, emotional affinity to Cantonese media influences cognition of Chinese culture (IE = 0.069) through the chain mediation of perceived value of Cantonese media and cognition of Chinese culture. Age has a partial moderating effect in the structural equation model. Compared with minors, adults' emotional affinity to Cantonese media can eventually influence identification with Chinese culture (TEdiff = 0.126) more strongly through several mediation paths.

Discussion

The study suggests a need to cultivate the emotional affinity of ethnic Chinese to Cantonese media, improve the multidimensional values of Cantonese media, and endow Cantonese media with functions of cultural dialog and knowledge transmission. The international transmission of Cantonese media could play a vital role in building a cultural community for ethnic Chinese globally.

The WEIRD Microcosm of Microaggression Research: Toward a Cultural-Psychological Approach

Microaggression research has made great strides over the past decade while steadily pushing itself into mainstream psychological science. Yet the field remains firmly situated within the Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) cultural context. Correspondingly, recurring criticisms against the validity of microaggressions are often rooted in individualist, decontextualized understandings of behavior, and critics' rebuttals are often grounded in a philosophical and reflective understanding of the cultural context. In this article, I put forward that (a) the enactments and appraisals of microaggressions are the behavioral results of the cognitive salience of cultural schemas; (b) cultural schemas are informed by cultural ideologies, underlining their methodological and empirical relevance for future research; and (c) cultures are dynamic by highlighting the effects of geopolitical events on the content of cultural schemas that may moderate the perception and enactment of microaggressions. For these reasons, I argue that a cultural psychology of microaggressions may help to depathologize the individual by situating behavior in its cultural context while at the same time necessitating the inclusion of communities residing in non-WEIRD societies.

Neural representation of perceived race mediates the opposite relationship between subcomponents of self-construals and racial outgroup punishment

Outgroup aggression characterizes intergroup conflicts in human societies. Previous research on relationships between cultural traits and outgroup aggression behavior showed inconsistent results, leaving open questions regarding whether cultural traits predict individual differences in outgroup aggression and related neural underpinnings. We conducted 2 studies to address this issue by collecting self-construal scores, EEG signals in response to Asian and White faces with painful or neutral expressions, and decisions to apply electric shocks to other-race individuals in a context of interracial conflict. We found that interdependent self-construals were well explained by 2 subcomponents, including esteem for group (EG) and relational interdependence (RI), which are related to focus on group collectives and harmonious relationships, respectively. Moreover, EG was positively associated with the decisions to punish racial outgroup targets, whereas RI was negatively related to the decisions. These opposite relationships were mediated by neural representations of perceived race at 120-160 ms after face onset. Our findings highlight the multifaceted nature of interdependent self-construal and the key role of neural representations of race in mediating the relationships of different subcomponents of cultural traits with racial outgroup punishment decisions in a context of interracial conflict.

Hwang’s Philosophy for Developing an Indigenous Cultural Psychology

Kwang-Kuo Hwang provides numerous recommendations for how to develop an indigenous cultural psychology. These recommendations may be understood to suggest proceeding according to three stages: (1) beginning with philosophical reflection on the meaning of modernization and exploring the topics of reality and structure (where such reflections ground one’s subsequent development of meta-models concerning self and social interaction), (2) adopting such meta-models as a hermeneutic for interpreting texts associated with one’s cultural tradition, and (3) conducting experimental studies on the basis of hypotheses derived from such cultural interpretations. Hwang’s philosophy is valuable in that it exemplifies a postmodern approach to cultural psychology that integrates traditional pre-modern forms of wisdom with modern methods of scientific investigation.

On the Role of Institutional Logics in Legitimacy Evaluations: The Effects of Pricing and CSR Signals on Organizational Legitimacy

The relationship between institutional logics and organizational legitimacy remains largely unaddressed in organizational theory and management research. We explore how individual evaluators primed with a particular institutional logic react to organizational signals sent by a firm's product/service pricing and by its engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. In three experimental studies, we identify how the activation of a market logic or a family logic in evaluators' minds moderates the effect of pricing and CSR engagement signals on their judgments of legitimacy of a firm, as well as on their behavioral intentions. An unexpected finding from our study was that, while participants primed with the family logic reacted positively to a CSR engagement signal sent by the firm but remained indifferent to a market-based premium-pricing signal, those primed with the market logic reacted positively to both premium-pricing and CSR engagement signals, suggesting that CSR engagement forms part of their understanding of the market logic.

Managing the unexpected: Bicultural identity integration during the COVID-19 emergency

Unexpected and sudden emergency situations such as COVID-19 may render ethnic minorities particularly vulnerable to experiencing negative outcomes. Yet, we put forward that Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) - the degree to which bicultural individuals perceive their cultural identities as compatible and overlapping - may represent a resource in times of emergencies, since it may positively influence, through enhancement of psychological well-being, how bicultural individuals respond in terms of distress and coping strategies. Based on this assumption, the present study aimed at examining the relationship between BII and responses to COVID-19. N = 370 bicultural individuals (mean age = 26.83, SD = 8.74) from different cultural backgrounds were recruited online and completed measures of BII, psychological well-being, COVID-19 distress and coping strategies (positive attitudes, avoidance, social support seeking) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. We tested a model in which BII was the predictor, psychological well-being was the mediator and reactions to the COVID-19 emergency (distress, use of coping) were the outcomes. This model was tested against two alternative models. The proposed model showed a better fit to the data compared to the alternative models. In this model, psychological well-being mediated the relationship between BII (harmony) and coping strategies, except social support seeking. These findings highlight the important role played by BII in emergency situations, as it may indirectly, through enhancement of psychological well-being, contribute to enhance biculturals' adaptive reactions in terms of distress as well as affect coping strategies during highly stressful events.

Does "who I am" influence "how I feel"? Cultural identity and mental health among Hong Kong Chinese adolescents

Securing a clear sense of identity is a critical issue in adolescence, yet the role that cultural identity plays in the well-being of youths remains unclear. This study aims to examine the relationship between cultural identity and mental health among three groups of adolescents in Hong Kong with different residential backgrounds. Data came from a cross-sectional survey with 2180 4th-9th grade students in Hong Kong. Cultural identity was assessed by whether the youths identify themselves as local Hong Kong people, mainland Chinese, both Hong Kong and mainland Chinese, or confused about which group to belong to. Mental health was assessed by self-esteem, mental well-being, happiness, social anxiety, and depression. Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the relationship between cultural identity and mental health, adjusting for sociodemographic variables. The regression results suggested adolescents with confused cultural identity scored lower in all positive indicators of mental health compared with those with a clear cultural identification. No significant association was found between cultural identity and social anxiety/depression. Uncertainty in cultural identification may be detrimental for the mental health of adolescents living in a multicultural society. Interventions may consider cultivating clear cultural identities among adolescents to promote their mental health.

Biasing the neurocognitive processing of videos with the presence of a real cultural other

In the digital age, while short videos present vital events with powerful information, the presence of cultural cues may bias our processing of videos of foreign cultures. However, the underlying neurocognitive processes remain unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that cultural cues might bias video processing by either enhancing cultural perspective-taking or shifting cultural self-schema. To test these hypotheses, we used a novel paradigm in which the cultural cue was a real cultural other (the priming participants) who watched American/Chinese videos together with the primed participants. The results showed that when the cue was present, the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) response to videos with other cultural content was shifted, showing a priming effect. Moreover, the activity pattern in the rTPJ was more congruent with the primed culture than with the original culture, reflecting a neural biasing effect. Finally, intersubject representational similarity analysis indicated that the neural biasing effect in the rTPJ was more closely associated with cultural perspective-taking than with cultural self-schema. In summary, these findings support the perspective-taking hypothesis, suggesting that cultural cues can significantly bias our cultural mindset by altering cultural perspective-taking when we are exposed to culture-relevant naturalistic stimuli.

Coolly provocative: a microfoundational framework of interorganizational cultural distance and exploratory innovation

Purpose

Interorganizational collaboration has been a major source of exploratory innovation. Despite much research, the authors’ understanding about how partner cultural distance is harnessed for exploratory innovation is limited. The authors’ conceptual framework aims to address this gap by explaining the social-psychological processes between perceived partner cultural distance and exploratory innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on research in organizational learning and culture mixing, the authors propose a multilevel model with two parallel processes – cultural brokering and cultural defense. If managers are engaged in the former and are protected from the latter, then the partnership will produce more exploratory innovation. Cultural brokering is encouraged by prompting a learning mindset, while cultural defense is preempted by dampening social categorization across organizational boundaries.

Findings

Cultural brokering can be encouraged by building operational-level managers' (OLMs') collaborative strength through developing a learning orientation, allowing them delivery for exploration, cultivating mutual trust with partners. Cultural defense can be preempted by protecting OLMs from intergroup anxieties through providing organizational support to the OLMs, bridging social categorization faultlines and setting shared collaborative goals. Whether an alliance can unleash its potential depends on not just how cultural brokering is enabled but also how cultural defense is curtailed.

Originality/value

This paper takes a microfoundational approach and considers micro-level processes in a partnership. Furthermore, the model takes the operational managers' perspective and defines culture at the organizational level. All these differences allow us to provide a nuanced picture of how diverse partnerships can be harnessed for exploratory innovation through a few easily-implementable measures.

A Socioecological-Genetic Framework of Culture and Personality: Their Roots, Trends, and Interplay

Culture and personality are two central topics in psychology. Individuals are culturally influenced influencers of culture, yet the research linking culture and personality has been limited and fragmentary. We integrate the literatures on culture and personality with recent advances in socioecology and genetics to formulate the Socioecological-Genetic Framework of Culture and Personality. Our framework not only delineates the mutual constitution of culture and personality but also sheds light on (a) the roots of culture and personality, (b) how socioecological changes partly explain temporal trends in culture and personality, and (c) how genes and culture/socioecology interact to influence personality (i.e., nature × nurture interactions). By spotlighting the roles of socioecology and genetics, our integrative framework advances the understanding of culture and personality.

The role of growth mindset and symbol of shared event representation in the promotion of challenge-pursuit

Challenges are rigorous opportunities to grow and learn. Yet many students underutilize these opportunities. This study investigated how the growth mindset and priming of a shared-event representation might independently affect students’ tendency to challenge-pursuit. In a school-wide intervention, a long-distance running program (POMA Run) that embodies the concept and shared experiences of “ascend beyond current self” was created. In our study, students were randomly selected, then randomly assigned to one of the two event representation conditions: (1) think about the POMA Run (prime condition) or (2) think about a neutral target (control condition). Afterwards, to measure their willingness to extend one's limit, they were presented with four school-life situations and asked to indicate their intention to engage in activities of varying levels of difficulty described in each situation. Next, they ideographically categorized the activities into those that fell in the comfort zone (within their current capacity), stretch zone (beyond current capacity, challenging but attainable), or panic zone (far beyond current capacity). Challenge-pursuit was defined as the intention to engage in the activities categorized in the stretch zone. In the control condition, students with a stronger (weaker) endorsement of growth mindset reported higher (lower) challenge-pursuit intention. The effect of event representation prime on promoting challenge-pursuit intentions was significant among students with a weaker growth mindset: their challenge-pursuit intention was stronger in the prime condition than the control condition. In contrast, students in the prime condition displayed equally strong challenge-pursuit intention regardless of their level of growth-mindset endorsement. The effectiveness of forming a shared-event representation will be discussed.

"I Just Want to Be Me, Authentically": Identity Shifting Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Young Adults

Identity shifting represents a common but complex social, behavioral, and cognitive phenomenon. However, some forms of identity shifting originate in response to structural, institutional, and interpersonal marginalization enacted on lower status groups, such as people of color in the United States. The current study investigated ways young adults from diverse ethnic/racial groups discussed shifting to fit in with White Americans (a dominant group) in the United States and their own ethnic/racial group (a minoritized group) and elucidated self-reported motivations for shifting. Participants consisted of 764 young adults (ages = 18-23) recruited from two large public universities in the Southeast and Southwest regions of the United States. The majority of participants identified as Black/African American (41%), Asian/Asian American (27%), or Hispanic/Latinx (22%). Analysis of participants' qualitative responses identified six types of shifts and two motivations for shifting. The shifts included: behavioral, linguistic, cognitive, physical, food, and affect. Motivations for shifting focused on avoiding risks and obtaining rewards. The discussion offers interpretation of the results and recommendations for future research on identity shifting.

The Development and Pilot Evaluation of a Family-Based Education to Strengthen Latinx Adolescent Mental Health in the United States: The Familias Activas Experience

Adolescent years are a time of joy and can represent a challenge for parents and youth, especially for immigrants to the US who are adjusting to their host country. Programs focusing on family skills and positive youth development (PYD) can contribute to youth wellbeing especially, however, few exist for low-income immigrant families. (1) Background: The major goals of this project are to strengthen both PYD and healthy parenting practices by implementing an evidence-informed program, Familias Activas. A theory of change guided the development of Familias Activas in which three factors: parent training, positive youth development, and youth physical activity sessions (soccer) aimed to improve Latinx youth mental health. Youth participated in weekly soccer practices led by trained soccer coaches while parents/caregivers attended parent education. Both sessions lasted eight weeks. (2) Method: We describe the formative stage of the research project as well as the pilot implementation of the Familias Activas program, which provides critical insights for the development of a PYD program. (3) Results: Evaluation surveys were administered to youth and their parents. Thirty youths and sixteen parents completed the survey. The Kidscreen scale had a mean for most items ranging from 3.6 to 4.2. Participating youth were 11 years old and most affirmed they were Latinx. The feasibility program quality mean was 4.2 indicating an overall positive result for the pilot program.. Implications of PYD programs for Latinx youth are discussed. (4) Conclusions: The current paper presents a model for positively influencing the physical and mental wellbeing of Latinx youth and their parents. The model is culturally responsive in its involvement of both parents and youth in programming.

Consideration of culture in cognition: How we can enrich methodology and theory

In this paper, we argue that adopting an inclusive approach where diverse cultures are represented in research is of prime importance for cognitive psychology. The overrepresentation of participant samples and researchers from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) cultures limits the generalizability of findings and fails to capture potential sources of variability, impeding understanding of human cognition. In an analysis of articles in representative cognitive psychology journals over the five-year period of 2016-2020, we find that only approximately 7% of articles consider culture, broadly defined. Of these articles, a majority (83%) focus on language or bilingualism, with small numbers of articles considering other aspects of culture. We argue that methodology and theory developed in the last century of cognitive research not only can be leveraged, but will be enriched by greater diversity in both populations and researchers. Such advances pave the way to uncover cognitive processes that may be universal or systematically differ as a function of cultural variations, and the individual differences in relation to cultural variations. To make a case for broadening this scope, we characterize relevant cross-cultural research, sample classic cognitive research that is congruent with such an approach, and discuss compatibility between a cross-cultural perspective and the classic tenets of cognitive psychology. We make recommendations for large and small steps for the field to incorporate greater cultural representation in the study of cognition, while recognizing the challenges associated with these efforts and acknowledging that not every research question calls for a cross-cultural perspective.

Carpe diem or carpe mañana? Emotion priming affects intertemporal choice among Internet addicts and normal Internet users

In this digitalized era, Internet addiction has been a severe problem that needs imperative solutions derived from the same mechanism that leads to its addiction. To uncover a more nuanced mechanism for Internet addiction in association with decision-making focus and emotions and thus generate effective interventions, we conducted three experiments to investigate how various forms of emotion priming affect intertemporal choice among Internet addicts and normal Internet users. We divided the emotions into three categories, namely emotional valence (negative and positive emotions), expected emotion type (expected regret, expected joy), and current emotion type (current regret, current joy). In experiment one, we examined the effect of two participant types (Internet addicts and normal Internet users) with three emotion valences (positive, negative, and neutral). In experiment two, we examined the effect of two participant types (Internet addicts and normal Internet users) with three current emotion types (current regret, joy, and neutral). In experiment three, we examined the effect of two participant types (Internet addicts and normal Internet users) with two expected emotion types (expected regret and expected joy). We conducted a completely randomized experimental design in each experiment and used subjective value as the dependent variable index of intertemporal choice. The results showed that the subjective value of Internet addicts was significantly lower than that of normal Internet users across three studies. The subjective value of individuals primed with positive emotions was significantly higher than those primed with negative emotions, no matter whether they were normal Internet users or addicts (experiment one). The subjective value of individuals primed with expected joy was significantly higher than those primed with expected regret, no matter whether they were normal Internet users or addicts (experiment three). When primed with current joy, however, the Internet addicts' subjective value was significantly lower than when primed with current regret, but this did not apply to normal Internet users (experiment two). These results suggest positive emotions and expected joy enhanced long-term goals and greater rewards focus on intertemporal decision-making compared to negative emotions and expected regret. However, current joy facilitated short-term goals, and smaller rewards focus on intertemporal decision-making compared to current regret. The theoretical and practical implications for Internet addiction are also discussed in this paper.

Influence of Confucianism and Taoism on self-construal and thinking style: an intervention study

Using original texts of Confucian and Taoist primary classics as materials, we conducted an eight-week educational intervention experiment combining classroom teaching and post-class reflection as cultural manipulation. Ninety-four sixth-grade students from three parallel mainstream classes were randomly assigned to three intervention groups, comprising two experimental groups (Confucian and Taoist values interventions) and a control group (natural science intervention). The results suggest that the Confucian intervention had a positive effect on interdependent self and holistic thinking, the Taoist intervention had a positive effect on independent self and holistic thinking, and the natural science intervention promoted analytical thinking.

Audio-Visual Interactions During Emotion Processing in Bicultural Bilinguals

Despite the growing number of bicultural bilinguals in the world, the way in which multisensory emotions are evaluated by bilinguals who identify with two or more cultures remains unknown. In the present study, Chinese-English bicultural bilinguals from Singapore viewed Asian or Caucasian faces and heard Mandarin or English speech, and evaluated the emotion from one of the two simultaneously-presented modalities. Reliance on the visual modality was greater when bicultural bilinguals processed Western audio-visual emotion information. Although no differences between modalities emerged when processing East-Asian audio-visual emotion information, correlations revealed that bicultural bilinguals increased their reliance on the auditory modality with more daily exposure to East-Asian cultures. Greater interference from the irrelevant modality was observed for Asian faces paired with English speech than for Caucasian faces paired with Mandarin speech. We conclude that processing of emotion in bicultural bilinguals is guided by culture-specific norms, and that familiarity influences how the emotions of those who speak a foreign language are perceived and evaluated.

Assessing Alexithymia across Asian and Western Cultures: Psychometric Properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 in Singaporean and Australian Samples

Alexithymia refers to difficulties identifying feelings (DIF), describing feelings (DDF), and externally orientated thinking (EOT). Originally conceptualized by American psychiatrists, some researchers have since questioned the validity and application of this construct in Asian cultures. However, to date, there is little empirical work formally assessing the invariance of alexithymia across Asian and Western cultures. The present study aimed to help address this gap, by examining the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of two alexithymia measures, the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), across samples from Singapore (n = 434) or Australia (n = 489). The same theoretically congruent factor structure was supported across both samples; this structure was fully invariant across samples for the PAQ, and partially invariant for the TAS-20. Both measures had good internal consistency and concurrent validity across samples, except the TAS-20 EOT subscale which had low internal consistency and factor loadings in both samples. The Singaporean sample reported higher DIF and DDF for positive emotions than the Australian sample. Overall, our results support the cross-cultural validity and application of the alexithymia construct. The PAQ and TAS-20 both appear to have good utility in this respect, though the PAQ may provide a more detailed facet-level profile.

Do Surrounding People's Emotions Affect Judgment of the Central Person's Emotion? Comparing Within Cultural Variation in Holistic Patterns of Emotion Perception in the Multicultural Canadian Society

Previous studies in cultural psychology have suggested that when assessing a target person's emotion, East Asians are more likely to incorporate the background figure's emotion into the judgment of the target's emotion compared to North Americans. The objective of this study was to further examine cultural variation in emotion perception within a culturally diverse population that is representative of Canada's multicultural society. We aimed to see whether East-Asian Canadians tended to keep holistic tendencies of their heritage culture regarding emotion perception. Participants were presented with 60 cartoon images consisting of a central figure and four surrounding figures and were then asked to rate the central figure's emotion; out of the four cartoon figures, two were female and two were male. Each character was prepared with 5 different emotional settings with corresponding facial expressions including: extremely sad, moderately sad, neutral, moderately happy, and extremely happy. Each central figure was surrounded by a group of 4 background figures. As a group, the background figures either displayed a sad, happy, or neutral expression. The participant's task was to judge the intensity of the central figures' happiness or sadness on a 10-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 9 (extremely). For analysis, we divided the participants into three groups: European Canadians (N = 105), East Asian Canadians' (N = 104) and Non-East Asian/Non-European Canadians (N = 161). The breakdown for the Non-East Asian/Non-European Canadian group is as follows: 94 South Asian Canadians, 25 Middle Eastern Canadians, 23 African Canadians, 9 Indigenous Canadians, and 10 Latin/Central/South American Canadians. Results comparing European Canadians and East Asian Canadians demonstrated cultural variation in emotion judgment, indicating that East Asian Canadians were in general more likely than their European Canadian counterparts to be affected by the background figures' emotion. The study highlights important cultural variations in holistic and analytic patterns of emotional attention in the ethnically diverse Canadian society. We discussed future studies which broaden the scope of research to incorporate a variety of diverse cultural backgrounds outside of the Western educational context to fully comprehend cultural variations in context related attentional patterns.

Perceived discrimination and psychological distress among immigrants to Canada: The mediating role of bicultural identity orientations

Bicultural identity orientations have rarely been examined in relation to both perceived discrimination and psychological distress. Furthermore, these constructs have usually been studied in isolation, but their intersection is essential for understanding intercultural relations in multicultural societies. Using cross-sectional data from 1,143 Canadian undergraduate students from immigrant families, this study explored the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress, and how bicultural identity orientations might mediate this relationship. The structural equation modeling results indicated that perceived discrimination was associated with higher levels of psychological distress and hybrid, monocultural, alternating, and conflicted orientations, but lower levels of complementary orientation. Alternating and conflicted orientations were related to higher psychological distress, whereas the other orientations were not. Alternating and conflicted orientations mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress, whereas the other orientations did not. The findings are discussed in light of theories on identity integration, rejection–identification, and acculturation.

Chinese Regional Differences and Commonality in Field-Independence and Field-Dependence: An Implicit Biculturalism Model

Comparative studies of cultural-cognitive systems in China have stressed differences between northern and southern regions, with less attention paid to inter-regional commonality. This study proposes an implicit biculturalism model to rectify the diversity bias. The model posits that Chinese in both regions have internalized the same two cultural-cognitive systems but have organized them differently. For northerners, the individualist/analytical system (indicated by field-independence) is more dominant and chronically accessible than the collectivist/holistic system (indicated by field-dependence); for southerners the hierarchical order is reversed. The more dominant system would normally manifest in everyday life as the default situation, but the less dominant system could be activated through cultural priming. Both field-independent northerners (N = 46) and field-dependent southerners (N = 46) were assigned randomly into individualistic and collectivistic priming conditions and then tested with the Embedded Figure Test (EFT). The results indicated field-independent northern Chinese changed their EFT performance to be field-dependent under collectivism priming, and field-dependent southern Chinese changed their EFT performance in the field-independent direction, albeit to a less extent, under individualism priming. Generally, these results supported the implicit biculturalism model, which provides a more nuanced understanding of the question of "Who are the Chinese in Chinese psychology?"

Examining acculturation in mixed-couples to test cultural transmission mechanisms

The project sought to understand the factors which underlie cultural transmission, adapting self-reported methods from cross-cultural psychology and sociology to test the external validity of several constructs from existing evolutionary models. The target population were native-foreigner mixed-couples, allowing the analyses to benefit from asymmetrical cultural inputs. Sampling took place in Italy and Portugal, with recruitment relying on social networks, online newspapers, friends, organizations, universities, parishes, and embassies. The questionnaire was personally delivered or filled online. The validated variables were: contact with a population in which the majority endorses the culture being acquired, the relative quantity of friends from that culture, the perceived relationship quality with the companion, affective ties with one's own family, and the desire and emotional components behind the culture-transmission motive (a concept similar to cultural conservatism). An unexpected strong, positive association between both cultural identities was found. Thus, it was suggested that these participants adopted an integrative orientation, allowing both cultural identities to blend, whereas most research so far focuses on assimilation scenarios. Overall, acculturation was driven by either conformity to the majority or random learning, without discarding the influence of preferred demonstrators, and the emotional bounds embedded in the individual's cultural identity. Acculturation proved to be flexible and potentially changing according to the cultural trait being examined.

Cultural variability in appraisal patterns for nine positive emotions

Emotions result from evaluations of events, referred to as appraisals. Specific configurations of appraisals have been shown to characterize different emotions, with some variation occurring across cultures. However, appraisal research to date has focused primarily on negative emotions, though recent efforts have started to also examine the appraisal profiles of positive emotions. Cross-cultural work on the appraisals of positive emotions has, however, been scarce. Here, we examine the appraisal profiles of nine positive emotions in the US and China. Using 13 commonly employed appraisal dimensions, we investigated the evaluations of events eliciting amusement, awe, compassion, desire, gratitude, interest, love, pride, and relief. Eighty participants from China and the US recalled events from their own life involving each of these emotions and provided Likert-scale appraisal ratings for each emotional event. Consistent with previous research, we find distinct appraisal patters for each positive emotion. We also, for the first time, demonstrate cultural variations in appraisals of positive emotions. Our study extends existing research by highlighting differences in appraisals of positive emotions across cultures.

Personal migrant stories as persuasive devices: Effects of audience–character similarity and narrative voice

The design of campaigns for the improvement of intergroup attitudes requires innovative approaches that consider both the characteristics of the messages and the psychological processes they evoke. This work addresses the study of factors that increase the persuasive effectiveness of testimonial messages aimed at improving attitudes towards stigmatized immigrants. An experiment was conducted using a representative sample of 443 participants of Spanish origin on the effect of similarity to the protagonist and the narrative voice. Two mediating mechanisms (identification with the protagonist and cognitive elaboration) were evaluated, and the indirect effect of the two independent variables was studied with respect to two dependent variables: the attitude towards immigration and the intention to collaborate with NGOs to support immigrants. Similarity to the protagonist of the narrative message increased identification only when the participants read the version written in the first person. In addition, a conditional process model was tested, revealing that identification increased cognitive elaboration, which, in turn, was associated with a more favorable attitude towards immigration and a greater intention to collaborate with immigrant support organizations. This study highlights the relevance of the characteristics of narrative messages to increase affective (identification) and cognitive (elaboration) processes that explain their persuasive impact. The results are discussed in the context of research on narrative persuasion and the design of campaigns for the prevention of racism and xenophobia.

Belief in biological origin of race (racial essentialism) increases sensitivities to cultural category changes measured by ERP mismatch negativity (MMN)

The dynamic multicultural view explains culture-specific effects on cognition that cultural knowledge is organized in multiple knowledge systems which are specific to each culture and differentially activated when exposed to related objects or scenes. This view predicts automatic categorizations of environmental information according to the culture-specific knowledge systems. This study investigated whether cultural information could be spontaneously categorized, and the modulation of this process by the belief in the biological origin of race (i.e., racial essentialism) with an event-related brain potential, the visual Mismatch Negativity (vMMN). Deviant pictures of Eastern (Western) culture were randomly presented in a stream of standard Western (Eastern) pictures while participants were playing a video game. Participants who endorse racial essentialism (high group) showed vMMNs to the deviants with high relevance to the Eastern or Western culture and the deviant with low Eastern relevance; while participants with low racial essentialism showed vMMN to the deviant with high Eastern relevance only. These results revealed spontaneous cultural categorization with vMMN and the top-down modulation of spontaneous categorization by personal belief. In addition, this is the first demonstration of MMNs to cultural deviance and the potentials in applying MMNs to study psychological essentialism and social categorization.

Caregiver Expectations for Interfacing with Voice Assistants to Support Complex Home Care: Mixed-Methods Study (Preprint)

Background

Providing care in home environments is complex, and often the pressure is on caregivers to document information and ensure care continuity. Digital information management and communication technologies may support care coordination among caregivers. However, they have yet to be adopted in this context, partly because of issues with supporting long-term disease progression and caregiver anxiety. Voice assistant (VA) technology is a promising method for interfacing with digital health information that may aid in multiple aspects of being a caregiver, thereby influencing adoption. Understanding the expectations for VAs to support caregivers is fundamental to inform the practical development of this technology.

Objective

This study explored caregivers’ perspectives on using VA technology to support caregiving and inform the design of future digital technologies in complex home care.

Methods

This study was part of a larger study of caregivers across North America on the design of digital health technologies to support health communication and information management in complex home care. Caregivers included parents, guardians, and hired caregivers such as personal support workers and home care nurses. Video interviews were conducted with caregivers to capture their mental models on the potential application of VAs in complex home care and were theoretically analyzed using the technology acceptance model. Interviews were followed up with Likert-scale questions exploring perspectives on other VA applications beyond participants’ initial perceptions.

Results

Data were collected from 22 caregivers, and 3 themes were identified: caregivers’ perceived usefulness of VAs in supporting documentation, care coordination, and person-centered care; caregivers’ perceived ease of use in navigating information efficiently (they also had usability concerns with this interaction method); and caregivers’ concerns, excitement, expected costs, and previous experience with VAs that influenced their attitudes toward use. From the Likert-scale questions, most participants (21/22, 95%) agreed that VAs should support prompted information recording and retrieval, and all participants (22/22, 100%) agreed that they should provide reminders. They also agreed that VAs should support them in an emergency (18/22, 82%)—but only for calling emergency services—and guide caregivers through tasks (21/22, 95%). However, participants were less agreeable on VAs expressing a personality (14/22, 64%)—concerned they would manipulate caregivers’ perceptions—and listening ambiently to remind caregivers about their documentation (16/22, 73%). They were much less agreeable about VAs providing unprompted assistance on caregiving tasks (9/22, 41%).

Conclusions

The interviews and Likert-scale results point toward the potential for VAs to support family caregivers and hired caregivers by easing their information management and health communication at home. However, beyond information interaction, the potential impact of VA personality traits on caregivers’ perceptions of the care situation and the passive collection of audio data to improve user experience through context-specific interactions are critical design considerations that should be further examined.

Identity in heterogeneous socio-cultural contexts: Implications of the Native American master narrative

This interdisciplinary conceptual study discusses significant implications for psychological functioning of the heterogeneous historically based socio-cultural contexts that are intrinsic to different societies and cultures. Promoting deeper inquiry into the complexity of diversity viewed as a resource, this article elucidates its propositions by examples using observable circumstances concerning various populations, previous literature relevant to the topic, and selected findings from research conducted with 40 Native American academics. In particular, this article contributes novel insights concerning the importance for identity construction and experiencing of the fact that the status of Native American tribal nations is politically and legally unique, and their situation historically and socio-culturally in many regards different from that of ethnic minority populations. Correspondingly, master narratives that fundamentally favor either full inclusion into the dominant society or the idea of tribal sovereignty and self-determination seem to facilitate distinct ways of construction and experiencing of qualitatively different identities. Some of these are conducive to constructive interpretation, integration, and coping within mutually incongruent socio-cultural contexts. Master narratives that carry such potential under adverse circumstances constitute an important asset within the contemporary ever more diverse, yet interconnected societies.

Bicultural Minds: A Cultural Priming Approach to the Self-Bias Effect

Recent research has discovered a robust bias towards the processing of self-relevant information in perceptual matching. Self-associated stimuli are processed faster and more accurately than other-associated stimuli. Priming of independent or interdependent self-construal can dynamically modulate self-biases in high-level cognitive tasks. This study explored whether priming of independent/interdependent mindsets can modulate the self-bias effect in perceptual matching. In two experiments, British participants performed a priming task (Experiment 1 using a word-search task—an implicit priming approach, Experiment 2 with a reflective thinking task—an explicit priming method) immediately followed by a perceptual matching task, where they first learned to associate geometric shapes with labels (e.g., circle is you, square is friend, triangle is stranger) and then made judgments on whether shape-label pairs displayed on-screen were the correct associations or not. The analysis in Experiment 1 revealed that priming the interdependent self-construal led to a reduced self-bias effect in perceptual matching in participants who had low bias compared to those with high bias in the neutral/non-priming condition. In contrast, priming the independent self-construal did not modulate the self-bias in perceptual matching. The effects were replicated in Experiment 2. The results indicate that the self is a dynamic concept that can modulate perceptual processing by accessing different cultural contexts.

Language Changes Medical Judgments and Beliefs

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

How health risks are communicated can have a substantial impact on medical judgments and choice. Here, we examine whether the language used to process health-related information systematically changes bilinguals' perceptions and preferences.

METHODOLOGY

Chinese-English bilinguals were presented with ten medical scenarios in either their native language (Mandarin Chinese; N = 76) or a second language (American English; N = 84) and made judgments regarding their familiarity with the medical conditions and the perceived severity of the possible symptoms (incurability, emotional distress, physical pain, social harm). Participants then rated their agreement with statements pertaining to beliefs about medical decision-making (trust in the good intentions of doctors, acceptability of challenging doctors, importance of involving family, preference for standard treatments, preference for experimental treatments).

DATA AND ANALYSIS

Linear mixed effects models were constructed for judgments of medical conditions and for beliefs regarding medical decision-making.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

Medical conditions were perceived to be easier to cure, less physically painful, and less emotionally distressing when processed in the second language, English. Using English also increased endorsement of beliefs (such as challenging doctors' opinions and accepting experimental treatments) that were more consistent with individualistic than collectivistic norms.We propose that the activation of emotions and values is linked to language, with consequences for how individuals make decisions that impact their health and well-being.

ORIGINALITY

The present study is among the first to systematically examine the interactive psychological impact of language context and experience on judgments and beliefs in an applied medical domain.

Feeling at Home in Two Cultural Worlds: Bicultural Identity Integration Moderates Felt Authenticity

Bicultural individuals navigate and identify with two cultures. Biculturals differ in levels of Bicultural Identity Integration (BII)—how much their two cultural identities are combined and compatible (high BII) versus divided and conflicting (low BII). We hypothesized that during conformity in cultural ingroup contexts, biculturals with low BII feel inauthentic (being untrue to themselves), whereas biculturals with high BII feel authentic (being true to themselves). Across four experiments with Asian-Americans, expressing cultural conformity (vs. non-conformity) in Asian or American contexts produced felt inauthenticity among participants with low BII but not high BII (Studies 1–3). Felt inauthenticity was due to cultural identity threat (perceived identity exclusion) (Study 2). Activating self-kindness counteracted felt inauthenticity for low BII participants during cultural conformity (Study 3) and produced felt authenticity (Study 4). Our findings imply that responding kindly to the self makes biculturals at ease in their cultural homes, at least temporarily.

Cultural Experience Influences Multisensory Emotion Perception in Bilinguals

Emotion perception frequently involves the integration of visual and auditory information. During multisensory emotion perception, the attention devoted to each modality can be measured by calculating the difference between trials in which the facial expression and speech input exhibit the same emotion (congruent) and trials in which the facial expression and speech input exhibit different emotions (incongruent) to determine the modality that has the strongest influence. Previous cross-cultural studies have found that individuals from Western cultures are more distracted by information in the visual modality (i.e., visual interference), whereas individuals from Eastern cultures are more distracted by information in the auditory modality (i.e., auditory interference). These results suggest that culture shapes modality interference in multisensory emotion perception. It is unclear, however, how emotion perception is influenced by cultural immersion and exposure due to migration to a new country with distinct social norms. In the present study, we investigated how the amount of daily exposure to a new culture and the length of immersion impact multisensory emotion perception in Chinese-English bilinguals who moved from China to the United States. In an emotion recognition task, participants viewed facial expressions and heard emotional but meaningless speech either from their previous Eastern culture (i.e., Asian face-Mandarin speech) or from their new Western culture (i.e., Caucasian face-English speech) and were asked to identify the emotion from either the face or voice, while ignoring the other modality. Analyses of daily cultural exposure revealed that bilinguals with low daily exposure to the U.S. culture experienced greater interference from the auditory modality, whereas bilinguals with high daily exposure to the U.S. culture experienced greater interference from the visual modality. These results demonstrate that everyday exposure to new cultural norms increases the likelihood of showing a modality interference pattern that is more common in the new culture. Analyses of immersion duration revealed that bilinguals who spent more time in the United States were equally distracted by faces and voices, whereas bilinguals who spent less time in the United States experienced greater visual interference when evaluating emotional information from the West, possibly due to over-compensation when evaluating emotional information from the less familiar culture. These findings suggest that the amount of daily exposure to a new culture and length of cultural immersion influence multisensory emotion perception in bilingual immigrants. While increased daily exposure to the new culture aids with the adaptation to new cultural norms, increased length of cultural immersion leads to similar patterns in modality interference between the old and new cultures. We conclude that cultural experience shapes the way we perceive and evaluate the emotions of others.

Empower me or not? Influence of societal culture

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationships between societal culture value dimensions and employee preferences for empowerment behaviors by managerial leaders across societal cultures. To do this, the authors synthesize the extant literature to underpin this study and to set the research agenda for future empirical work.

Design/methodology/approach

Using field survey research method, the authors obtain and analyze data from ten samples in eight geographically and culturally diverse societies from a global longitudinal study of preferred managerial leader behavior.

Findings

Cultural value dimension predictor variables affect employee preferences for leader empowerment behaviors in the societies studied. Some significant effects of gender and organizational factors on these relationships were found.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should expand upon variations in the meaning of employee empowerment across cultures, consider other cultural models and theories, and a more extensive set of personal, organizational and relational factors.

Practical implications

Employee preferences for leader empowerment behaviors are more likely the result of the interplay, exchange and trade-offs between cultural, personal and organizational values. The effectiveness of employee empowerment is contingent upon well-designed training programs aligning management and worker values, goals and tasks.

Originality/value

The authors offer more realistic, objective and evidence-based insights into the cultural influences on the effectiveness of empowerment and employee cognitions towards it than the extant, conceptually and methodologically compromised, strategic cross-cultural studies.