Testing a New Cultural Priming Effect on Self Perception and Spatial Perception

Location

CSU 255

Start Date

28-4-2009 9:00 AM

End Date

28-4-2009 11:00 AM

Student's Major

Psychology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Vinai Norasakkunkit

Mentor's Department

Psychology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

Individuals from different cultural contexts develop different self-construals. Westerners tend to perceive themselves and objects in the world as autonomous entities separate and distinct from others and the environment. Consequently, they are likely to develop more analytic thought patterns. On the other hand, Easterners tend to perceive themselves in a relation to others and the environment, rather than being independent and distinct. Thus, they are likely to develop more holistic thought patterns. In order to experimentally manipulate cognitive frame switching between these modes of thoughts in the laboratory, cultural priming has been used in numerous studies. It allows one to temporarily activate the non-dominant thought patterns to examine its behavioral consequences. For example, Westerners can temporarily activate more holistic thought patterns, whereas Easterners can temporarily activate more analytic thought pattern. However, existing cultural priming methods do not have equal effectiveness for both Westerners and Easterners. The current study tested whether a newly developed priming method, which required both analytic and holistic modes of information processing, had equal efficacy cross-culturally in the frameswitching of both explicit (i.e., conscious) and implicit (i.e., unconscious) values, as well as in basic perceptual styles. The different groups of participants were examined: 1) Japanese participants in Japan, 2) American participants in the United States, and 3) Japanese biculturals in the United States to see if the new priming method was equally effective across all cultural groups.

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Apr 28th, 9:00 AM Apr 28th, 11:00 AM

Testing a New Cultural Priming Effect on Self Perception and Spatial Perception

CSU 255

Individuals from different cultural contexts develop different self-construals. Westerners tend to perceive themselves and objects in the world as autonomous entities separate and distinct from others and the environment. Consequently, they are likely to develop more analytic thought patterns. On the other hand, Easterners tend to perceive themselves in a relation to others and the environment, rather than being independent and distinct. Thus, they are likely to develop more holistic thought patterns. In order to experimentally manipulate cognitive frame switching between these modes of thoughts in the laboratory, cultural priming has been used in numerous studies. It allows one to temporarily activate the non-dominant thought patterns to examine its behavioral consequences. For example, Westerners can temporarily activate more holistic thought patterns, whereas Easterners can temporarily activate more analytic thought pattern. However, existing cultural priming methods do not have equal effectiveness for both Westerners and Easterners. The current study tested whether a newly developed priming method, which required both analytic and holistic modes of information processing, had equal efficacy cross-culturally in the frameswitching of both explicit (i.e., conscious) and implicit (i.e., unconscious) values, as well as in basic perceptual styles. The different groups of participants were examined: 1) Japanese participants in Japan, 2) American participants in the United States, and 3) Japanese biculturals in the United States to see if the new priming method was equally effective across all cultural groups.

Recommended Citation

Fjuikata, Miwako. "Testing a New Cultural Priming Effect on Self Perception and Spatial Perception." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 28, 2009.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2009/oral-session-11/2