Voluntary Settlement and the Spirit of Independence 2006 CEFOM/21 Hokkaido University International Symposium Cultural and Adaptive Bases of Human Sociality Voluntary Settlement and the Spirit of Independence Shinobu Kitayama University of Michigan

The Mutual Constitution of Culture and Psyche * Core cultural ideas • What is good? • What is moral? • What is self? Ecological, economic, historical factors Practices and institutions reflecting and promoting the core ideas • language • educational systems • political system • media • legal system Daily experiences that personalize core ideas • home • school • workplace Psychological structures and processes • agency/self motivation emotion cognition Action Figure adapted from The Cultural Shaping of Psychological Reality, Kitayama and Markus (1994) Collective Reality Socio- psychological processes Individual Psychological Tendencies

Collaborators Kitayama, S., Ishii, K., Imada, T., Takemura, K., & Ramaswamy, J. (in press). Voluntary settlement and the spirit of independence: Evidence from Japan’s “northern frontier” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Religious freedom and personal wealth “Religious freedom is my immediate goal, but my long-term plan is to go into real estate.”

Voluntary Settlement Hypothesis Economically motivated voluntary settlement in the frontier Independent agency 1. Personal happiness 2. Personal choice 3. Belief in internally motivated action

Japanese Census Data (2005) Divorce rate National mean over 47 prefectures 1.96/1000 (SD=.28) Hokkaido 2.5 (ranked 3rd) The proportion of households with at least one grandchild 21% (SD=8.9) 10% (5th lowest) Sapporo Lowest (5%) among the 13 largest metropolitan areas (M=8%) Proportion of old people (65+) living alone 10th highest among all the 47 prefectures The nine prefectures ranked high are all in the southern island (Kyusyu)

Hokkdaido: Japan’s “Northern Frontier”

Population in Hokkaido 1873: 120,000 1920: 2,360,000 2005: 5,860,000

Empirical strategy Three indicators of independent agency Social norm Personal choice Lay conception of person Systematic comparison among Americans in the US Hokkaido residents born in Hokkaido Hokkaido residents born elsewhere in Japan Mainland Japanese

Mechanisms of cultural maintenance and change Americans H-born J Non-H-born J Mainland J Initial enculturation Acculturation Self-selection = > = = = > = = > Effect of length of stay can distinguish between acculturation and self-selection

Is independence socially sanctioned in Hokkaido? Correlates of happiness Socially disengaging positive emotions Pride Self-confidence Feelings of superiority Socially engaging positive emotions Friendly feelings Close feelings Feelings of respect

Predicting happiness as a function of engaging and disengaging positive emotions (Kitayama, Mesquita, & Karasawa, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in press)

Study 2. Personal choice Choice One inadvertent consequence of choice Self-determination Self-expression Self-promotion One inadvertent consequence of choice Threat to personal self (“Am I stupid?”) Self-justification to reduce this worry (dissonance) Personal vs. Social Dissonance Process

Motivational Consequences of Choice Personal worry “Am I stupid?” Interpersonal worry “Will they think I am stupid?” OR Self-justification Affirmation of self Kitayama, Snibbe, Markus, & Suzuki (2004). Psychological Science, 15, 527-533.

Consequences of Choice Personal Dissonance Independent Self Choice Personal worry “Am I stupid?” Interpersonal worry “Will they think I am stupid?” OR Self-justification Affirmation of Independent self Kitayama, Snibbe, Markus, & Suzuki (2004). Psychological Science, 15, 527-533.

Dual Process Model of Cognitive Dissonance Interdependent Self Choice Personal worry “Am I stupid?” Interpersonal worry “Will they think I am stupid?” OR Self-justification Affirmation of Interdependent self Kitayama, Snibbe, Markus, & Suzuki (2004). Psychological Science, 15, 527-533.

Procedure Free choice dissonance paradigm (Brehm, 1956) 1st ranking of 10 CDs Choice between the 5th and the 6th ranked CDs 10 min 2nd ranking of the 10 CDs

Marked Cross-Cultural Difference in Cognitive Dissonance Effect West Very robust, easily replicable East Very hard to obtain (e.g., Heine & Lehman, 1997) Two possibilities No dissonance effect in East Dissonance effect is more interpersonal in East

Study 4 from Kitayama, Snibbe, Markus, & Suzuki (2004, Study 4). Psychological Science, 15, 527-533.

Study 4 from Kitayama, Snibbe, Markus, & Suzuki (2004, Study 4). Psychological Science, 15, 527-533.

Personal dissonance in Hokkaido

Do People in Hokkaido believe action to be internally motivated? Fundamental attribution error Tendency to attribute a cause of behavior to an internal factor of the actor even when there is an obvious situational constraint

A pitcher for a professional baseball team, Tom Lyons, lost several games in the beginning of the season. Instead of spending extra time practicing, he used performance-enhancing drugs for the rest of the regular season. Tom Lyons continued to use the drugs, even though the use of performance-enhancing drugs is illegal and considered to be cheating. Do you agree or disagree with each of the following four statements (1=strongly disagree…9=strongly agree) Features of Tom Lyons (such as his character, attitude, or temperament) influenced his behavior. 2. Features of the environment that surrounds Tom Lyons (such as the social atmosphere, social norms, or other contextual factors) influenced his behavior. 3. Tom Lyons would have acted differently if his features (such as his character, attitude, or temperament) had been different. 4. Tom Lyons would have acted differently if features of the environment that surround him (such as the social atmosphere, social norms, or other contextual factors) had been different.

Causal attribution in the frontier

Summary Cultural norms of independence Yes for both H-born and ML-born H Japanese Significance attached to personal choice – cognitive dissonance Belief in internally motivated action Yes only for H-born H Japanese Self-selection (personal choice)  Social norms of independence (happiness)  Gradual development of cultural ethos  Enculturation (cultural ethos including lay conceptions of the person)

The Voluntary Settlement Hypothesis: Further Elaborations Economically motivated voluntary settlement in the frontier Independent agency 1. Personal happiness 2. Personal choice 3. Belief in internally motivated action Self-selection (only a minority) Social norms and ideology of independence Intrinsic motivation toward independence “It is important to be independent” “It is personally rewarding to be independent” “I am independent”

The Voluntary Settlement Hypothesis: Further Elaborations Economically motivated voluntary settlement in the frontier Independent agency 1. Personal happiness 2. Personal choice 3. Belief in internally motivated action Social norms and ideology of independence Intrinsic motivation toward independence Social and psychological change in the frontier Self-selection (only a minority) Social norms and ideology of independence Intrinsic motivation toward independence Negative independence --Social avoidance --Social isolation Positive independence --Social engagement --Social activism