Abstract
Individuals are expected to justify their choice when the choice is self-threatening. However, previous cross-cultural work suggests that the conditions in which individuals justify their choices vary across cultures. The present work aimed to determine the boundary conditions for this cultural difference. Experiment 1 showed that Japanese justified their choice when an impression of “social eyes” was primed during the choice, but not when it was primed at a later point. In contrast, the pattern was reversed for Americans. Experiment 2 found a similar cross-cultural pattern as a function of each participant's perception of “social eyes” in response to an ambiguous cue presented in front of him or her. Experiment 3 found that Americans justified their choice only when an observer was perceived as noninfluential. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that perceived privacy or publicity of choice interacts with culture to determine the likelihood of choice justification.
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