PSYC 305A:

Personality Psychology
Week 10: Personality as Lived Experience II
Friedrich M. Götz, Ph.D.
Yilin Guo
Gordon Heltzel
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia
Welcome Back & Land
Acknowledgement
 Today’s Learning Goals
• (1) Define culture and consider it as a determinant of our
experience of the world.
• (2) Evaluate sample diversity in personality psychology and
its implications for cross-cultural psychology.
• (3) Discuss cultural dimensions that matter for personality.
• (4) Cover personality differences around the world.
• (5) Highlight challenges with cross-cultural personality
research.
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Where Is Home For You?

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 Culture & Experience
• Recap phenomenology: the unique way in which humans consciously
see and experience the world are key for who they are

This may not just come from within: does culture shape our experience of
the world? Is culture a lens through which the world is seen?
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 Defining Culture
• Culture = a system of symbols, beliefs, values, norms, and practices
shared among a collection of interconnected individuals (Lu et al., 2023)

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 Defining Culture
• Culture = a system of symbols, beliefs, values, norms, and practices
shared among a collection of interconnected individuals (Lu et al., 2023)

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Samples in Personality Psychology

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Samples in Personality Psychology
Thalmayer et al., 2021; p.122

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 Is This A Problem?
• No, if there is cross-cultural universality
• Example: Prosocial spending increases happiness around the
world (Aknin et al., 2013)
• Yes, if there is cross-cultural specificity / uniqueness
• Example: Extraversion is a potent predictor of life satisfaction in
the US and Canada, but less so in Germany, the UK and Japan
(Kim et al., 2018)
• If cross-cultural specificity exists and is ignored, science may
give useless advice and produce findings that do not apply as
described 10
Dimensions of Cultural Differences

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KFC Commercial: Malaysia

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KFC Commercial: United Kingdom

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 Individualism Versus Collectivism

Hofstede, 14
n.d.
 Individualism Versus Collectivism
• Individualism: focus on the self, individual more important than the
group (ideocentrism)
• Self-esteem as predictor of life satisfaction; more self-focused emotions
(e.g., anger); higher Openness (Dollinger et al., 1996; Realo et al., 1997)

• Collectivism: focus on others, group more important than the individual

(allocentrism)
• Harmonious relationships with others as predictor of life satisfaction;
more other-focused emotions (e.g., sympathy); higher Agreeableness
(Realo et al., 1997)

• CAUTION: it might not be that simple; collectivism may not mean

everybody is nice to everybody else – group focus might be reserved
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for very specific, small groups
 Tightness Versus Looseness
• Tightness: strict rules, strong enforcement, little tolerance
and severe punishment for deviations from norms
• Tight countries: Pakistan, Malaysia, India (Gelfand et al.,
2011)

• Heightened Conscientiousness (Harrington & Gelfand, 2014)

• Looseness: lax rules, weak enforcement, high tolerance

and little punishment for deviations from norms

• Loose countries: Ukraine, Israel, Estonia (Gelfand et al.,

2011)

• Heightened Openness (Harrington & Gelfand, 2014) 16

 Cultural Impacts on Personality
• Cultural norms and personality development:
• Personality maturation happens earlier in cultures with a earlier
normative transition into the workforce (e.g., Pakistan versus The
Netherlands; Bleidorn et al., 2013)
• Exposure to foreign cultures:
• Studying abroad during university prompts increases in Openness,
Agreeableness and decreases in Neuroticism (Zimmermann & Neyer, 2013),
more creativity (Madux & Galinsky, 2009) and moral flexibility (Lu et al., 2017)

• Moving abroad in high school: Initially personal values adapt to

new cultural context, but 2 years later rebound effects are 17

observed (Lönnqvist et al., 2011, 2013)

 Personality Differences Across Cultures:
Extraversion

Funder, 2019; 18
p. 487
 Life Satisfaction

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Diener, 2022
Issues With Cross-Cultural Research
in Personality

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 Issues With Cross-Cultural Research
in Personality
• Basic comparability: personality structure may not apply
universally (e.g., number of basic traits, meaning of basic traits)
• Reference group effects: who am I comparing myself to when
determining whether I am lazy or happy (Heine et al., 2002)?
• Humans are not monoliths: multiculturalism, bicultural identity
integration (e.g., feeling as a member of a combined joint culture that
integrates aspects of one’s cultures versus experiencing stress and conflict from
having multiple cultures and being unsure where one belongs)
• Cultures are not monoliths: regional cultures, sub-cultures 21
 Due TOMORROW (11.59pm, Canvas):
Personal Reflection
In which – if any – ways has the culture (or have the cultures) that you have
grown up in shaped your personality?

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THANK YOU! That’s all for today!
Enjoy the rest of your day and see
you on Wednesday!

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