Cultural conditioning: understanding interpersonal accommodation in India and the United States in terms of the modal characteristics of interpersonal influence situations

Krishna Savani, Michael W. Morris, N. V.R. Naidu, Satishchandra Kumar, Neha V. Berlia

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

72 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We argue that differences between the landscapes of influence situations in Indian and American societies induce Indians to accommodate to others more often than Americans. To investigate cultural differences in situation-scapes, we sampled interpersonal influence situations occurring in India and the United States from both the influencee's (Study 1) and the influencer's (Study 2) perspectives. We found that Indian influence situations were dramatically more likely than U.S. situations to feature other-serving motives and to result in positive consequences for the relationship. Yet Study 3 found that targets of influence felt no less free to decide whether to accommodate in India than the United States, but felt more concerned about the influencer. To investigate the effects of situation-scapes on people's expectations and decisions, we exposed Indian and American participants to descriptions of situations from both societies (with their origins obscured). Study 4 found that both groups of participants expected more positive consequences from accommodation in Indian situations than in American situations. Finally, Study 5 found that both groups decided to accommodate more often in Indian situations than in American situations. At the same time, Indian participants were more likely than Americans to accommodate across all situations, but both groups converged over 100 trials as they were exposed to more and more situations drawn from each other's cultures. We interpret these effects in terms of the default decisions or biases conditioned by people's recently encountered situations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)84-102
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume100
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Accommodation
  • Adjustment
  • Conditioning
  • Culture
  • Influence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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