Perceptions of intergenerational communication across cultures: an Italian case

406 Anglo-American, Italian-American, and Italian (Northern and Southern Italy) students were asked to evaluate past conversations with same-age peers, i.e., 17 to 30 years, and older adults, i.e., 65 years and older. While according older adults more deference, all cultural groups perceived older adults as more rigid and nonaccommodating than younger adults. Exchanges with older adults were reported as having more negative affect than were those with other young adults, and were also more likely to he avoided.     

The Role of Culture,Workgroup Membership,and Organizational Status on Cooperation and Trust: An Experimental Investigation

We examined how interactions among participants' cultural backgrounds (e.g., Australian vs. Singaporean) and multiple subgroups (e.g., cultural group membership, workgroup membership, organizational status) affect trust and cooperation in the workplace. University students (120 Australians, 120 Singaporeans) responded to hypothetical scenarios of cooperation and trust in the workplace. The results indicated that, for both Australians and Singaporeans, trust and cooperation were more strongly influenced by workgroup membership and organizational status than by cultural group membership. Participants trusted and cooperated more with work in‐group members than with work out‐group members, and trusted and cooperated more with superiors than with peers. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

The effect of culture on perspective taking

People consider the mental states of other people to understand their actions. We evaluated whether such perspective taking is culture dependent. People in collectivistic cultures (e.g., China) are said to have interdependent selves, whereas people in individualistic cultures (e.g., the United States) are said to have independent selves. To evaluate the effect of culture, we asked Chinese and American pairs to play a communication game that required perspective taking. Eye-gaze measures demonstrated that the Chinese participants were more tuned into their partner's perspective than were the American participants. Moreover, Americans often completely failed to take the perspective of their partner, whereas Chinese almost never did. We conclude that cultural patterns of interdependence focus attention on the other, causing Chinese to be better perspective takers than Americans. Although members of both cultures are able to distinguish between their perspective and another person's perspective, cultural patterns afford Chinese the effective use of this ability to interpret other people's actions.     

Inter‐Asian Variability in Intergenerational Communication

This study compared Japanese and Thai younger adults' intra‐ and intergenerational communication. Both groups linearly increased communicative respect and avoidance, beliefs about politeness, and deference norms as interlocutors got older (from young to middle‐aged to older adult). Cross‐culturally, the Thais reported more respectful communication to younger adults than did the Japanese, while the Japanese were more likely to be avoidant of communication with middle‐aged adults. Both politeness and deference norms were more strongly endorsed by the Thais than Japanese. Via regression analysis, the deference norm positively predicted respectful communication to middle‐aged and older adults in Japan, and for young and middle‐aged targets in Thailand. Avoidant communication was found to negatively predict conversational enjoyment and satisfaction in both countries.     

Social identity,attribution, and emotion: Comparisons of Americans,Korean Americans,and Koreans

The social identity of another person, in addition to the social identity of self, can be an important factor affecting the types of attribution judgments and emotions that individuals indicate for the other person. In April 2007, the perpetrator of the shooting incident on the Virginia Tech University campus was identified as a person who emigrated to the USA from Korea at a young age. The current study compared non‐Korean Americans, Korean Americans, Koreans in the USA, and Koreans in Korea in terms of their attributions and emotions concerning the perpetrator and the shooting incident. Participants were asked to indicate (1) the extent to which they attributed the cause of the incident to either American society or the perpetrator, (2) their emotions (e.g., upset), and (3) the extent to which they categorized the perpetrator as an American, a Korean American, or a Korean. The results indicated that non‐Korean Americans were most likely to attribute the cause of the incident to the perpetrator as opposed to American society. Non‐Korean Americans, Korean Americans, and Koreans in the United States had more negative emotions (e.g., unhappy, sad, and upset) about the incident than Koreans in Korea did. The results also indicated that individuals differed in their attributions and emotions depending on how they categorized the perpetrator. For example, categorizing the perpetrator as being a Korean was positively related to Americans’ tendency to hold the perpetrator responsible, while categorizing the perpetrator as being an American was negatively related to the tendency to hold the perpetrator responsible among Koreans in Korea. The findings may imply that social identity theory, intergroup emotion theory, and cultural orientations (e.g., individualism and collectivism) can provide insights into people's reactions to a tragic incident.     

Why do People Blame Victims of Abuse? The Role of Stereotypes of Women on Perceptions of Blame

Stereotyping research suggests that traditional women (e.g., housewives) are seen as warm and weak, whereas nontraditional women (e.g., career women) are seen as lacking warmth but competent. We expected a nontraditional female abuse victim to be perceived as less warm than a traditional victim, and thus be blamed more in an abuse scenario. In an experiment, 118 Midwestern United States college students read a marital conflict in which the husband perpetrated high levels of psychological abuse. The victim’s gender role and reaction to the abuse each were manipulated. As expected, when the victim was nontraditional or she reacted negatively to the abuse (e.g., yelled back), she was rated more negatively and blamed more due to her lack of warmth.     

Self-Perceived Gender Typicality, Gender-Typed Attributes, and Gender Stereotype Endorsement in Elementary-School-Aged Children

This study examined relations among self-perceived gender typicality, gender-typed attributes, and gender stereotype endorsement with a sample of elementary-school-aged children (N?=?100, ages 6–12) from the Midwestern United States. Children who perceived themselves as more gender-typical were more interested in same-gender-typed activities and occupations and less interested in other-gender-typed activities and occupations than children who perceived themselves as less gender-typical. Gender typicality was linked to gender stereotype endorsement, as predicted based on Liben and Bigler’s (2002) dual-pathway model of gender development, with children who perceived themselves as less gender-typical having more egalitarian (less stereotyped) attitudes than children who perceived themselves as more gender-typical. The observed relations between gender-typed attributes and self-perceived gender typicality and between self-perceived gender typicality and gender stereotype endorsement did not differ across gender or age. These findings indicate that even young elementary-school-aged children use their knowledge of cultural gender roles to make subjective judgments regarding the self, and, conversely, that views of the self may influence personal endorsement of cultural gender stereotypes. Although the majority of extant research has focused on negative outcomes associated with low self-perceived gender typicality (e.g., low self-esteem), this research indicates that positive outcomes (e.g., flexible gender role attitudes) may also be associated with low self-perceived gender typicality.     

Are Japanese groups more competitive than Japanese individuals? A cross‐cultural validation of the interindividual–intergroup discontinuity effect

The interindividual–intergroup discontinuity effect is the tendency for relationships between groups to be more competitive than the relationships between individuals. It has been observed robustly in studies conducted in the United States, which is a society characterized as “individualistic.” In this study, it was explored whether the effect was replicable in a “collectivistic” society such as Japan. From the traditional view in cross‐cultural psychology, which emphasizes the collectivistic nature of East Asian peoples, it was expected that the discontinuity effect would be greater in Japan than in the United States. On the other hand, based on recent empirical findings suggesting that North Americans are no less group‐oriented than East Asians, it was expected that the discontinuity effect would be no greater in Japan than in the United States. One hundred and sixty Japanese university students played a 10‐trial repeated prisoner's dilemma game: 26 sessions of interindividual and 18 sessions of intergroup. Following exactly the procedure of prior experiments in the US, individuals and groups were allowed face‐to‐face communication with their opponents before making their decisions, and participants in the intergroup condition were further allowed to converse freely with their in‐group members. Results replicated previous findings in the United States; groups made more competitive choices than did individuals. In addition, neither the magnitude of the discontinuity effect, nor the frequency of competitive choices made by the groups, were larger in Japan than they were in the majority of prior studies conducted in the United States. These findings suggest cross‐cultural robustness of the interindividual–intergroup discontinuity effect. Also, interestingly, they contradict the simple distinction between individualism and collectivism. Implications for studies of culture and group processes are discussed.     

Strategy Selection in Risky Choice: The Impact of Numeracy,Affect, and Cross‐Cultural Differences

Real‐world decisions often involve options with outcomes that are uncertain and trigger strong affect (e.g., side effects of a drug). Previous work suggests that when choosing among affect‐rich risky prospects, people are rather insensitive to probability information, potentially compromising decision quality. We modeled the strategies of less and more numerate participants in the United States and in Germany when choosing between affect‐rich prospects and between monetarily equivalent affect‐poor prospects. Using large probabilistic national samples (n = 1047 from the United States and Germany), Study 1 showed that compared with more numerate participants, less numerate participants chose the normatively better option (i.e., the one with the higher expected value) less often, guessed more often, and relied more on a simple risk‐minimizing strategy. U.S. participants—although less numerate—selected the normatively better option more frequently and were more consistent across affect‐rich and affect‐poor problems than the German participants. Using a targeted quota sample (n = 118 from Germany), Study 2 indicated that although both more and less numerate participants paid less attention to probability information in affect‐rich than in affect‐poor problems, the two numeracy groups relied on different outcome‐based heuristics: More numerate participants often followed the minimax heuristic, and less numerate participants the affect heuristic. The observed strategy differences suggest that attempts to improve decision‐making need to take into account individual differences in numeracy as well as cultural‐specific experiences in making trade‐offs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Emerging Church in Transatlantic Perspective

Is the Emerging Church movement (ECM) a single transnational movement? Or is it a series of parallel religious orientations framed by nationally specific contexts? Cross‐national comparisons of the many manifestations of the ECM remain scarce, especially as the development of the ECM across the globe (e.g., in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) is most certainly affected by divergent histories and socioreligious landscapes. Focusing on a comparative analysis of the United Kingdom and the United States, I trace how these different cultural contexts determine variant patterns of ECM identity formation. Overall, a global perspective on the ECM calls for a theorization of the national development of religious movements and takes seriously the cultural and historical experiences that shape both its emergence in particular nations and the differentiated development of distinctive manifestations of ECM identity.     

Death and Dying in the Contemporary United States: What are the Psychological Implications of Anticipated Death?

Over the last 200 years, where, when and how Americans die has changed dramatically. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, most deaths occurred with little warning, typically due to short‐term infectious diseases. In the contemporary United States, death typically happens to older adults following a long‐term chronic illness. Most older adults die in institutions rather than at home, and many rely on life‐extending medical technologies. For most older Americans, it is more useful and accurate to conceptualize the end of life as an anticipated and protracted process (i.e., dying) rather than a discrete and sudden event (i.e., death). In this article, I summarize historical and epidemiologic patterns of death and dying, and describe the implications of these patterns for two psychological processes: preparations for one’s own end of life; and psychological adjustment to the death of a loved one.     

A Cross‐Cultural Analysis of Imagined Interactions

This study examines imagined interactions (IIs) among young adults in the United States, Thailand, and Japan. A comparison of means across cultures on II characteristics reveals that the Japanese participants have the widest variety of II partners, whereas the American participants are the most self‐dominant in their IIs and demonstrate the most II frequency. As for II functions, Japanese and Thai participants keep conflict alive via their IIs more than the Americans, whereas the Thais utilize the II rehearsal and self‐understanding functions the least. The Japanese participants use the II boldness function, which focuses on escaping from societal norms via one’s IIs, more than the Thais and Americans.     

Existential Counseling as a Vehicle to Support Latina Breast Cancer Survivors

Latinas in the United States experience high incidences of breast cancer diagnosis (American Cancer Society, 2012 ). Researchers (e.g., Abraído‐Lanza, Chao, & Gammon, 2004 ; Ashing‐Giwa, Padilla, Bohorquez, Tejero, & Garcia, 2006 ) indicated that Latinas report heightened levels of psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, existential concerns) when compared with other cancer survivors. The purpose of this article is to (a) provide an overview of the mental health concerns of Latina breast cancer survivors and their families, (b) discuss the use of existential counseling to decrease psychological distress, and (c) integrate cultural variables to support cancer recovery from a culturally sensitive perspective.     

Source monitoring and suggestibility to misinformation: adult age‐related differences

We compared young and older adults' source monitoring performance on an explicit source identification test using the misinformation paradigm. Several age‐related differences in source memory were demonstrated: (a) older adults were more likely than were young adults to say that they saw information that was actually only suggested to them; (b) older adults were more confident in their false memories than were young adults; (c) older adults were less confident in their accurate memory for the source of information than were young adults. Together, the data suggest that older adults either lacked or failed to use helpful diagnostic source information (e.g. perceptual details or temporal information), and that their confidence in their false memories reflected an over‐weighting of semantic information. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drugs,Sex, and Condoms: Identification and Interpretation of Race‐Specific Cultural Messages Influencing Black Gay and Bisexual Young Men Living with HIV

Black gay and bisexual young men carry a disproportionate burden of HIV in the United States. This study explored Black gay and bisexual young men living with HIV's identification and interpretation of race‐specific cultural messages regarding substance use, sexual activity, and condom use. A total of 36 Black gay and bisexual young men living with HIV (ages 16–24, mean = 20.6 years) from four geographically diverse regions of the United States participated in qualitative in‐depth interviews. Results from this study elucidate the ways in which these young men interpret various forms of race‐specific cultural messages and experiences regarding substance use, sexual activity, and condom use. Participants discussed cultural messages and experiences promoting and discouraging condoms and substance use. Regarding sexual activity, only messages and experiences promoting sex were reported. Across all three categories, messages and experiences promoting risk were predominant. Data further revealed that socially transmitted cultural messages received by young men emanated from multiple sources, such as family, peers, sexual partners, community/neighborhood, and the broader society. Race‐specific cultural messages and experiences should be addressed in interventions for this population, and programs should assist young men in developing a critical consciousness regarding these messages and experiences in order to promote health and well‐being.     

Disclosure Experiences of Sexual Minority College Student Victims of Intimate Partner Violence

Although research on disclosure following intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization is burgeoning, sexual minority young adults’ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, etc.; LGBQ+) experiences have not received equal attention. The current study employed the minority stress framework to examine disclosure experiences of LGBQ+ college students across the United States reporting physical IPV victimization within their current relationship (n = 77). Participants completed measures assessing minority stress and IPV disclosure, and answered open‐ended questions regarding the most and least helpful persons/responses to disclosure or reasons for non‐disclosure. Results indicated that approximately one‐third (35 %) of victims disclosed to at least one person, with friends being the most common recipients. Thematic analyses indicated that talking or listening to the victim was considered the most helpful response and not understanding the situation least helpful. Reasons for non‐disclosure centered on themes of the victims’ perception that the IPV was not a big deal. Quantitative findings regarding physical IPV disclosure indicated that non‐disclosers experienced greater minority stress than disclosers. The current study suggests the presence of differences between sexual minority (i.e., LGBQ +persons) and non‐sexual minority persons, as well as between LGBQ+ young adults/college students and older adults and presents a theoretical structure (i.e., minority stress framework) through which these differences may be understood.     

Specific effects of the Trier Social Stress Test on speech fluency in young and older adults

The notion that speech becomes less fluent during stressful speaking conditions has received little empirical test, and no research has tested this relationship in older adult participants. We analyzed speeches produced during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or during a less stressful placebo (pTSST) version of the task. We measured young and older adults’ speech fillers (e.g., um), unfilled pauses (at least 1 s in duration), and other disfluencies (e.g., repetitions, repairs). Neither young nor older adult participants rated themselves as having greater stress in the TSST than pTSST condition, but behavioral effects were obtained. Participants in the TSST condition produced more mid-phrase speech fillers and unfilled pauses than participants in the pTSST condition. Young adults produced more unfilled pauses than older adults overall, and older adults produced more mid-phrase fillers than young adults. Critically, age group interacted with experimental condition, such that older speakers produced disproportionately more mid-phrase fillers than young adults in the TSST compared to the pTSST condition. In sum, the negative effects of the TSST on fluency were generally similar across age, but this specific age-related increase in mid-phrase fillers indicates that older adults’ word retrieval may have been particularly negatively affected. Findings are generally consistent with previous research and add to understanding of how factors internal to the speaker (i.e., demographic, personality, and cognitive variables) and factors external to the speaker (i.e., variables regarding the situation, context, or content of speech) combine to affect speech fluency.     

Implementing family‐friendly employment practices in banking industry: Evidences from some African and Asian countries

We examined the effects of family‐friendly policies (child‐care benefits and work flexibility benefits) on organizational commitment and work–family conflict in four developing countries: China, India, Kenya, and Thailand. We also explored the boundary condition (e.g., perceived importance of family‐friendly programmes) under which family‐friendly policies are more (or less) effective in influencing organizational commitment and reducing work–family conflict. Results revealed national similarities on the effect of flexibility benefits on organizational commitment and work–family conflict. Specifically, we found that across the four countries work flexibility‐related family‐friendly policy was positively related to organizational commitment and negatively to perceived work–family conflict among those who perceived this policy as more important than less important. Instead, national variations are found in the results regarding child‐care benefits. Among these four countries, Kenya and Thailand are two countries in which child‐care‐related family‐friendly policies showed a significant and positive relationship with organizational commitment and/or a significant and negative relationship with work–family conflict. We also found child‐care‐related family‐friendly policies had differential effect among people with various perception of policy importance in Kenya and Thailand, but not in China and India. Particularly, child‐care‐related family‐friendly policy results in greater organizational commitment and lower work–family conflict among those who perceived this policy as more important than less important in Kenya and Thailand. Implications for cross‐cultural research, theory and practice are discussed.     

Living in the north is not necessarily favorable: Different metaphoric associations between cardinal direction and valence in Hong Kong and in the United States

The Conceptual Metaphor Theory (e.g., Lakoff & Johnson, 1980 ) suggests that people represent abstract concepts in terms of concrete concepts via metaphoric association. Participants in the United States (US) showed that cardinal direction (north/south) is metaphorically associated with valence (positive/negative), as reflected by their estimate for where a person with high or low socioeconomic status (SES) lives in a fictional city or their own living preference (Meier, Moller, Chen, & Riemer‐Peltz, 2011 ). The present study tested whether the cardinal direction–valence metaphoric association could be moderated by cultural differences. Although US participants believed that high‐SES and low‐SES individuals were more likely to live in the northern and southern part of the city, respectively, the reverse was so for Hong Kong (HK) participants (Study 1). When asked where they themselves would like to live, HK participants preferred to live in a southern area, whereas US participants showed no preference (Studies 2 and 3). These findings demonstrate cultural differences in metaphoric associations between cardinal direction and valence for HK and US participants. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cultural and demographic correlates of self‐reported guardedness among East Asian immigrants in the US

The study examined guarded self‐disclosure or reticence to reveal personal information about oneself to others among East Asian immigrants in the United States, in terms of cultural (ethnic identity, self‐construal, and acculturation) and demographic (gender, age, number of years in the US, and English fluency) variables. Norms regarding appropriate amount, content, and type of self‐disclosure differ noticeably between Asian and American cultures. In general, Asians have been found to be more guarded in their self‐disclosure than their American counterparts. Such differences may hinder the formation of relationships between Asian immigrants and Americans. Thus, it is important for psychologists to examine culture‐specific and non‐culture‐specific correlates of guarded self‐disclosure among Asian immigrants in the United States. However, to date, there has been a dearth of studies examining this topic. This paucity of research is somewhat surprising given the large number of Asian immigrants in the United States. The participants included 170 East Asian immigrants (88 males, 82 females) who were administered a battery of psychometrically established measures. While guarded self‐disclosure did not vary by ethnic group (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, and Korean), it was associated with cultural and demographic variables. East Asian immigrants who exhibited guarded self‐disclosure were more likely to report elevated ethnic pride, interdependent self‐construal, separation, and marginalization, and were less likely to report elevated interpersonal distance, independent self‐construal, and integration. Men reported significantly higher guarded self‐disclosure than women. Overall, this study highlights the importance of assessing both culture‐specific and nonspecific factors in guarded self‐disclosure among East Asian immigrants. The findings emphasize the importance of considering more generic types of self‐disclosure in addition to disclosure of very private and/or distressing information. Awareness of the cultural correlates of guarded self‐disclosure may help counsellors target their outreach programmes for individuals of East Asian heritage.