Time for Culture
"I Can Do It in No Time!" Time Predictions in the Cultural Context
Li Guan & Qi Wang
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Two studies were conducted to examine predictions of task completion times and the factors that influence time planning in the cultural context. European-American and Asian adults (Study 1) and European-American, Asian-American, Chinese college students (Study 2) were asked to predict task completion times in hypothetical scenarios. Participants were randomly assigned to a lesson-learning condition where they were reminded of relevant past experiences, a social consequence condition where they were warned of potential negative social consequences of planning failure, or a control condition. Study 1 revealed that Asians, but not European Americans, predicted longer task completion times in the two experimental conditions than controls. Study 2 showed that although European Americans, Asian Americans, and Chinese all provided longer predicted times in the two experimental conditions than controls, Chinese made the most pronounced increase in their time predictions. These original findings have important implications for the planning fallacy and its intervention.
US and Korean children prefer equality, but Korean children are more tolerant of ingroup-favoring allocations
Young-eun Lee et al.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, February 2026
Abstract:
It has been shown that with age, US children become more likely to prefer equal over unequal allocations and do so in an impartial way for both ingroup and outgroup members. However, it is possible that such findings are based on norms of impartiality that are more common in Western societies than in collectivistic societies which place a greater emphasis on group loyalty. For example, children from a collectivist society might endorse ingroup-favoring allocations more than equal allocations or outgroup-favoring ones. In this pre-registered study, n = 205 5- to 12-year-olds from the US and South Korea saw hypothetical scenarios in which a child divided resources (e.g., chocolates) between their ingroup and outgroup. Group membership was manipulated using a minimal group paradigm based on team colors. Children evaluated equal, ingroup-favoring, and outgroup-favoring allocations. Results showed that children from both samples overall evaluated equal allocations most positively. However, Korean children judged ingroup-favoring allocations more acceptable and less deserving of punishment than did US peers. Both results were consistent across ages, suggesting the developmental stability of these effects from middle childhood into early adolescence. We discuss how the current results provide insight into cross-cultural differences in fairness norms.
Marital Fertility Decline in Italy
Jesús Sánchez-Barricarte & Roberta Pace
Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Autumn 2025, Pages 157-184
Abstract:
A balanced panel of 192 observations across sixteen Italian regions reveals that socioeconomic modernization -- characterized by rising GDP per capita, improved life expectancy, and declining illiteracy rates -- was the primary driver of fertility reduction. Regional disparities were marked, with northern regions experiencing earlier and steeper declines than those in southern regions. Cultural factors, particularly proximity to French cultural networks, accelerated the diffusion of modern reproductive behaviors. The findings highlight the interaction between cultural and economic variables in demographic transitions and underscore the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to understanding both historical and contemporary demographic changes.
Relational mobility promotes optimism and willingness to delay happiness
Kuan-Ju Huang
Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
Are you willing to trade some present happiness for a better future? This study examined cross-country variation in delaying happiness -- the belief that sacrificing current joy is worthwhile for long-term happiness. Using nationally representative data from 22 countries (N > 200,000), Study 1 showed that people in countries with high relational mobility (e.g., North and Latin America) were more likely to delay happiness than those in countries with lower mobility (e.g., East Asia). Other national-level variables such as national wealth, income inequality, and individualism–collectivism did not account for this difference. Study 2 replicated the link between relational mobility and delaying happiness in two countries (N = 785) and further tested the mediating roles of sense of control and optimism. We also showed that delaying happiness is associated with different domains of well-being, including happiness/satisfaction, meaning/purpose, and balance/harmony, at both the individual and country levels. These findings suggest that social ecologies that afford greater relational freedom may foster a sense of control over one’s current situation and an optimistic view of the future, which in turn encourages the pursuit of long-term happiness.
Beyond Laughter: How Culture Shapes the Meaning and Preference of Humor
Yi Cao et al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
Across five studies, we reveal consistent cultural differences in how humor is perceived, created and appreciated: compared to Americans, Chinese individuals were more likely to produce, appreciate, and associate humor with more profound meaning. Study 1 (N = 298) used a free association paradigm and found a stronger tendency among Chinese than American participants to associate humor with meaningfulness. Study 2 (N = 222) showed that humor generated by Chinese participants contained more depth and meaning than that of American participants. Study 3 (N = 200) compared short humorous videos from Chinese (Douyin) and American (TikTok) social media platforms and found that videos on Douyin contained more meaning than those on TikTok. Finally, Study 4 (N = 611) used a cultural sampling method to examine how participants’ cultural background and origin of humor influence people’s liking of meaningful humor. The results indicated that Chinese participants liked meaningful humor more than nonmeaningful humor to a greater extent than American participants. Study 5 (N = 500) extended these findings to a more naturalistic context. The research highlights a new dimension of humor (meaningfulness) that has never been studied before and contributes significantly to the literature on culture and humor.
Ecological and Psychosocial Uniqueness of Collectivist Practices Versus Mindsets
Evert Van de Vliert et al.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Objective practices and subjective mindsets of collectivism are usually treated as inseparable twins. However, collectivist practices (e.g., living in extended families) and collectivist mindsets (e.g., preferring us over them) have distinct connections with ecological circumstances and different impacts on psychosocial functioning. This study clarifies these differences using ecological characteristics and psychosocial flourishing as criteria. Notably, our analysis of cross-sectional data from 120 countries reveals a path from increased habitat variability to decreased collectivist practices, followed by decreased collectivist mindsets, and ultimately, increased psychosocial flourishing. Additionally, national wealth reinforces the reductional impact of habitat variability on collectivist mindsets but not on collectivist practices. Finally, our country-level and multi-level analyses demonstrate that both societally shared and personally encountered experiences of psychosocial flourishing can distinguish between behavioral and mental manifestations of cultural collectivism versus individualism. These results challenge the broader notion that cultural practices and mindsets are interchangeable.
Understanding the Persistence of Traditional Values in Modern Society: Adaptive Utility Matters
Menglin He et al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
The adaptation account suggests that the persistence of some traditional values in modern society is due to their enduring adaptive utility. We tested this hypothesis by examining the change of filial piety in two Confucian societies, China and Japan. By analyzing natural language data, Study 1 found that Chinese people’s concern about and liking for filial piety have increased since 1979, with falling birth rate and rising elderly population as the Granger causes. By analyzing survey data from 2006 to 2017 (N = 7,283) in China, Study 2 found that reciprocal filial piety was adaptive (i.e., conducive to well-being) and increasing, whereas authoritarian filial piety was maladaptive (i.e., detrimental to well-being) and decreasing. By analyzing both Japanese language data from 1989 to 2023 (Study 3a) and survey data from 2006 to 2018 (Study 3b: N = 4,763), Study 3 replicated the main findings from China. These findings support the adaptation account of cultural persistence.
When feeling good does not always help you sleep: Cultural moderation of the positive affect–sleep link
Yiyi Zhu, Heidi Kane & Jiyoung Park
Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
Positive affect has been linked to better sleep. However, this evidence primarily comes from Western societies with a long-standing cultural tradition of prioritizing the pursuit of positivity. Here, we tested whether such benefits generalize to East Asian societies, where positive affect is less culturally valued. In these cultural contexts, individuals strive to achieve emotional balance, and thus, elevating positive emotions may not confer the same health benefits. We tested this hypothesis in two cross-cultural studies. Using large-scale surveys from American and Japanese midlife adults (N = 1,358), Study 1 examined whether culture moderates the relationship between positive affect and subjective sleep quality. As predicted, higher positive affect was associated with better subjective sleep quality among European Americans, but not among Japanese. Study 2 employed a 2-week daily diary design to examine whether European American and East Asian college students (N = 119) differ in how positive affect relates to both subjective and actigraphy-derived sleep measures. Among European Americans, higher average positive affect was associated with better subjective sleep quality and a calmer (vs. tense) mood upon awakening. By contrast, these associations were not observed among East Asians; instead, greater positive affect predicted shorter sleep duration for these individuals. Notably, these cultural differences emerged only for high-arousal (not low-arousal) positive affect. Together, these findings suggest that the restorative benefits of positive affect on sleep may be culturally contingent, depending on how positive emotions are viewed in different societies.