Abstract
Psychologists have long debated whether self-enhancement is universal or varies across cultures. Extant studies using explicit and implicit measures have provided mixed results. In this study (N = 93; 35 European American, 58 Chinese: 28 tested in English, 30 tested in Mandarin), we measured self-enhancement covertly using an ERP paradigm. Self-enhancement was also assessed via self-report and reaction-time based measures. Americans showed strong evidence of self-enhancement across all measures, whereas this effect was absent or weaker among Chinese, who instead showed an other-enhancing bias across measures. Language did not affect self-enhancement tendencies among Chinese participants, with the exception of one self-report measure. Nor did the two cultural groups differ in enhancement for a close other. This is the first study to directly compare self-enhancement across cultural groups using ERPs and provides evidence that positive self-regard does indeed vary by culture.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Social Neuroscience |
DOIs | |
State | Accepted/In press - Aug 4 2017 |
Keywords
- cultural neuroscience
- Culture
- ERP
- N400
- self-enhancement
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Development
- Behavioral Neuroscience