Disowning the self: The cultural value of modesty can attenuate self-positivity

Western participants endorse a higher number of positive traits as self-descriptive, but endorse a lower number of negative traits as self-descriptive. They also respond quicker to categorize positive traits as self-descriptive, but respond slower to categorize negative traits as self-descriptive. I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inQuarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) Vol. 70; no. 6; pp. 1023 - 1032
Main Authors Shi, Yuanyuan, Sedikides, Constantine, Cai, Huajian, Liu, Yunzhi, Yang, Ziyan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England Routledge 01.06.2017
SAGE Publications
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Bias
Chinese culture
Culture
Female
Humans
Judgment
Male
Modesty
Reaction Time
Self Concept
Self-positivity
Self-processing
Self-reference effect
Young Adult
Self-positivity
Self-reference effect
Self-processing
Chinese culture
Culture
Modesty
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Summary:Western participants endorse a higher number of positive traits as self-descriptive, but endorse a lower number of negative traits as self-descriptive. They also respond quicker to categorize positive traits as self-descriptive, but respond slower to categorize negative traits as self-descriptive. Is this self-positivity bias qualified by the cultural value of modesty? We induced modesty (vs. punctuality) and assessed self-descriptiveness judgments and response times among Chinese participants. We replicated the self-positivity bias in regards to both self-descriptiveness judgments and response times. In the case of self-descriptiveness judgments, however, the bias was partially qualified by modesty. Relative to control participants, those in the modesty condition endorsed fewer positive traits as self-descriptive and manifested a tendency toward endorsing more negative traits as self-descriptive. In the case of response times, the self-positivity bias was unqualified by modesty. Within both conditions, participants were quicker to categorize positive traits as self-descriptive and were slower to categorize negative traits as self-descriptive. The results speak to the relation between the self-positivity bias and the self-reference effect and illustrate the malleability of self-processing.
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ISSN:1747-0218
1747-0226
DOI:10.1080/17470218.2015.1099711