Irrelevant Goal-Seeking Behavior as a Function of Culture

Abstract

The ancient hypothesis that people tend to prefer more-difficult-to-get rewards was subjected to cross-cultural examination. Children (Ns = 10) were sampled from competitive (Mexican-American and “Gringo”) and “non-competitive” (Jemez Indian) subcultures. Ss were presented with a series of tasks involving the choice between two identical rewards. One of the two always required more work for its acquisition. Although both groups chose more immediately available than barricaded rewards, the competitive group selected the latter more often than did the Jemez group.