Mauricio Carvallo

Tactical self-enhancement in China: is modesty at the service of self-enhancement in East-Asian culture

Is self-enhancement culturally universal or relativistic? This article highlights a nuanced dynamic in East Asian culture. Modesty is a prevailing norm in China. The authors hypothesized that because of socialization practices and prohibitive cultural pressures, modesty would be associated with and lead to low explicit self-enhancement but high implicit self-enhancement, that Chinese participants would deemphasize explicitly the positivity of the self when high on modesty or situationally prompted to behave modestly but would capitalize on their modest disposition or situationally induced behavior to emphasize implicitly the positivity of the self. In support of the hypotheses, dispositionally or situationally modest Chinese participants manifested low explicit self-esteem while manifesting high implicit self-esteem. Modesty among American participants constrained explicit self-esteem but yielded no associations with implicit self-esteem. The results showcase the tactical nature of self-enhancement in Chinese culture and call for research on when and how self-enhancement is pursued tactically in different cultures.

Including Others in the Implicit Self: Implicit Evaluation of Significant Others

We argue that people include significant others in their implicit self-concepts. That is, peoples implicit evaluations of their significant others are related to their own self-evaluations. Data from five different samples supported this idea by demonstrating that peoples implicit self-esteem is related to their implicit evaluations of their close others (both implicit self-esteem and implicit evaluations of significant others were assessed using the name-letter measure). This finding held for parent–child, romantic, and sibling relationships as well as for friendships. This finding also held controlling for peoples explicit self-esteem and how much people liked letters in general. These findings suggest that people include significant others in their implicit self-concepts, which appear to be distinct representations from peoples explicit beliefs. The potential implications for relationship functioning are discussed.

What Makes Us Feel the Best Also Makes Us Feel the Worst: The Emotional Impact of Independent and Interdependent Experiences

Four studies examined the hypothesis that intense emotional experiences are more often centered on interdependent than independent experiences. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that when asked to write about emotionally intense events, participants were more likely to write about interdependent than independent experiences. Study 3 provided evidence that these effects were not due to recall effects based on mere exposure. Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that when asked to write about the most positive and negative interdependent and independent experiences of their lives and then rate their impact, participants were more likely to indicate that interdependent experiences had more emotional impact than independent experiences. Study 4 also provided evidence that the extent to which an experience fostered belonging motivations predicted the emotional impact of that event. Implications of the current research in terms of the need to belong and research on motivation and appraisal theories of emotion are discussed.

Naming Patterns Reveal Cultural Values Patronyms, Matronyms, and the U.S. Culture of Honor

Four studies examined the hypothesis that honor norms would be associated with a pronounced use of patronyms, but not matronyms, for naming children. Study 1 shows that men who endorse honor values expressed a stronger desire to use patronyms (but not matronyms) for future children, an association that was mediated by patriarchal attitudes. Study 2 presents an indirect method for assessing state patronym and matronym levels. As expected, patronym scores were significantly higher in honor states and were associated with a wide range of variables linked previously to honor-related dynamics. Study 3a shows that following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, patronyms increased in honor states, but not in non-honor states. Likewise, priming men with a fictitious terrorist attack (Study 3b) increased the association between honor ideology and patronym preferences. Together, these studies reveal a subtle social signal that reflects the masculine values of an honor culture.

The surprising potency of implicit egotism: A reply to Simonsohn.

This article addresses Simonsohns (2011) critique of field studies of implicit egotism. We argue that Simonsohn provides no compelling theoretical reason to believe that implicit egotism should be valid only in the laboratory. In addition, we argue that a careful analysis of most of Simonsohns studies of implicit egotism shows that they provide little or no power to reveal real effects of implicit egotism. We conclude that it is more constructive to try to identify theoretically derived moderators of implicit egotism than to try to document that it is always spurious in the field.

The relationship between acculturation and oral contraceptive use among Korean immigrant women

We explored the relationship between acculturation and beliefs, attitudes, norms, and intention regarding oral contraceptive use among Korean immigrant women using acculturation and the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as the frameworks. A total of 1,494 Korean surname-based telephone numbers were sampled in New York City. One hundred forty-five Korean immigrant women completed a telephone survey. The findings support the assumption that acculturation affects intention to use oral contraceptives indirectly only through one or more of the TRA components. Acculturation could function as an antecedent to changes in beliefs, attitudes, norms, and intention in this population. Acculturation assessment tools could provide health professionals insight into how to better approach this population on such culturally sensitive health issues as contraceptive use.

Culture, Masculine Honor, and Violence Toward Women

Prior research has connected the cultural ideology of honor to intrasexual violence between men and to attitudes supporting intersexual aggression in response to perceived honor violations by female romantic partners. We extend this research to show that honor ideology is also associated with an increased likelihood of men actually engaging in violent and sexually coercive behaviors toward women. Extending previous research on honor-based schemas and scripts linked to relationship violence, comparisons between honor states and non–honor states in the United States show that official rape and domestic homicide rates by White male perpetrators (Study 1) and experiences of rape and violence in relationships anonymously reported by White female teenagers (Study 2) were higher in honor states, controlling for a variety of potential confounds. These results extend prior laboratory research on honor-based schemas and scripts into the realm of extreme, real-world behaviors.

Searching for God: Illness-Related Mortality Threats and Religious Search Volume in Google in 16 Nations:

We tested predictions about religiosity and terror management processes in 16 nations. Specifically, we examined weekly variation in Google search volume in each nation for 12 years (all weeks for which data were available). In all 16 nations, higher than usual weekly Google search volume for life-threatening illnesses (cancer, diabetes, and hypertension) predicted increases in search volume for religious content (e.g., God, Jesus, prayer) in the following week. This effect held up after controlling for (a) recent past and annual variation in religious search volume, (b) increases in search volume associated with religious holidays, and (c) variation in searches for a non-life-threatening illness (“sore throat”). Terror management threat reduction processes appear to occur across the globe. Furthermore, they may occur over much longer periods than those studied in the laboratory. Managing fears of death via religious belief regulation appears to be culturally pervasive.

Feasibility of Utilizing Ethnic Beauty Salons for Cervical Cancer Screening Education

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of using ethnic beauty salons to reach out to Vietnamese and Korean American women for cervical cancer screening education. Participants (N = 62) were conveniently recruited from ethnic beauty salons located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Two feasibility questionnaires were separately administered to cosmetologists and their customers. Findings support the view that ethnic beauty salons can be used as a gateway to reach out to these populations, and cosmetologists have the potential to operate as community lay health workers to deliver cervical cancer screening education aimed at reducing disparities in cervical cancer and screening to their ethnic customers.

Psychometric Properties of a Measure Assessing Attitudes and Norms as Determinants of Intention to Use Oral Contraceptives

PURPOSE Asian immigrant and Asian American women are less likely to use oral contraceptives (OCs) and tend to rely on low-efficacy methods of contraception. This contraceptive pattern remains poorly understood, in part, because no theory-driven measurement exists to assess psychosocial determinants essential in explaining behaviors related to OC use in this population. The current study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a measure of attitudes and subjective norms toward OC use among Korean American women as a first step to determine whether the measure can be used in this population and, potentially, in other Asian ethnic groups. METHODS The sample consisted of 329 Korean immigrant women living in New York City. The theory of reasoned action guided the development of the measure assessing attitudes and norms. Psychometric evaluation included item analysis, internal consistency estimates of reliability, and construct validity (i.e., factorial, discriminant, and predictive). RESULTS All item-total correlations were above the recommendation of .30. The Cronbachs alpha for the attitudes and subjective norms measure was .88 and .86, respectively. Exploratory factor analyses revealed four interpretable factors, and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the factor structures derived from the exploratory factor analyses fit the data well. Discriminant and predictive validity of the measure were also established. CONCLUSIONS The study provides support for the validity and reliability of the measure and its use for determining the degree to which Korean immigrant women intend to use OCs.