Cultural modulation of early attentional responses to positive self-information: An ERP investigation of self-enhancement

Abstract

Westerners show a strong tendency to view themselves in a positive light (i.e., self-enhancement), but this tendency is substantially weaker among East Asians. At present, however, it remains inconclusive whether this cultural difference reflects genuine variation in spontaneous engagement in this motivational tendency or is driven by individuals' deliberate efforts to present oneself in culturally acceptable ways. In the present research, we sought to address this issue by examining whether culture modulates early attentional bias to self-name, presented in the context of positive (vs. negative) situations. Both European American and Asian American participants (N = 64) read a series of scenarios depicting either a positive or a negative life situation and were subsequently presented with their name or names of famous people or strangers. European Americans showed greater P2, an ERP component of early attentional arousal, when the self-name was primed with positive (vs. negative) situations. In contrast, Asian Americans' P2 in response to the self-name was not moderated by situation primes. Moreover, the degree to which P2 was enhanced in positive (vs. negative) situations was negatively correlated with Asian cultural values. These results demonstrate that cultural variation in self-enhancement may reflect genuine beliefs about the self, manifested automatically at an early stage of attentional processing.