Culture Matters

Abstract

This article examined cultural variations on the relations of social competence to competence and trustworthiness and the importance of these dimensions in deciding social outcomes. Participants made judgments of personality traits based on inferences from faces of political candidates in the United States and Taiwan. Social competence was distinct from competence but related to trustworthiness among U.S. participants, whereas social competence was related to competence but distinct from trustworthiness among Chinese participants. With respect to winning actual past elections, perceived competence was more important for candidates in the United States than for those in Taiwan, whereas perceived social competence was more important for candidates in Taiwan than for those in the United States. With regard to predicting participants' hypothetical voting choices, competence was valued more among U.S. voters, whereas trustworthiness was favored more among Chinese voters. The role of culture in affecting the function of these dimensions in social perception and judgment is discussed.