Self-enhancement and self-protection strategies in China: Cultural expressions of a fundamental human motive

Hepper, E, Sedikides, C and Cai, H (2013) Self-enhancement and self-protection strategies in China: Cultural expressions of a fundamental human motive Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44 (1). pp. 5-23.

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Abstract

The motive to enhance and protect positive views of the self manifests in a variety of cognitive and behavioral strategies but its universality versus cultural specificity is debated by scholars. We sought to inform this debate by soliciting self-reports of the four principal types of self-enhancement and self-protection strategy (positivity embracement, favorable construals, self-affirming reflections, defensiveness) from a Chinese sample and comparing their structure, levels, and correlates to a Western sample. The Chinese data fit the same factor structure, and were subject to the same individual differences in regulatory focus, self-esteem, and narcissism, as the Western data. Chinese participants reported lower levels of (enhancement-oriented) positivity embracement but higher levels of (protection-oriented) defensiveness than Western participants. Levels of favorable construals were also higher in the Chinese sample, with no differences in self-affirming reflections. These findings support and extend the universalist perspective on the self by demonstrating the cross-cultural structure, yet culturally sensitive manifestation, of self-enhancement motivation.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions :	Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences > School of Psychology
Authors :	Name Email ORCID Hepper, E Sedikides, C Cai, H
Date :	January 2013
DOI :	10.1177/0022022111428515
Uncontrolled Keywords :	self-enhancement, self-protection, culture, self-esteem, narcissism
Related URLs :	Publisher
Additional Information :	Publicshed in Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44 (1), 5-23, 2013. Copyright 2013 Sage Publications. Available online at: http://jcc.sagepub.com/content/44/1.toc
Depositing User :	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited :	07 Jun 2013 15:00
Last Modified :	31 Oct 2017 15:06
URI:	http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/id/eprint/732583

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