5. Attitudes and Attribution Across Culture (Jan 23).pdf

PSYC*2310▯ Thursday, January 23, 2014▯ Attitudes and Attribution Across Culture▯ ▯ -aking Attributions in Intercultural Interactions▯ -ypes of explanations:▯ ability:▯ - how smart/talented someone is▯ - task difficulty:▯ - how difficult it was to achieve the desired outcome▯ - effort:▯ - how much work was put into the task▯ - luck▯ - cultures tend to use different explanations for success and failure▯ - Isomorphic attribution (Triandis, 1977)▯ - when you make an attribution about the past, the actor also makes the same attribution▯ - consistency between interpretation and person engaging in that behaviour ▯ - example: friend is sick in hospital- send friend flowers and card: attribution made about relationship between friends: they are distant (if they were close, they would have gone to the hospital)▯ - example: Japanese ▯ ▯ Cultural Style of Attribution▯ - in individualistic cultures people tend to focus on the individual as determining the cause of behaviour:▯ - people attribute success to ability and failure to external factors▯ - in collectivistic cultures people tend to give greater emphasis to external causes of individual behaviour▯ - people attribute success to help from others and failure to the lack of effort▯ ▯ Must Thank the Country!▯ - Zhou Yang, 18, received Gold Medal in the women’s 1500 metres short-track speed skating in Vancouver Winter Olympics (2010)▯ - people should put country first, enhance moral education of our acts▯ ▯ Fundamental Attribution Error▯ - is it possible that the fundamental attribution error is a uniquely western phenomenon?▯ - Joan Miller (1984):▯ - participants: American and Asian Indians of varying ages▯ - they had to describe the cause of actions they had observed in lives▯ - age 8: no difference between American and Asians▯ - as the individuals become socialized in their own culture, internal attribution significantly increases in Americans▯ - Americans: more internal attribution when thinking about various attributions in their lives▯ - opposite in external attribution: Indians tend to make more external attribution as they are socialized in Indian culture ▯ ▯ Masuda and Nisbett’s Study (2001)▯ - results:▯ - both American and Japanese college students recalled details about the focal fish to a nearly equal extent ▯ - Japanese students, however, reported more details about the supporting cast in the - background▯ Americans: one fish leading the others, Japanese: one fish being chased by others ▯ ▯ Bicultural Identity▯ - how bicultural individuals make attributions for human behaviour?▯ - (Hong, Morris, Chiu, and Benet-Martinez, 2000)▯ - some shown series of images of American culture, some shown series of images of Chinese culture ▯ ▯ Attribution of Bicultural Individuals▯ - when shown American images, less likely to make situational attribution▯ - when shown Chinese images, more likely to say that the fish was being chased by other fish▯ ▯ Hong et al. Study▯ - results: ▯ - those with bicultural identity made more situational attribution when Chinese images were presented and less situational attribution when American images were given ▯ - conclusion: ▯ - social perceptions are fluid and depend on which culture is brought to mind▯ ▯ Self-Serving Attributions▯ - “I succeed because I am smart”▯ - self serving attributions:▯ - the tendency of explaining one’s success to internal disposition factors and one’s failure to external situational factors▯ - functions of self-serving bias:▯ - defending one’s action:▯ - Sande, Goethals, Ferrarj, and Worth (1989)▯ - ask American student of American navy in international waters▯ - answers: to keep international peace, save animals▯ - ask American student of Russian navy in international waters▯ - answers: to spy on other countries, develop nuclear power▯ - overestimate one’s contribution and under-estimating other’s contributions▯ - Ross and Sicoly (1979):▯ - students given a list of 20 chores to be done around the house▯ - eac