Culture perception was examined in the domain of gender roles. Three video clips containing an example of typically Polish gender role behavior (displaying much respect and courtesy of men toward women) were shown to female and male university undergraduates in Poland (n = 88), the United States (n = 91), Finland (n = 60), and the Netherlands (n = 60). The Polish group was more accurate than all other groups in its recognition of the time and place of video recording; they also rated these video clips as higher in typicality for their own culture. The Dutch revealed the lowest scores in evaluation and in identification with gender roles. The question was examined to what extent the cross-cultural differences could be accounted for by some relevant cultural characteristics. It was found that by using Schwartz’s country-level measures on conservatism and mastery and the Chinese Culture Connection’s human heartedness, all differences on evaluation and identification with gender roles were statistically wiped out; heartedness in particular was a powerful predictor.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Akert, R. M. (1994). Social psychology: The heart and the mind (Polish edition). Poznañ, Poland: Zysk.
2.
Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155-162.
3.
Bem, S. L. (1985). Androgyny and gender schema theory; a conceptual and empirical integration. In T. B. Sonderegger (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Psychology and gender (pp. 179-226). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
4.
Bem, S. L. (1993). Enculturation and self-construction: The gendered personality. In B. Clinchy McVicker & J. K. Norem (Eds.), The gender and psychology reader (pp. 413-432). NewYork: NewYork University Press.
5.
Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Pandey, J., Dasen, P. R., Saraswathi, T. S.,Segall, M. H., & Kagitcibasi, C. (Eds.). (1997). Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 1-3 (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
6.
Best, D. L.,& Williams, J. E. (1998). Masculinity and femininity in the self and ideal self-descriptions of university students in 14 countries. In G. Hofstede (Ed.), Masculinity and femininity (pp. 106-116). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
7.
Bogucka, M. (1991). Gesture, ritual, and social order in sixteenth- to eighteenth-century Poland. In J. Bremmer& H. Roodenburg (Eds.), A cultural history of gesture: From antiquity to present day (pp. 190-209). Cambridge, MA: Polity.
8.
Boski, P. (1994). Psychological analysis of a culture: Stability of core Polish values in the homeland and among immigrants. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 25, 257-282.
9.
Boski, P. (1996). Cross-cultural psychology at the cross-roads, or: Lake Victoria is not Lake Mwanza, while cross-cultural psychology is not cultural (enough). In H. Grad, A. Blanco,& J. Georgas (Eds.), Key issues in cross-cultural psychology (pp. 25-41). Lisse, the Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
10.
Boski, P. (1998). Humanism in Polish culture and mentality. In B. Wojciszke & M. Jarymowicz (Eds.), Understanding social phenomena (pp. 103-140). Lodz, Poland: Polish Scientific Publishers.
11.
Brewer, W. F., & Nakamura, G. V. (1984). The nature and functions of schemas. In R. S. Wyer, Jr. & T. K. Srull (Eds.), Handbook of social cognition (Vol. 1, pp. 119-160). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
12.
Brown, R. (1988). Intergroup relations. In M. Hewstone, W. Stroebe, J.-P. Codol,& G. M. Stephenson (Eds.), Introduction to social psychology (pp. 381-410). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
13.
Buss, D. M., Abbott, M., Angleitner, A., Asherian, A., Biaggio, A., Blanco-Villasenor, A., Bruchon-Schweitzer, M., Ch’u, H., Czapinski, J., De Raad, B., Ekehammar, B., El Lohamy, N., Fioravanti, M., Georgas, J., Gerde, P., Guttman, R., Hazan, F., Iwawaki, S., Janakiramaiah, N., Khosrokhani, F., Kreitner, S., Lachenicht, L., Lee, M., Liik, M., Little, B., Mika, S., Moadel-Shadid, M., Moane, G., Montero, M., Mundy-Castle, A. C., Niit, T., Nsenduluka, E., Pienkowski, R., Pirttilä-Blackman, A.-M., Ponce de Leon, J., Rousseau, J., Runco, M. A., Safir, M. P., Samuels, C.,S Sanitioso, R., Serpell, R., Smid, N., Spencer, C., Tadinac, M., Todorova, E. N., Troland, K., Van den Brande, L., Van Heck, G., Van Langenhove, L., & Yang, K.-S. (1990). International preferences in selecting mates. Astudy of 37 cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 21, 5-47.
14.
Chinese Cultural Connection. (1987). Chinese values and the search for culture-free dimensions of culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 18, 143-164.
15.
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
16.
Georgas, J., & Berry, J. W. (1995). An ecocultural taxonomy for crosscultural psychology. Cross-Cultural Research, 29, 121-157.
17.
Georgas, J., Van de Vijver, F.J.R., & Berry, J. W. (1998). Ecosocial indicators and psychological variables in cross-cultural research. Manuscript submitted for publication.
18.
Greenfield, P. M. (1997). Culture as process: Empirical methods for cultural psychology. In J. W. Berry, Y. H. Poortinga, & J. Pandey (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 301-346). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
19.
Hastie, R. (1981). Schematic principles in human memory. In E. T. Higgins, C. P. Herman, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Social cognition (The Ontarion Symposium) (Vol. 1, pp. 39-88). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
21.
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations. London: McGraw-Hill.
22.
Hofstede, G. (Ed.). (1998). Masculinity and femininity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
23.
Hurme, H. (1988). Child, mother, and grandmother. Intergenerational interaction in Finnish families. Jyväskylä Studies in Education. Psychology and Social Research, 64.
24.
Korhonen, T. (1996). Tervehdys ja hyvästely [Saying hello and good-bye]. Helsinki, Finland: Suomen Antropologinen Seura.
25.
Lassila, S. (1990). Uusi kaytoksen kultainen kirja. Hyvat tavat-luonteva kaytos [The new golden book of manners]. Helsinki, Finland: WSOY.
26.
Lee, Y. T.,& Duenas, G. (1995). Stereotype accuracy in multicultural business. In Y. T. Lee, L. J. Jussim, & C. R. McCauley (Eds.), Stereotype accuracy (pp. 157-186). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
27.
Loziñski, W. (1969). Zycie polskie w dawnych wiekach [Life in Poland in past centuries]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie.
28.
McClelland, D. C. (1971). Motivational trends in society. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Corporation.
29.
Miller, J. G. (1997). Theoretical issues in cultural psychology. In J. W. Berry, Y. H. Poortinga, & J. Pandey (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 85-128). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
30.
Robinson, W. P. (Ed.). (1996). Social groups and identities. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.
31.
Rosch, E., Mervis, C., Gray, W., Johnson, D., & Boyes-Braem, P. (1976). Basic objects in natural categories. Cognitive Psychology, 8, 382-439.
32.
Rumelhart, D. E. (1984). Schemas and the cognitive system. In R. S. Wyer, Jr. & T. K. Srull (Eds.), Handbook of social cognition (Vol. 1, pp. 161-188). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
33.
Schank, R. C., & Abelson, R. P. (1995). Knowledge and memory: The real story. In R. S. Wyer, Jr. (Ed.), Knowledge and memory: The real story (Advances in social cognition) (Vol. 8, pp. 1-86). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
34.
Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Beyond individualism/collectivism: New cultural dimensions of values. In U. Kim, H. C. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi, S.-C. Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism (pp. 85-119). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
35.
Smith, P. B., Dugan, S., & Trompenaars, F. (1996). National culture and the values of organizational employees. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 27, 231-264.
36.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin& S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
37.
Taylor, S. E., & Crocker, J. (1981). Schematic bases of social information processing. In E. T. Higgins, C. P. Herman,& M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Social cognition (The Ontarion Symposium) (Vol. 1, pp. 89-134). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
38.
Turner, J. C. (1996). Henri Tajfel: An introduction. In W. P. Robinson (Ed.), Social groups and identities. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.
39.
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
40.
Van de Vijver, F.J.R., & Leung, K. (1997). Methods and data analysis for cross-cultural research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
41.
Weber, M. (1965). The sociology of religion. London: Methuen.
42.
Wierzbicka, A. (1994). Emotion, language, and “cultural scripts.” In S. Kitayama & H. Markus (Eds.), Emotion and culture: Empirical studies of mutual influence (pp. 133-196). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
43.
Williams, J. E., & Best, D. L. (1982). Measuring sex stereotypes: A thirty nation study. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
44.
Williams, J. E., & Best, D. L. (1990). Sex and psyche: Gender and selfviewed cross-culturally. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
