Strategic uniqueness seeking: A cultural perspective.

Abstract

Building on the perspectives reflected in the Western intellectual tradition of the psychology of identity and the self, current research in cultural psychology tends to conceptualize uniqueness preferences as reflecting an identity-based motive and argues that people in Western cultures value uniqueness because it is viewed as inherently important to their identity and individuality. In this research, we introduce a complementary Eastern perspective to understand uniqueness preferences and argue that uniqueness preferences can also reflect a strategic motive where people in East Asian cultures may also value uniqueness because of the instrumental material and social benefits they believe uniqueness may confer. We tested our propositions in nine preregistered studies contrasting the decision making of people in the United States with those in China. We found that compared to participants from the United States, those from China were more likely to pursue uniqueness or believe others would pursue uniqueness in situations where being unique could potentially confer material and social benefits (Studies 1a-1c, 2, 4, 5), and this behavioral tendency could be explained in part by participants from China exhibiting a greater strategic motive for uniqueness seeking (Studies 3-5). Further, correlational and experimental studies provided some evidence for the roles of the need for power, power distance orientation, trait competitiveness, and upward social comparison as psychological antecedents to the strategic motive for uniqueness seeking (Studies 5-7). Overall, this research provides an alternative Eastern cultural perspective to balance the prevailing Western cultural perspective for understanding uniqueness preferences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).