Title: 10.8 Cultural Understanding of Personality – Introductory Psychology
Headings: 10.8 Cultural Understanding of Personality
10.8 Cultural Understanding of Personality
Learning Objectives
Researchers found three distinct regional personality clusters in the United States. People tend to be friendly and conventional in the Upper Midwest and Deep South; relaxed, emotionally stable, and creative in the West; and stressed, irritable, and depressed in the Northeast (Rentfrow et al., 2013).
PERSONALITY IN INDIVIDUALIST AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES
APPROACHES TO STUDYING PERSONALITY IN A CULTURAL CONTEXT
SUMMARY
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Exercises
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Critical Thinking Questions:
Personal Application Questions:
Glossary:
Answers to Exercises
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Content: this trait has been found to be negatively correlated with neuroticism. Individuals within Central, North, and South American cultures are known to be collaborative. Canada also scores high in openness as Canadians have been shown to encourage productivity in group settings (Komarraju, Karau, Schmeck, & Avdic, 2011). Many individuals with high levels of openness adopt the prosocial resource control strategy. This includes being more empathetic to others and having the desire to help those in need with any expectation of reward in return. They are also more likely to be self-motivated. California is known for its diversity and networks to meet new people, which explains why someone high on openness would settle there (Zeigler-Hill, Southard, & Besser, 2014). PERSONALITY IN INDIVIDUALIST AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES
Individualist cultures and collectivist cultures place emphasis on different basic values. People who live in individualist cultures tend to believe that independence, competition, and personal achievement are important. Individuals in Western nations such as the United States, England, and Australia score high on individualism (Oyserman, Coon, & Kemmelmier, 2002).