An Evaluation of Two Mediation Techniques,Negotiator Power,and Culture in Negotiation1

This study examines the effects of 4 factors in a mediated transfer‐pricing negotiation: (a) the mediator's suggestion that negotiators have concern for the other (opposing) negotiator; (b) the mediator's proposal of moderate goals; (c) negotiator power; and (d) culture. In the simulated negotiations that were mediated by a corporate official, participants were 374 subjects from Hong Kong and the United States. Negotiators obtained lower joint outcomes when urged by the mediator to show concern for the other than when not given this admonition. When the mediator proposed moderate (vs. high) goals, the negotiators received lower joint outcomes but had a higher opinion of the mediator. While we expected negotiator power (equal vs. unequal) to interact with suggested concern for the other, it did so only for the negotiators' individual outcomes. Finally, culture produced a main effect: Hong Kong negotiators obtained higher joint outcomes than did their U. S. counterparts.     

Intelligence in Hong Kong measured for Spearman's g and the visuospatial and verbal primaries

Values for Spearman's g for Hong Kong are calculated from data derived from the administration of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices to several thousand children. The results indicate that the mean IQ in Hong Kong for the mid 1980s is approximately 108 in relation to a Caucasian mean of 100 for the United States and the United Kingdom. Values for the spatial and perceptual speed primaries are also substantially higher in Hong Kong. On the other hand Hong Kong children are relatively weak on the word fluency primary. The pattern of abilities of Chinese Hong Kong children is broadly similar to that obtained on other Mongoloid populations.     

A cross-cultural investigation of cognitions and depressive symptoms in adolescents

Adolescents (N=2,272) from Hong Kong and the United States provided information regarding their depressive symptoms, cognitions (self-efficacy, negative cognitive errors, and hopelessness), and stressful events between 2 surveys 6 months apart. Depressive symptoms and hopelessness were higher, and self-efficacy and negative cognitive errors were lower in Hong Kong than in the United States. Cognitions were associated with concurrent depressive symptoms and predicted depressive symptoms 6 months later in both cultures. The "reverse" model was also supported with more variance predicted by depressive symptoms to later cognitions than from cognitions to depressive symptoms. There was some support for the hypothesis that self-efficacy is less salient in collective compared with individualistic cultures. These findings extend cognitive theories of depression to a non-Western culture.     

Attachment avoidance and the cultural fit hypothesis: A cross-cultural investigation

This study examined the impact of attachment avoidance on relationship outcomes. A "cultural fit" hypothesis, which states that individual differences in personality should be associated with relationship problems if they encourage patterns of behavior that are incongruent with cultural norms, was investigated. It was hypothesized that attachment avoidance, a style of relationship in which emotional distance and independence are emphasized, would be more strongly associated with relationship problems in more collectivist societies (Hong Kong and Mexico) than in a more individualist one (the United States), given the greater emphasis placed on closeness and harmony in relationships in collectivist cultures. As predicted, associations between avoidant attachment and relationship problems were stronger in Hong Kong and Mexico than in the United States.     

指向具体人物对象的人际信任:跨文化比较及其认知模型

本文对指向具体人物对象的人际信任作了跨文化实证比较研究,并探讨了人际信任的认知模型。使用人际信任行为量表(ITBS)测量了中国、香港及美国三地大学生的人际信任。根据三组被试对诸如父亲、哥哥、同班同学、医生和陌生人等20个人们生活中经常能够接触的人物信任程度的高低,可将这些具体人物对象归为“亲人”,“熟人”和“陌生人”三个群体。三组被试对“亲人”群体的人际信任没有显著差异,但中国被试对其它两个人物对象群体的信任要高于美国和香港被试,而后两组被试的差别则不显著。另外,利用多元回归法在人际信任与六种认知变量间建立了模型关系,发现其中只有两个变量对模型作出主要贡献,即:(1)对由信任行为而得到得回报的期望值越高;(2)得不到回报而引致损害的严重性评估越低,则一个人作出某一信任行为的可能性就越大。被试的文化背景和社会工业化程度对人际信任认知模型没有影响。     

Attitudes toward cosmetic surgery patients: the role of culture and social contact

Cosmetic surgery is increasingly popular globally, but how cosmetic surgery patients are socially evaluated is largely unknown. The present research documents attitudes toward these patients in multiple cultures (Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States). Across these cultures, attitudes toward cosmetic surgery patients were predominantly negative: Participants ascribed more negative attributes to cosmetic surgery patients and found cosmetic surgery not acceptable. Also, participants in Hong Kong and Japan were not willing to form social relationships, particularly intimate ones, with these patients. These attitudes were less negative in the United States than in Hong Kong and Japan, partly because social contact, which reduced negativity in attitudes toward cosmetic surgery patients, was more prevalent in the United States. These findings bear important implications for the subjective well-being of cosmetic surgery patients, who very often expect improvement in their social relationships through the surgery.     

The acculturation of Chinese immigrants: perceived effects on family functioning of length of residence in two cultural contexts

In two studies, conducted in Australia and the United States, first- and second-generation adolescents of Chinese descent, together with adolescents from the host culture (Anglo-Australian or Euro-American) and from Hong Kong, were asked about their family environment. In both studies, an autonomy-promoting family style differentiated the host culture from the Hong Kong Chinese, with the Chinese immigrants occupying an intermediate position. Chinese immigrants of both generations reported more structured, controlling family environments than did the nonimmigrant groups. First-generation Chinese-Australians reported a more organized family pattern than that of their second-generation peers, whereas second-generation Chinese-Americans perceived more family regulation of adolescents than did the first-generation respondents. The two studies yielded remarkably similar results in spite of differences in the Chinese communities' positions in the host culture. There was evidence of somewhat rapid change in the first-generation families toward individualistic norms but little shift in family environment as a function of length of residence.     

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Substantive and Contextual Mediation Tactics1

The effectiveness of three mediation tactics was compared in two laboratory studies. It was hypothesized that a content mediation procedure which involved identifying the priorities of both parties and suggesting a trade-off of low for high priority issues would be most effective in helping to resolve the dispute, followed by an issue identification mediation procedure in which priorities were identified but no suggestions were made. A positive framing mediation procedure in which the benefits of a negotiated settlement were emphasized was expected to be somewhat less effective. In Study 1, 64 students played the role of company negotiator and interacted with a programmed citizen group negotiator. All three mediation tactics produced more satisfactory outcomes (higher joint payoffs) than did a no-mediation condition. In Study 2, 46 pairs of students negotiated with one another and received content mediation, issue identification mediation, positive framing mediation, or no mediation. Negotiators receiving content mediation achieved more satisfactory outcomes (higher joint profits) than did negotiators in the other 3 conditions. Results are discussed in terms of a contingency model of mediation effectiveness.     

Linking Gestures: Cross-Cultural Variation During Instructional Analogies

Deictic linking gestures, hand and arm motions that physically embody links being communicated between two or more objects in the shared communicative environment, are explored in a cross-cultural sample of mathematics instruction. Linking gestures are specifically examined here when they occur in the context of communicative analogies designed to link two distinct yet mutually informative representations. Video coding of eighth-grade mathematics lessons in the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong revealed that teachers in the higher achieving regions (Hong Kong and Japan) used reliably more linking gestures concurrent with verbal linkages than did U.S. teachers. Further, they were significantly more likely to tailor their gesture use to the recency of students’ experiences with source than U.S. teachers. The overall data align with growing evidence that U.S. teachers may not systematically capitalize on pedagogical opportunities to draw linkages between representations and that gestures may play a key role in doing so.     

Embracing transformational leadership: team values and the impact of leader behavior on team performance

The authors investigated the relationship between transformational leadership behavior and group performance in 218 financial services teams that were branches of a bank in Hong Kong and the United States. Transformational leadership influenced team performance through the mediating effect of team potency. The effect of transformational leadership on team potency was moderated by team power distance and team collectivism, such that higher power distance teams and more collectivistic teams exhibited stronger positive effects of transformational leadership on team potency. The model was supported by data in both Hong Kong and the United States, which suggests a convergence in how teams function in the East and West and highlights the importance of team values.     

The effect of culture and power on cooperation in commons dilemmas: Implications for global resource management

This study adopted a contextual framework to examine whether an interaction between group culture and economic power influences self-interest in a simulated commons dilemma. Full-time managers enrolled in executive MBA programs in Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, and the United States (US) made decisions in an asymmetric commons dilemma. Relative to managers from the US and Germany, Israeli managers were more likely to follow an individually rational decision-making approach, taking more resources in a high versus low economic power condition. In contrast, managers from Hong Kong in a high economic power condition followed a collectively rational approach, voluntarily taking fewer resources. Egocentrism mediated this interaction effect of group culture and economic power for the Israeli managers who were more egocentric and believed it was fair to harvest more resources in a high power condition. However, egocentrism did not mediate the interaction effect for managers from Hong Kong. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings highlight the importance of studying the proximal effect of group culture on contextual factors, such as economic power asymmetry, that influence cooperation in social dilemmas.     

Cross‐cultural validation of the counselor burnout inventory in hong kong

This study investigated the cross‐cultural validation of the Chinese translation of the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI) with a sample of school counselors in Hong Kong. Specifically, this study examined the CBI's factor structure using confirmatory factor analysis and calculated the effect size, to compare burnout scores among the counselors of 4 countries (Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and the United States). Results indicated that a 5‐factor model was the most appropriate to accommodate the data. In addition, the results showed that the levels of Hong Kong counselors’ burnout were similar to those of U.S. counselors, but differed from counselors in Japan and South Korea.     

Managing Workplace Conflict in the United States and Hong Kong

We propose that managers have norms (standards of appropriate behavior) for resolving conflict, that these norms are culturally based, and that they explain cultural differences in conflict management outcomes. We confirm that the traditionally American norms of discussing parties' interests and synthesizing multiple issues were exhibited more strongly by American managers than by their Hong Kong Chinese counterparts. In addition, we confirm that the traditionally Chinese norms of concern for collective interests and concern for authority appeared more strongly among Hong Kong Chinese managers than among their American counterparts. American managers were more likely than Hong Kong Chinese managers, to resolve a greater number of issues and reach more integrative outcomes, while Hong Kong Chinese managers were more likely to involve higher management in conflict resolution. Culture had a significant effect on whether parties selected an integrative outcome rather than an outcome that involved distribution, compromise, higher management, or no resolution at all. Conflict norms explained the cultural differences that existed between reaching an integrative outcome and reaching an outcome involving distribution, compromise, or higher management; however, conflict norms did not fully explain the cultural differences that existed between reaching an integrative outcome and reaching no resolution.     

Anger, Blame, and Dimensions of Perceived Norm Violations: Culture, Gender, and Relationships

From a social cognitive perspective on anger, we attempted to examine the structure of perceived norm violations and their relationships with anger. We asked 884 university students from 4 countries (United States, Germany, Japan, and Hong Kong) to rate their experiences of being harmed in terms of norm violations, angry feelings, blame, and relationship with the harm doers. We found 2 culturally common dimensions in perceived norm violations (informal interpersonal norms and formal societal norms), and these dimensions substantially increased both angry feelings and blame in almost all cultural groups. The violation of interpersonal norms generally evoked anger more frequently than that of societal norms, but there were interactions between culture and relationship closeness and between gender and relationship closeness.     

Age Expectations of Behavioural Autonomy in Hong Kong,Australian and American Youth: The Influence of Family Variables and Adolescents' Values

Tenth and 11th grade students from Hong Kong (N = 141), Australia (N = 155), and the United States (N = 155) completed questionnaires about the age at which they expected to achieve behavioural autonomy and about their family environments and values. In general, Hong Kong youth had later expectations for autonomy; described their families as less accepting-engaged and less structured; placed less value on individualism, outward success, and individual competence, and more value on tradition, prosocial, and well socialised outcomes. However, in all three cultures, age expectations for behavioural autonomy showed similar patterns of association with family environments and values as revealed by parallelism of regression planes. Expectations for later autonomy were associated with perceptions of parental monitoring, a demanding family environment, low levels of autocratic parenting, and with youths' de-emphasis of individualism, individual competence and outward success. In regression analyses the family environment and values scores reduced by 62% the influence attributed to culture.     

Early words that work: When and how virtual linguistic mimicry facilitates negotiation outcomes

We hypothesized that in online, virtual formats, negotiators receive better outcomes when mimicking their counterpart's language; furthermore, we predicted that this strategy would be more effective when occurring early in the negotiation rather than at the end, and should also be effective across both independent and interdependent cultures. Results from two experiments supported these hypotheses. Experiment 1 was conducted in Thailand and demonstrated that negotiators who actively mimicked their counterpart's language in the first 10 min of the negotiation obtained higher individual gain compared to those mimicking during the last 10 min, as well as compared to control participants. Experiment 2 replicated this effect in the United States (with Dutch and American negotiators) and also showed that trust mediated the effect of virtual linguistic mimicry on individual negotiation outcomes. Implications for virtual communication, strategic mimicry, and negotiations are discussed.     

The Satir Model and Cultural Sensitivity: A Hong Kong Reflection

This paper addresses cultural sensitivity in applying the Satir model in the Hong Kong Chinese cultural setting, focusing on congruent communication. The authors contend that Satir was sensitive to the demands of culture. Her focus on individuality, equality, and freedom responds aptly to the egalitarian individualist ethos of the United States. In Hong Kong the family is generally dominated by hierarchical collectivist values. Applying the Satir model as it is being practiced in the United States totally ignores prevailing cultural conditions. Following the spirit of Satir, the authors propose the adoption of an emic approach, drawing inspiration and resource from traditional Chinese culture and maintaining continuity with hierarchical collectivism while protecting individual quests for equality, freedom, and independence.     

Large Costs, Small Benefits: Explaining Trade Dispute Outcomes

The United States frequently engages in negotiations with its trading partners over expanded market access for American firms. Although many of these negotiations involve markets worth millions or even billions of dollars, sometimes government officials bargain long and hard over issues that were never predicted to result in substantial benefits. For example, the United States held negotiations with Japan for more than 30 years over increased market access for American apples. These negotiations were ultimately carried to the highest levels of government, discussed at international conferences, and even ruled on by the World Trade Organization, yet estimates of the potential market for foreign apples never exceeded $15 million. Such protracted negotiations in this sector do not make sense from the perspective of expected utility theory but can be explained by prospect theory. Apple negotiations came to represent a spiral model for both the United States and Japan. As each side viewed its own losses as deepening over the course of negotiations, each became caught in a prospect theory spiral of actions and became willing to take even riskier actions in an attempt to recoup losses.     

THE ACCULTURATION OF AUTONOMY EXPECTATIONS IN CHINESE HIGH SCHOOLERS RESIDING IN TWO WESTERN NATIONS•

In two studies, conducted in the United States and Australia, first- and second-generation high schoolers of Chinese descent, together with adolescents from the host culture (Euro-Americans and Anglo-Australians) and from Hong Kong were asked about their age expectations for behavioral autonomy. ANOVAS of 19 items and the total Teen Timetable score revealed that in both countries acculturation was very gradual. On many items second generation Chinese students were more like their Hong Kong than their Western counterparts. Rate of acculturation varied with domain, with age expectations for heterosexual interactions showing the least influence of the host culture. Discriminant analyses revealed that using all 19 items, the groups of subjects could be placed in their cultural/generational groups significantly better than by chance. Results were interpreted in terms of cultural beliefs and special factors faced by immigrant families.