Loyalty Without Conformity: Tailoring Self-Perception as a Means of Balancing Belonging and Differentiation

Abstract

We argue that members of individualist cultures balance their desire to belong with their desire to be different by maintaining a self-image as being loyal but relatively immune to group influence. Consistent with this, in Study 1 there was a strong tendency for people to rate themselves as being more independent (i.e., less conformist) than other people in their college. College students also rated themselves as being highly loyal to the group, however no self-other discrepancies were found on this dimension. This is despite the fact that traits of loyalty were rated more positively than were traits of independence. Study 2 provided evidence that culture influences the pattern of self-other discrepancies. Whereas people from individualist countries self-enhance on independence dimensions, people from collectivist countries self-enhance on loyalty dimensions. Again, these effects could not be explained as being a function of how positive these traits were seen to be, suggesting a cultural explanation rather than a straight forward superiority bias explanation for the observed discrepancies in self-other ratings. Results are discussed in relation to the SCENT model.