Avoiding Rejection or Seeking Harmony: The Underlying Motivation to Social Tune for Collectivists

Abstract

The current work examined why collectivists engage in more chronic social tuning: to seek harmony or to avoid rejection. In Study 1, 159 Asian participants self-reported being more motivated to avoid rejection in a situation involving social tuning. In Study 2, 190 Asian participants engaged in social tuning to a classmate’s perceived views more when primed to avoid rejection than seek harmony. While study 3 found that 192 American participants reported avoiding rejection in social tuning situations, Study 4, showed that 206 American participants did not engage in social tuning when primed to avoid rejection. Collectivists will social tune and reduce prejudice when motivated to avoid rejection. This warrants future attention to cultural variation in other social tuning domains.