CROSS-CULTURAL SOCIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Exploring the Relationship Between Avatar Ego Types and Communication: A Comparative Study of South Korea and the United States Based on the Expectation Confirmation Model

This research explores the significance of avatar communication in the virtual world, where individuals can create new identities and establish relationships beyond real-world limitations. Avatar users engage in virtual interactions to fulfill their desires, enjoy entertainment, and experience surrogate satisfaction. This study integrates the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM) and Impression Management Theory (IMT) to investigate the impact of various avatar ego types on communication satisfaction and continued intention to use. Two surveys (n = 600) were administered using South Korean and American samples. The results suggest a significant relationship between expectancy confirmation and perceived usefulness. Specifically, high perceived usefulness leads to increased communication satisfaction. Also, when pre-experience expectancy confirmation is low, it positively affects communication satisfaction. In addition, the study highlights differences between Western and Eastern cultural contexts in avatar ego type's expression. This study contributes to the understanding of virtual interactions, offering theoretical insights through the integration of ECM and IMT. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Risk perceptions and COVID-19 protective behaviors: A two-wave longitudinal study of epidemic and post-epidemic periods

We investigated how perceived risk and protective behaviors changed as the coronavirus epidemic progressed. A longitudinal sample of 538 people responded to a COVID-19 risk perception questionnaire during the outbreak and post-epidemic periods. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we examined the mean level change of selected constructs and differences in their relationships. We tested a risk perception pathway in which affective attitude, informed by experience, shaped risk perceptions and protective behaviors. The model also postulated a social pathway in which cultural worldviews, like individualism and hierarchy, predicted risk perceptions and protective behaviors through social norms. Latent mean difference analyses revealed a decrease in social distancing behaviors and an increase in hygiene-cleanliness, corresponding to a reduction in risk perceptions and social norms and a rise in direct and indirect experience, while affective attitude remained substantially stable. Cross-sectional and longitudinal path analyses showed that affective risk perception, primarily informed by affective attitude, and social norms promoted behavior consistency regardless of epidemic contingencies. Instead, analytic risk perceptions were linked to protective behaviors only during the outbreak. Although risk perceptions dropped over time, analytic risk perceptions dropped more steeply than affective risk perceptions. Our findings supported the distinction between affective and deliberative processes in risk perception, reinforcing the view that affective reactions are needed to deploy analytic processes. Our study also supports the claim that perceived social norms are essential to understanding cultural worldview-related protective behaviors variability.

Work Motivation: The Roles of Individual Needs and Social Conditions

Work motivation plays a vital role in the development of organizations, as it increases employee productivity and effectiveness. To expand insights into individuals’ work motivation, the authors investigated the influence of individuals’ competence, autonomy, and social relatedness on their work motivation. Additionally, the country-level moderating factors of those individual-level associations were examined. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze data from 32,614 individuals from 25 countries, obtained from the World Values Survey (WVS). Findings showed that autonomy and social relatedness positively impacted work motivation, while competence negatively influenced work motivation. Moreover, the individual-level associations were moderated by the country-level religious affiliation, political participation, humane orientation, and in-group collectivism. Contributions, practical implications, and directions for further research were then discussed.

100 Years of Scientific Evolution of Work and Organizational Psychology: A Bibliometric Network Analysis From 1919 to 2019

In this study, we explore a 100 years of Work and Organizational Psychology (WOP). To do this, we carry out a bibliometric performance and network analysis (BPNA) to understand the evolution structure and the most important themes in the field of study. To perform the BNPA, 8,966 documents published since 1919 were exported from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The SciMAT software was used to process data and to create the evolution structure, the strategic diagram, and the thematic network structure of the strategic themes of the field of WOP. We identified 29 strategic clusters and discuss the most important themes (motor themes) and their relationship with other clusters. This research presents the complete evolution of the field of study, identifying emerging themes and others with a high degree of development. We hope that this work will support researchers and future research in the field of WOP.

Humour styles, personality, and well‐being among Lebanese university students

This research examined the structure and correlates of the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) in Lebanese university students. Four humour factors were found, as in the original Canadian samples: Affiliative, Self‐Enhancing, Aggressive, and Self‐Defeating humour. Scale reliabilities were generally acceptable, and inter‐correlations among the scales were low. Lebanese participants scored lower than Canadians on Affiliative and Self‐Enhancing humour and lower than Belgians on Affiliative and Aggressive humour. As in Canadian and Belgian samples, males reported significantly more use of Aggressive and Self‐Defeating humour than did females. Humour styles correlated differentially, and generally as predicted, with horizontal and vertical individualism and collectivism, attachment styles, perceived health, and psychological well‐being. Overall, the findings support the cross‐cultural stability of the HSQ as well as the differential relationship of these humour styles with culture‐related personality traits and psychological well‐being. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

National culture, employee empowerment and advanced manufacturing technology utilisation: A study of Nigeria and New Zealand

With manufacturers seeking investment opportunities in Africa, it is timely to explore the interaction of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) and human resource management approaches there. Because research elsewhere suggests that the effects of the interaction differ across national boundaries, we investigated empowerment approaches and AMT utilisation in Nigeria and New Zealand. Using operational-level survey data from 153 manufacturing managers/CEOs in both countries, we explored the role of national culture on managerial attitudes towards employee empowerment during AMT adoption. Drawing on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, our results suggest that the observed differences in AMT–empowerment interface are attributable to different national values. The results specifically indicated that during AMT adoption, New Zealand’s liberal culture encourages managers to empower employees more than does Nigeria’s authoritarian one. The results would particularly assist practitioners to recognise the traditional/conservative nature of African values when practicing HR in a country like Nigeria.

Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on career development: Insights from cultural psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant global crisis that requires individuals, organizations and nations to take necessary steps to cope. To develop a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on individuals' career development and possible coping strategies, we adopt a cultural psychological perspective to analyze: (1) how internalized cultural orientations (e.g., values, thinking styles, regulatory focus) may shape individual responses and coping strategies to COVID-19 pandemic; (2) how national culture influences the collective actions and norms during COVID-19 pandemic; (3) how to integrate insights from cultural psychology to enrich research on career management strategies in response to a fast changing environment. While this paper primarily focuses on the role of national culture (i.e., the shared meanings and practices in a nation), these discussions can largely be applied to other cultural settings. Practical implications are also discussed.

Sex differences and the modulating effects of gonad intactness on behavioral conformity in a mouse model

Although gender differences in conformity are noticed in human studies, cultural norms and psychosocial factors inevitably affect such differences. Biological factors, especially the gonadal hormones and the brain regions involved, contributing to the sex differences in behavioral conformity remained scarcely explored. To prevent psychosocial and cultural norm confounds, intact and gonadectomized male and female mice were used to assess the modulating effects of gonadal hormones on behavioral conformity and such conformity-related brain regions using an approach of choice paradigm. Intact and gonadectomized mice' choices for the nonrewarded runway were assessed when these experimental mice were alone versus with a group, consisting of three same-sex noncagemates choosing the respective experimental mice' nonrewarded runway, in a double-J-shaped maze test. Although male and female mice exhibited comparable rewarded runway choices at the conclusion of the operant training procedures and in the test individually, male mice demonstrated greater conformity index as compared to female mice when group tested. Gonadectomy, done at their 4 or 9 weeks of age, decreased males' conformity index but did not affect females' when both sexes were group tested. Such gonadectomy did not affect the conditioning or conformity index when tested individually in either sex. Female mice had higher serum corticosterone (CORT) levels when group tested as compared to the female mice tested individually and male mice. Finally, the number of FOS-staining cells in high conformity-displaying mice was found less than it in the low conformity-performing mice in the nucleus accumbens. Taken together, we conclude that testis-derived hormones, at least, play a role in enhancing behavioral conformity in male mice. CORT and nucleus accumbal neuronal activity deserve further investigation for their involvement in behavioral conformity.

Linking knowledge sharing to innovative behavior: the moderating role of collectivism

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between behavior-oriented knowledge sharing and innovative behavior and the moderating effects of collectivism on the aforementioned relationship. It also assesses the impact of epistemic motivation and pro-social motivation on behavior-oriented knowledge sharing.

Design/methodology/approach

Focusing on Chinese context, the study conducts a questionnaire survey to test the research model. Linear regression analysis is used to examine the main effects of the independent variables, and the multi-level linear regression model is used to evaluate the moderating effects of the controlled variables.

Findings

The findings reveal that epistemic motivation stimulates individual-oriented knowledge sharing and pro-social motivation stimulates organization-oriented knowledge sharing. Organization-oriented knowledge sharing impacts more than individual-oriented knowledge sharing on innovative behavior. Moreover, collectivism is shown to positively moderate the relationship between behavior-oriented knowledge sharing and innovative behavior.

Practical implications

The study provides evidence that motivation should be significantly considered when sharing knowledge. Managers should prioritize the promotion of employees’ epistemic and pro-social motivation. The study also suggests that encouraging collectivism should be an important objective, as it moderates the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovative behavior positively.

Originality/value

The study emphasized how individual-oriented and organization-oriented knowledge sharing impacts innovative behavior differently and how collectivism moderates that relationship. It also illustrates how epistemic and pro-social motivation affects behavior-oriented knowledge sharing. The study contributes to a stream of research that links knowledge sharing and innovative behavior.

Elucidating the role of the posterior medial frontal cortex in social conflict processing

A fundamental function of the brain is learning via new information. Studies investigating the neural basis of information-based learning processes indicate an important role played by the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) in representing conflict between an individual's expectation and new information. However, specific function of the pMFC in this process remains relatively indistinct. Particularly, it's unclear whether the pMFC plays a role in the detection of conflict of incoming information, or the update of their belief after new information is provided. In an fMRI scanner, twenty-eight Japanese students viewed scenarios depicting various pro-social/anti-social behaviors. Participants rated how likely Japanese and South Korean students would perform each behavior, followed by feedback of the actual likelihood. They were then asked to rerate the scenarios after the fMRI session. Participants updated their second estimates based on feedback, with estimate changes more pronounced for favorable feedback (e.g., higher likelihood of pro-social behavior than expected) despite nationality, indicating participants were willing to view other people favorably. The fMRI results demonstrated activity in a part of the pMFC, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), was correlated with social conflict (difference between participant's estimate and actual likelihood), but not the corresponding belief update. Importantly, activity in a different part within the dmPFC was more sensitive to unfavorable trials compared to favorable trials. These results indicate sensitivity in the pMFC (at least within the dmPFC) relates to conflict between desirable outcomes versus reality, as opposed to the associated update of belief.

Motivational power of future time perspective: Meta-analyses in education, work, and health

Future time perspective (FTP) may predict individual attitudes and behaviors. However, FTP research includes different FTP conceptualizations and outcomes which hinder generalizing its findings. To solve the inconsistencies in FTP research and generalize the magnitude of FTP as a driver of motivation and behavior, we conducted the first systematical synthesis of FTP relationships in three crucial life domains. Our meta-analyses of FTP studies in education (k = 28), work (k = 17), and health (k = 32) involved N = 31,558 participants, and used a conceptual model for grouping FTP constructs. To address different outcome types, we applied the Theory of Planned Behavior when coding the studies. FTP relationships with outcomes were small-to-medium, were generalizable across domains, and were strongest when the FTP construct included a mixture of cognition, behavioral intention, and affect and, in education, when the FTP measure was domain specific rather than general. There were cross-cultural differences in FTP-outcome relationships. The strength of the FTP-outcome types relationship varied for attitudes, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and behaviors. The lowest effect sizes were found for FTP predicting actual behaviors in education, work, and health and between FTP and health attitudes. Theoretical implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.

Future Time Perspective Scale (FTPS-P): Análise Rasch da versão Portuguesa

O presente estudo analisa as propriedades psicométricas da Future Time Perspective Scale (FTPS) numa amostra de universitários portugueses, usando o modelo de Rasch.  Os resultados indicam que os itens das subescalas ajustam a estruturas latentes unidimensionais, pressuposto requerido pelo modelo de Rasch.  A escala de resposta apresentou funcionamento adequado, excepção feita à subescala de rapidez, permitindo que os parâmetros de pessoas e itens fossem estimados com elevada precisão.  Análises DIF confirmaram a inexistência de diferenças nos resultados relativas ao género. São discutidas as limitações do estudo e as implicações psicométricas dos resultados para futuras investigações.

Escala Retrospectiva de Imprevisibilidade Familiar (Retro-FUS): Análise Rasch da versão Portuguesa

O presente estudo analisa as propriedades psicométricas da Retrospective Family Unpredictability Scale (Retro-FUS) numa amostra de universitários portugueses, com o modelo de Rasch. Os resultados indicam que os itens ajustam a uma estrutura latente unidimensional, pressuposto requerido pelo modelo. A escala de resposta revelou funcionamento adequado, mas refinável, permitindo que os parâmetros de pessoas e itens fossem estimados com elevada precisão. Análises DIF confirmaram a inexistência de diferenças nos resultados relativas ao género. São discutidas as limitações do estudo e as implicações psicométricas dos resultados para futuras investigações.

Comparisons of Daily Behavior Across 21 Countries

While a large body of research has investigated cultural differences in behavior, this typical study assesses a single behavioral outcome, in a single context, compared across two countries. The current study compared a broad array of behaviors across 21 countries ( N = 5,522). Participants described their behavior at 7:00 p.m. the previous evening using the 68 items of the Riverside Behavioral Q-sort (RBQ). Correlations between average patterns of behavior in each country ranged from r = .69 to r = .97 and, in general, described a positive and relaxed activity. The most similar patterns were United States/Canada and least similar were Japan/United Arab Emirates (UAE). Similarities in behavior within countries were largest in Spain and smallest in the UAE. Further analyses correlated average RBQ item placements in each country with, among others, country-level value dimensions, personality traits, self-esteem levels, economic output, and population. Extroversion, openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, self-esteem, happiness, and tolerant attitudes yielded more significant correlations than expected by chance.

The Dynamic Construction of Culture, Self and Social Relations

Selves emerge in development through intersystemic co-action. To illustrate this position the case of pride, a self-evaluative emotion, is used. It is argued that language and other semi otic vehicles of culture are instrumental in the social mediation of the shared meaning systems that frame the development of self-evaluative emotions. Illustrations from interviews with participants from India and the US suggest similarities as well as differences in the kinds of ideologies, values and myths that are employed to talk about and structure pride experiences. The American individual endorses a system of pride relevant cultural values that is organised around low interdependent themes, which are prominent among Indians. However there are commonalities between the American and the Indian participants too. The themes such as "helping others", "taking care of one's children and family'; "helping those who are in need" and "working hard" were common to both. It is suggested that it might be useful to think of the cultural differences as embedded within similarities.

Subjective Overachievement in American and Chinese College Students

Research on American students has indicated that a subjective overachiever strives to attain outstanding performance but is also chronically plagued by self-doubt. The present investigation compared Chinese college students in Hong Kong and Singapore to their Caucasian American counterparts in an attempt to examine the similarities and differences in subjective overachievement across cultures. Results supported the relevance of the subjective achievement experience in different cultures but also revealed important differences. Compared to American participants, Chinese participants showed more ambivalence about the benefits of failure, and they manifested higher levels of self-doubt as well as the tendency to discount ability under conditions of effort exertion. These cross-cultural differences persisted after controlling for individual differences in self-construals.

Glasnost and the Art of Conversation

Despite extensive research in the field of self-disclosure, little is known about the impact of a formerly repressive regime on disclosure or the manner in which culture, demographic variables, and individual worldviews combine to affect disclosure. Building on the previous literature on social penetration processes and uncertainty reduction, the authors generated nine hypotheses about the impact of these variables on intimate disclosure. Worldview and disclosure data were collected from 450 participants in three cultures (Russia, Georgia, and Hungary) and from three occupational groups (manual workers, business people, and students). Significant effects on disclosure were found for culture, interaction target, age of respondent, and their level of fatalism, with interaction effects for the topic discussed and the occupation and gender of the respondent. Results are discussed in terms of the development of personal relationships in the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the context of a wider debate about the contribution of different levels of variables in understanding close personal relationships.

Physical Self-Perceptions in Adolescence

This study examines the generalizability of the form, structural parameters, and latent means of a hierarchical multidimensional model of physical self-perceptions in adolescents from three cultures. A children's version of the physical self-perception profile (PSPP-C) was administered to samples of British, Hong Kong, and Russian high school students. A structural equation model that hypothesized a hierarchical structure with global self-esteem as a super ordinate construct and physical self-worth as a domain-level construct governing the PSPP-C subdomains fit the data adequately. Tests of the cross-cultural generalizability of the proposed model supported the invariance of the factor pattern and model parameters across the samples. Latent means analysis suggested that the factor means were significantly higher in the British sample, a finding that supports the results of cross-cultural studies of self-esteem in other domains.

The Cross-Cultural Perspective in the Study of Personality

In this article, we examine the rationale for cross-cultural studies of personality, (including the search for cultural universals). Note the uncertain cross-cultural relevance of mainstream personality theories, and address current cross-cultural research on the following personality-relevant topics: personality structure and assessment, implications of individualism-collectivism for traits and their measurement, values and beliefs, emotions and subjective well-being, and motivation. Some of the best support for cross-cultural universality has been obtained in studies of the five-factor model of personality, the content and structure of values, a limited number of basic emotions, and higher order mood dimensions. Topics that need to be studied further include the following: (a) how to separate the many factors that influence personality scores across cultures, (b) the degree of cross-cultural comparability of the nomological nets of personality dimensions, and (c) the integration of trait-psychology and cultural-psychology perspectives.

Scenarios for the Measurement of Collectivism and Individualism

This article presents a method that uses scenarios for the measurement of horizontal (H)and vertical (V) individualism (I) and collectivism (C) across cultures, with university samples. The scenarios were developed by using focus groups, to cover a wide range of social situations often found among university students. Graduate student judges indicated which responses to each scenario represented HI, VI, HC, or VC judgments. When the judges did not agree on these judgments, the scenarios were eliminated. Scenarios that did not distinguish responses obtained from the Illinois and Hong Kong samples were also eliminated. This resulted in a set of 16 scenarios that provide efficient measurement of the constructs. The method converges with a method that uses attitude items.

Culture + Intelligence

Despite the extensive research on culture and intelligence in organizational psychology, little attention has been given to the integration of the two constructs. This special issue aims to stimulate new research directions by synthesizing the two streams of research. In this introduction to the special issue, we propose a framework that reflects and reconciles two different approaches to integrating culture and intelligence—the cultural variation of intelligence approach versus the cultural intelligence approach. Our focus is on the latter approach, which centers on validating the emerging construct called cultural intelligence—defined as the capability to be effective across cultural settings. Specifically, we discuss the measurement and substantive issues that future research should address in advancing our understanding of the cultural intelligence construct.

Organizational Information, Organizational Commitment and Intention to Quit

This study examines an often-ignored area, namely the relationship between organizational information and organizational commitment, using a sample of employees from Trinidad and Tobago. Basing our arguments on research in Anglo cultures, we postulated that organization information would be positively related to organizational commitment and the latter mediates the relationship between organization information and job satisfaction. Furthermore, we also predicted that job satisfaction would mediate the relationship between organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Finally, it was hypothesized that job alternatives will moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to quit. The hypothesized relationships yielded mostly significant results. The latter is not surprising given that Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural context is fairly similar to Anglo cultures. We discuss both theoretical and practical implications of our findings in the context of cross cultural management.

Comparison of Public and Academic Discourses: Estonian Individualism and Collectivism Revisited

The article studies the meaning of individualism and collectivism from two different perspectives—from the viewpoints of the academic discipline of cross-cultural psychology and of Estonian public discourse. More specifically, the aim of this study is to explore and understand the difference between Estonians' autostereotype of their extreme individualism and the opposing opinion held by the cross-cultural research community that sees Estonia as a collectivistic country. The findings show that the definitions and conceptualizations of individualism and collectivism by cross-cultural psychologists and Estonian lay-people are indeed only partially overlapping. If Estonians speak about their individualism or collectivism, they seem to emphasize their being/acting alone versus being/working in groups, whereas for cross-cultural researchers the defining attributes of individualism are striving for affective and intellectual autonomy and egalitarian values versus conservatism. Moreover, the findings clearly suggest that the concepts of individualism and collectivism are conceptualized differently not only in Estonian public discourse and academic discourse, but also within academic discourse in cross-cultural psychology. It seems that behind the solid and broad façade of individualism-collectivism, multiple concepts co-habit with rather diverse meanings. Future research should redirect its focus on the core elements of individualism and collectivism in order to clean the concepts of the deposited layers of meanings and implications and to help them to win back their status of principal cultural dimensions.

Multicultural Assessment:

Current suggestions for assessing clients across cultures fail to adequately aid the average practitioner This failure arises from unresolved issues and problems, interfering with the ability of most counselors and therapists to render sound clinical judgments. In response to these issues and problems, a procedure is described that sensitizes counselors to cultural data in assessment and case conceptualization. Grounded in a guiding philosophy of assessment, the Multicultural Assessment Procedure (MAP) was developed in consideration of a number of relevant critical issues. The procedure entails identifying cultural data through multiple methods of data collection, interpreting cultural data to formulate a working hypothesis, incorporating cultural data with other relevant clinical information to test the working hypothesis, and arriving at a sound (i.e., comprehensive and accurate) assessment decision. A case illustration demonstrates how to use the proposed procedure.

Diversity in Organizations and Cross-Cultural Work Psychology: What If They Were More Connected?

In this article, we discuss how the fields of diversity in organizations and cross-cultural work psychology can benefit from greater attention to and integration with each other as well as more clarity regarding the distinctions between them. We first present—each in our own voice and from our individual perspective—past and current issues in the two respective areas. We then jointly identify and discuss key areas of commonality and difference between diversity and cross-cultural work psychology in theory, research, and practice. Subsequently, we point to ways the two fields might learn and benefit from each other's approaches and perspectives. We consider issues such as the interplay between culture and diversity, the dual impact of individuals on groups and vice versa, and the role of identity as an organizing principle in group diversity. Overall, this article provides illustrative examples of the benefits of more exchange and dialogue between the fields.

Validation of the Chinese version of Differentiation of Self Inventory (C-DSI)

Although the need to develop objective assessment tools in different cultures is well-recognized, there is a severe lack of objective measures about emotional functioning in the Chinese context. This project conducted three studies to validate the Chinese version of the Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI). Study 1 looked at the factor structure, internal consistency, concurrent validity, and construct validity of the C-DSI. Study 2 examined the test-retest reliability of the C-DSI. Study 3 tested the discriminant validity of the C-DSI in a clinical sample and in a nonclinical sample and examined its correlations with the General Contentment Scale (GCS). The study results suggested that the C-DSI possesses good psychometric properties. Findings also indicated implications of divergent cultures and hinted at treatment implications--taking the familistic orientation and the Chinese meaning of self into consideration to understand the differentiation of self in the Chinese culture context.

Corporate Innovation Culture and Dimensions of Project Portfolio Success: The Moderating Role of National Culture

This study examines the relationships between corporate innovation culture (analysis/practices) and dimensions of project portfolio success (strategic fit/portfolio balance) as well as national-level culture practices as moderators. Data ( N = 165) were collected in four countries differing in cultural practices. Analysis and practices were identified as positive, significant, and complementary predictors of both dimensions. As hypothesized, the corporate variables related more strongly and positively to the success dimensions when assertiveness was high rather than low. The findings, thus, suggest that corporate factors should be compatible with national culture to elevate the fit and balance of project portfolios.

Region-Urbanicity Differences in Locus of Control: Social Disadvantage, Structure, or Cultural Exceptionalism?

People with internal rather than external locus of control experience better outcomes in multiple domains. Previous studies on spatial differences in control within America only focused on the South, relied on aggregate level data or historical evidence, or did not account for other confounding regional distinctions (such as variation in urbanicity). Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find differences in adolescents' loci of control depending on their region and urbanicity are largely attributable to differences in their social background, and only minimally to structural differences (i.e., differences in the qualities of adolescents' schools). Differences that persist net of differences across adolescents and their schools suggest the less internal control of rural Southern adolescents, and the more internal control of rural and urban Northeastern adolescents, may be due to cultural distinctions in those areas. Results indicate region is more closely associated than urbanicity with differences in locus of control, with Western and Northeastern cultures seemingly fostering more internal control than Midwestern and Southern cultures. These findings contribute to research on spatial variation in a variety of psychological traits.

Toward a Better Understanding of Self-Construal Theory: An Agency View of the Processes of Self-Construal

This article offers a novel perspective on self-construal theory. Self-construal concerns how individuals understand who they are in relation to the broad set of cultural influences in which they live. We look at the nature and antecedents of self-construal, and characterize it as a self-process, rather than self-knowledge. Integrating work from the literature on social and evolutionary psychology, and philosophy, we suggest that the differences between independent and interdependent self-construal are best understood from a self-agency perspective. This concerns how people assess whether they are the causes of an action and, if so, whether their causal role depends on other people. We introduce and discuss the roles of 3 different modalities of agency involved in self-agency assessment: implicit (sensorimotor), intermediate (self-related affordances), and explicit (reflective) self-agency. We offer a conceptual model on how self-agency relates to power, evolutionary motivations and to social and cultural affordances, in the formation of, and interaction with, different types of dominant independent and interdependent self-construals.

Human Resource Development in Service Firms Across Cultures

Due to the continued growth of the global services sector, it is essential that service firms have a greater understanding of the implementation of human resource development (HRD) in different cultures and how HRD relates to service quality. The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical model that stresses the importance of HRD alignment with national and organizational culture in increasing perceptions of service quality. In this article, we present a model that integrates the role of national culture, organizational culture, and HRD into a conceptual framework and develops several propositions. This article suggests that the overall effectiveness in service quality will likely increase when HRD interventions are aligned with the national culture and organizational culture. HRD managers in service firms should understand the role of national culture and organizational culture when implementing HRD. Managers who fail to consider national values and their relationship with organizational culture will be less successful at implementing HRD.

Toward an Asset Orientation in the Study of U.S. Latina/o Youth

Despite their significant and growing demographic importance, U.S. Latina/o youth are rarely the focus of research and almost never studied from a perspective that reflects counseling psychologists’ emphases on social justice and the strengths of individuals. Such a perspective is likely to result in more effective approaches to the understanding and prevention of adverse outcomes and can expand the understanding of variables that have been traditionally used to study U.S. Latina/o youth. In this study, two specific asset variables—leadership and social responsibility—were used to test hypotheses about the role of biculturalism in adaptive psychological functioning among U.S. Latina/o youth. Results suggest that bicultural identity is meaningfully associated with asset variables, whereas bicultural involvement is not. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Recognizing Leadership at a Distance

The present study investigated whether personality and leadership evaluations based on photographs of Chinese CEOs made by Western raters were accurate at predicting organizational outcomes. Consistent with implicit leadership prototypes held by Westerners, perceived effectiveness was associated with higher levels of perceived intelligence, dominance, and positivity. However, actual organization performance was associated with the culturally appropriate leadership trait of risk taking. These findings suggest that although it is possible to use perceptions of personality based on photographs to predict objective leader effectiveness, individuals using a leadership paradigm suited to Western cultures are poor judges of potential success in Eastern cultures.

General Belief in A Just World and Resilience: Evidence from A Collectivistic Culture

Previous research showed that in the individualistic culture, adults endorse the personal more than the general belief in a just world (PBJW vs. GBJW). Comparatively little is known about the prevalence character and adaptive functions of GBJW, especially in the collectivistic culture. We conducted three surveys among the Chinese adults and adolescents. We found that (1) Chinese adults and adolescents endorsed more GBJW than PBJW; (2) Adult survivors with high exposure to post–earthquake trauma and adolescents in the poverty–stricken area maintained high GBJW, with relatively lower PBJW. (3) GBJW predicted the psychological resilience in all the three samples independent of PBJW. The results imply that in contrast to populations from the individualistic culture, people from the collectivistic culture endorse a robust GBJW, which allows them to resiliently confront harsh realities. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development of an Individualism-Collectivism Scale Revisited: A Korean Sample

A 13-item Individualism-Collectivism scale comprising source of identity, goal priority, mode of social relation, and norm acceptance is presented. A validation of this scale was conducted using a survey of 773 Korean employees. An exploratory factor analysis and a second-order confirmatory factor analysis supported the measure as having theoretical face validity and acceptable internal consistency reliability. Among the four facets, goal priority most strongly predicted the general Individualism-Collectivism latent factor.

Entrepreneurial networking differences: An ethnic in-group and out-group analysis

Orientation: Researching entrepreneurship using a network perspective is important, as social networks are assets for small business owners struggling to survive in competitive markets.Research purpose: The research question of this study has focused on what we can learn about entrepreneurial networking, considering that there is an under-explored and unarticulated set of networking principles and practices which have not been previously analysed in terms of a multiethnic country context.Motivation for the study: Often the lack of network use is reported as a feature of entrepreneurs, who have less opportunity to utilise formal social capital features. Social networks provided by extended family, community-based or organisational relationships are often theorised to supplement the effects of education, experience and financial capital.Research design, approach and method: Based on hypothesised differences in networking ties, network assistance and support relationships, a survey was used to collect data on quantitative measures. Descriptive statistics were calculated and differential tests were conducted to test the hypotheses.Main findings: Results indicate that entrepreneurial networking is largely independent on group composition. Generally at least some aspects of networking are generic and as a consequence, a more integrated view of networking can be adopted.Practical/managerial implications: The practical value of the present study points to several areas of interest to entrepreneurs, policy makers and educators, through demonstrating the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurial networks for different groups and their explanatory potential in understanding networking.Contribution/value-add: Despite the importance of entrepreneurial networking, little empirical or theoretical research has examined the dynamics of networking in a developing country context such as South Africa, which has lower than expected total entrepreneurship activity.

Ambivalent Sexism and Power-Related Gender-role Ideology in Marriage

Glick-Fiske's (1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory(ASI) and a new Gender-Role Ideology in Marriage (GRIM) inventory examine ambivalent sexism toward women, predicting power-related, gender-role beliefs about mate selection and marriage norms. Mainland Chinese, 552, and 252 U.S. undergraduates participated. Results indicated that Chinese and men most endorsed hostile sexism; Chinese women more than U.S. women accepted benevolent sexism. Both Chinese genders prefer home-oriented mates (women especially seeking a provider and upholding him; men especially endorsing male-success/female-housework, male dominance, and possibly violence). Both U.S. genders prefer considerate mates (men especially seeking an attractive one). Despite gender and culture differences in means, ASI-GRIM correlations replicate across those subgroups: Benevolence predicts initial mate selection; hostility predicts subsequent marriage norms.

Effects of Culture Priming on the Social Connectedness of the Bicultural Self

This research tests the theoretical prediction that the self-concept of bicultural Chinese would become more socially connected when Chinese primed than when Western primed. Measures of social connectedness are derived from the Self-Reference Effect, according to which information will be memorized better when it references the Self than when it references the non-Self. Under Western priming ( n = 91), memory of information referencing Self is better than that referencing font (a nonperson condition referring to the style in which the information is printed), a Nonidentified Person (NIP), or Mother, which suggests a relatively distinct Self (Hypothesis 1). Under Chinese priming ( n = 96), the Self-font distinction remains, but the Self—NIP and Self—Mother distinctions disappear as predicted, suggesting a more socially connected Self (Hypothesis 2). The predicted Priming × Referencing interaction effects are (marginally) significant, which confirm that the Self—NIP and Self—Mother connectedness is higher under Chinese priming than under Western priming (Hypothesis 3).

Motives for smoking and drinking: country and gender differences in samples of Hungarian and US high school students

We examined the relation of four motive dimensions to tobacco and alcohol use in samples of high school students in Hungary (N=602) and the United States (N=1,225). Rates of cigarette smoking were higher in Hungary than the US, and rates of alcohol use were comparable; boys showed higher rates of smoking in Hungary and higher rates of alcohol use in both countries. For smoking, social motives were predictive only in Hungary, while boredom relief and affect regulation were more predictive in the US. For alcohol use, social motives was the only dimension related to drinking in Hungary, whereas in the US all motive dimensions were predictive for girls' drinking, and social and affect regulation motives were predictive for boys' drinking. Gender differences in smoking and alcohol use were partially mediated through motives for use, with the specific mediators depending on the cultural context.