PCJ360H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Dictator Game, High Fidelity, Dependent And Independent Variables
7 Oct 2018
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Cultures differ in relying on external and internal explanations
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Collectivists lean towards external while individualists lean towards internal
explanations
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Many collectivist societies do punish (China, Vietnam, Thailand)
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Perceived severity of the act --> still external factors but allows for very punitive
measures
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Suggests that collectivists will be less punitive
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Discount external
More blame to individual
Perceived agency of harm-doer
Western societies are very individualistic
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Less personal agency
Closely knit community
Causal to external forces that are not the individual
East Asian and Latin American are more collectivist
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Perceived Agency as a Determinant of Moral Responsibility
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Value social cohesion
Social morality
Behaviours that threaten the sanctity of the collective as immoral
Purpose of punishment is to preserve the greater good of society
Collectivists see as parts of a whole
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Level of agency of individual
Individualists value individual rights
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Perceived Consequences as a Determinant of Moral Responsibility
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USA versus China
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USA focus on judgments of personal agency and responsibility
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China relying on severity of act and impact on society
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The Present Research
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Cultural Differences in Determinants of Responsibility
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Perception of harm-doer's agency and extent to which participants hold that actor
to be responsible and worthy of punishment
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Personal agency stronger for USA while China still find worthy of punishment
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188 participants
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University students
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Questionnaire for demographics
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Six different vignettes
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Responded to questions on Likert scale
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Method
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Chinese scored higher on responsibility, punishment, and prison-time
judgments
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Chinese did not base on perceived agency of individual
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Americans saw as having more personal agency / accountability
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Results and Discussion
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Study 1
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New set of seven vignettes
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Initially designed by a Chinese person in Chinese (opposite of Study 1)
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257 participants
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University students
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Added one new question - how much blame
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Method
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Study 2
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Feinberg
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5. How does culture shape views on fairness?
October 9, 2018
10:00 AM
READINGS Page 1
Added one new question - how much blame
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Effect of culture on responsibility judgments
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Americans relied more on personal agency
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Hypothesis confirmed
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Chinese: Consequences weighed more heavily than personal agency
American: personal agency weighed more heavily than consequences
Within-culture differences
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Results and Discussion
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550 online participants
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Demographic questionnaire
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Random assignment of vignette
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Method
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Americans cared more about personal agency
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Strong impact of personal agency condition on American's judgments of
punishment
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Chinese weighed consequences more heavily than personal judgments
No significant difference between personal agency and consequence
perceptions for Chinese
Within culture differences
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Extent to which transgressor acted with personal agency affected American
participants' judgments of responsibility more than it affected Chinese
participants' judgments
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Extent to which a target's actions had severe consequences affected Chinese
participants' judgments of responsibility more than it affected American
participants' judgments
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American participants' judgments are driven primarily by perceptions of
personal agency and not by perceptions of how severe the consequences
were
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Chinese participants' responsibility judgments are influenced mainly by
perceptions of how severe the consequences were and not personal agency
perceptions
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Punishment only partially in line with hypothesis
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Results & Discussions
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Study 3
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Replicate findings from Study 2
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Explain Chinese reactions by how their view of social harmony has been disrupted
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423 online participants
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Additional items after each vignette re social harmony
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Method
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Chinese held more accountable
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Social harmony disruption was a stronger predictor of each dependent
variable than it was for Americans
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Perceived consequences allowed them to assess harmony disruption
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Chinese weighed social harmony > agency and consequences > agency
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Americans weighed agency > social harmony and consequences
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Support for hypothesis
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Results and Discussion
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Weaker link between agency and punishment for Chinese
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Determinant of responsibility for Chinese came from perceived severity of
consequences
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General Discussion
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Study 4
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Strong norms
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Low tolerance of deviant behaviour
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Hutterites
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Hanno
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Tight
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Gelfand
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READINGS Page 2
Document Summary
Cultures differ in relying on external and internal explanations. Collectivists lean towards external while individualists lean towards internal explanations. Many collectivist societies do punish (china, vietnam, thailand) Perceived severity of the act --> still external factors but allows for very punitive measures. Perceived agency as a determinant of moral responsibility. East asian and latin american are more collectivist. Causal to external forces that are not the individual. Perceived consequences as a determinant of moral responsibility. Behaviours that threaten the sanctity of the collective as immoral. Purpose of punishment is to preserve the greater good of society. Usa focus on judgments of personal agency and responsibility. China relying on severity of act and impact on society. Perception of harm-doer"s agency and extent to which participants hold that actor to be responsible and worthy of punishment. Personal agency stronger for usa while china still find worthy of punishment. Chinese scored higher on responsibility, punishment, and prison-time judgments.
