Cultural influences on preference consistency: Consistency at the individual and collective levels

Abstract

Previous research has shown that there are cultural differences in self-concept consistency across situations. However, little is known about cultural differences in preference consistency over time. The present research examined whether Americans are more consistent in their preferences over time than are Japanese. As hypothesized, there were cultural differences in self-reported ( Studies 1 and 2) and actual ( Studies 2 and 3) preference consistency over time. Further, cultural differences in preference consistency at the individual level ( Study 1) were found to aggregate into collective level differences ( Studies 2 and 3) in the consistency of preference trends, such as the popularity of baby names. Implications and future directions are discussed.