Darius K.-S. Chan

Differences between tight and loose cultures: A 33-nation study

The differences across cultures in the enforcement of conformity may reflect their specific histories. With data from 33 nations, we illustrate the differences between cultures that are tight (have many strong norms and a low tolerance of deviant behavior) versus loose (have weak social norms and a high tolerance of deviant behavior). Tightness-looseness is part of a complex, loosely integrated multilevel system that comprises distal ecological and historical threats (e.g., high population density, resource scarcity, a history of territorial conflict, and disease and environmental threats), broad versus narrow socialization in societal institutions (e.g., autocracy, media regulations), the strength of everyday recurring situations, and micro-level psychological affordances (e.g., prevention self-guides, high regulatory strength, need for structure). This research advances knowledge that can foster cross-cultural understanding in a world of increasing global interdependence and has implications for modeling cultural change.

Reexamining the Theory of Planned Behavior in Understanding Wastepaper Recycling

Using Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TOPB), this study examined wastepaper-recycling behavior among college students in Hong Kong. Two hundred and eighty-two college students completed a questionnaire designed to measure various constructs related to recycling behavior. The results reveal that TOPB significantly predicted both behavioral intention and subsequent wastepaper-recycling behavior self-reported a month later. Perceived difficulty predicted behavioral intention and moderated the intention-behavior link, whereas perceived control had no significant effect. These findings cast doubt on the unidimensional conceptualization of perceived behavioral control. By controlling for the TOPB constructs, general environmental knowledge significantly predicted behavior. Past behavior had a sizeable effect on predicting subsequent behavior, suggesting that TOPB plus knowledge are insufficient to predict recycling. Future studies should investigate the difficulty-control distinction and the differential effects of general versus specific knowledge on predicting wastepaper recycling.

Scenarios for the Measurement of Collectivism and Individualism

This article presents a method that uses scenarios for the measurement of horizontal (H)and vertical (V) individualism (I) and collectivism (C) across cultures, with university samples. The scenarios were developed by using focus groups, to cover a wide range of social situations often found among university students. Graduate student judges indicated which responses to each scenario represented HI, VI, HC, or VC judgments. When the judges did not agree on these judgments, the scenarios were eliminated. Scenarios that did not distinguish responses obtained from the Illinois and Hong Kong samples were also eliminated. This resulted in a set of 16 scenarios that provide efficient measurement of the constructs. The method converges with a method that uses attitude items.

A Comparison of Offline and Online Friendship Qualities at Different Stages of Relationship Development

The present study was designed to compare offline and online friendship qualities at different stages of relationship development. The sample consisted of 162 Hong Kong Internet users. They were asked to think of two friends, one they knew through face-to-face interactions and one they knew through the Internet, and then describe the qualities of their offline and online friendships. Results revealed that offline friendships involved more interdependence, breadth, depth, code change, understanding, commitment, and network convergence than online friendships. However, although the qualities of both online and offline friendships improved as the duration of the relationship increased, the differences between the two types of friendships diminished over time. Furthermore, contrary to the evidence typically found for offline friendships, the qualities of cross-sex online friendships were higher than that of same-sex online friendship. These results suggest that the influence of the structural and normative constraints typically found in face-to-face interaction may be different in the online setting.

EXAMINING THE JOB‐RELATED, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND PHYSICAL OUTCOMES OF WORKPLACE SEXUAL HARASSMENT: A META‐ANALYTIC REVIEW

This study was designed to examine the job-related, psychological, and physical outcomes of sexual harassment in the workplace. Using a meta-analytic approach, we analyzed findings from 49 primary studies, with a total sample size of 89,382, to obtain estimates of the population mean effect size of the association between sexual harassment and job-related outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction and organizational commitment), psychological outcomes (e.g., well-being and distress), and physical outcomes (e.g., health satisfaction and physical symptoms). Moderator analyses were also conducted to examine whether gender, age (below 40 years vs. greater than or equal to 40 years), and type of measure (a “direct question” approach vs. “behavioral list” approach) moderate the strength of these associations. Meta-analytic results confirm that sexual harassment experiences are negatively associated with job-related outcomes, psychological health, and physical health conditions. In addition, our moderator analyses reveal that the strength of these associations was moderated by the mean age of the samples and the type of measure used in the primary studies. Conceptual and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

Individualism versus collectivism or versus authoritarianism

Although there has been progress in the definition, antecedents, and consequences of individualism and collectivism, there are some fundamental issues that need to be resolved. This study examined two such issues: the dimensionality of individualism and collectivism, and the relationship of these constructs to authoritarianism. Thirty-eight American undergraduates judged the similarity among 15 concepts that have previously been shown to be reflective of elements of individualism, collectivism, and authoritarianism. Multidimensional scaling revealed two dimensions: individualism versus authoritarianism and active collectivism versus withdrawal from group involvement. Unlike the conception by Hofstede (1980) that individualism and collectivism are opposites, these results strongly suggest they are orthogonal. Furthermore, authoritarianism was construed as the opposite of individualism. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Tightness‐Looseness Revisited: Some Preliminary Analyses in Japan and the United States

The construct of tightness-looseness is considered to be important in differentiating cultures (Pelto, 1968; Triandis, 1977, 1989). The objective of the present paper is to advance understanding of this construct. Specifically, we present a conceptual frameworkfor the construct andformulate some general research hypotheses derived from our conceptualization. In addition, we examine one of our general hypotheses that cultures differing in the tight-loose dimension will differ in the way language is used. Using adataset fromOsgood, May, andMiron(1975), we comparedthe Japanese andthe US samples of this study and found evidence supporting the hypothesis that Japan is a tighter culture, as compared to the USA. Inadditiontostudying the construct of individualism-collectivism, we suggest that tightnesslooseness is an important cultural dimension that can explain and predict cultural differences in many kinds of social behaviour. Le construit de rigidite-permissivite (tightness-looseness) est important pour diffe...

Sexual Harassment. A Preliminary Analysis of Its Effects on Hong Kong Chinese Women in the Workplace and Academia.

This study was designed to examine the impact of sexual harassment on Hong Kong Chinese women in the workplace and in college. Questionnaires assessing sexual harassment incidents experienced by self, perceived prevalence of sexual harassment in the organization, job or study satisfaction, and organizational commitment were completed by 77 female secretaries and 84 female college students in Hong Kong. Consistent with our hypotheses, personal experience of sexual harassment was found to be negatively associated with respondent satisfaction with their jobs or studies. However, these experiences were found to be unrelated to organizational commitment. In addition, most of the coping strategies adopted by the harassment victims tended to be nonassertive in nature. As one of the few systematic sexual harassment studies on Chinese working women and female students, we interpret our findings from an indigenous perspective and discuss both theoretical as well as applied implications for research in this area.

Conflict Resolution in the Culturally Diverse Workplace: Some Data from Hong Kong Employees

L’objectif de la presente recherche etait l’etude de la facon dont la distance sociale percue par des salaries de Hong Kong affecte leurs attributions et perceptions d’une situation de conflit, ainsi que leurs choix des procedures de resolution du conflit. 122 autochtones ayant affirme avoir des contacts interculturels dans le cadre de leur emploi ont lu un scenario decrivant une discussion professionnelle impliquant un salarie local et un superieur qui etait de Hong Kong, des Etats-Unis ou de Chine continentale. On leur demandait alors d’imaginer qu’ils etaient l’employe local et de remplir un questionnaire concu pour evaluer les dimensions sus-mentionnees. La mesure de la distance sociale montre que, comme prevu, ces sujets se sentaient plus proches de leur compatriote que de l’Americain ou du Chinois continental. De plus, la perception de la distance sociale etait liee a cette de la situation, a l’attribution des responsabilites et a la resolution du conflit. On analyse les retombees theoriques et pratiques de ces resultats sur la gestion des conflits interculturels et sur la construction social des categories courantes portant sur la diversite culturelle. The present study was designed to examine how perceived social distance affects Hong Kong employees’ attributions and perceptions of a conflict situation, and their choices of conflict resolution procedures. One hundred and twenty-two local workers who reported having intercultural contacts in their jobs read a scenario of a workplace dispute involving a local employee and a superior who was either from Hong Kong, the US, or Mainland China. They were then asked to imagine that they were the local employee in that situation and to complete a questionnaire that was designed to measure the above constructs. Results of the social distance measure suggest that, as expected, these participants were closest to fellow Hong Kong Chinese, and were more distant with people from the US and Mainland China. In addition, differences in perceived social distance were associated with how they perceived the conflict situation, attributed responsibilities, and resolved the conflict if they were in such a situation. Both theoretical and applied implications of these findings for conflict management in culturally diverse workplaces are discussed, as well as the social construction of commonly used diversity categories.

Subjective Overachievement in American and Chinese College Students

Research on American students has indicated that a subjective overachiever strives to attain outstanding performance but is also chronically plagued by self-doubt. The present investigation compared Chinese college students in Hong Kong and Singapore to their Caucasian American counterparts in an attempt to examine the similarities and differences in subjective overachievement across cultures. Results supported the relevance of the subjective achievement experience in different cultures but also revealed important differences. Compared to American participants, Chinese participants showed more ambivalence about the benefits of failure, and they manifested higher levels of self-doubt as well as the tendency to discount ability under conditions of effort exertion. These cross-cultural differences persisted after controlling for individual differences in self-construals.