Implicit cultural self-construals and preference for cooperative and competitive goals with close others

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether preference for cooperation and competition with others differs across individuals, depending on one’s cultural self-construal. In this study, 35 pairs of Japanese students first completed an Implicit Association Test to measure their cultural self-construal (interdependent vs. independent). They then performed a creativity test assigned to either a cooperative or a competitive condition and rated their preference for the task. The results showed that individuals who scored relatively more for interdependence were more likely to report that they would like to repeat the task in the cooperative condition than in the competitive condition, whereas individuals who scored relatively more for independence were as likely to rate their preference for the task in the competitive condition as for one in the cooperative condition. We discuss the relation between implicit–explicit cultural self-construals and competitive and cooperative goals in Japan.