Steven J. Heine: University of British Columbia

A core psychological motivation for people is to view themselves positively, yet for decades the vast majority of evidence for this motivation came from North American samples. More recent research finds that this motivation varies importantly across cultures, because there are different kinds of positive views that are prioritized in different cultures. Positive self-views are primarily made manifest in North America through a desire to maintain high self-esteem – that is, a desire to have a positive evaluation of themselves. In contrast, the kind of positive self-view that is prioritized in several East Asian cultures is a strong desire to maintain face – that is, a desire to have others in one’s social network judge that the individual is functioning adequately in their position within that network.
These two distinct kinds of positive self-views are associated with highly divergent psychological processes. In their efforts to maintain high self-esteem, North Americans demonstrate stronger tendencies for self-enhancement, they show more of a promotion focus, maintain a largely internal frame of awareness, and have more entity theories of abilities. In contrast, in their efforts to maintain face, East Asians show stronger tendencies for self-improvement, demonstrate more of a prevention focus, maintain a largely external frame of awareness, and have more incremental theories of abilities. Evidence for cultural variation in each of these processes will be discussed, alongside discussions of alternative explanations.