2023 Volume 30 Issue 3 Pages 327-339
This study examined how cultural self-construal and others’ facial expressions affect shifting in decision-making due to conformity during discussion by using a stimulus video, which presented a discussion scene in online communication. Eye gaze during the stimulus presentation was measured to understand the allocation of attention during the opinion evaluation. The video included one speaker expressing an opinion and five audience members using facial expressions to reflect their opinion toward the speaker. After watching the video, participants responded to a questionnaire asking to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the speaker’ s opinion and an independent-interdependent self-construal scale. The results indicated that others’ facial expressions influence decision-making during discussions and that people with higher interdependent self-construal tend to be influenced by others’ facial expressions. Gaze measurements did not show that people with higher interdependent self-construal pay more attention to surrounding others. However, it suggested that people who tend to pay more attention to surrounding others are more likely to shift in decision-making due to conformity.
