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With the summer Olympics fast approaching, and our nation's birthday on Americans' minds, July seemed an apt month to dig a little into the concept of national personalities. For instance, we may have ideas of what typical French or German or British people are like relative to typical Americans. But are these ideas just oversimplified stereotypes, or are they rooted in actual country-level differences in personality characteristics?
Powerful Predictors
In one camp, researchers believe that national personalities (usually defined as the average personality of a country's citizens) are important concepts to understand. They argue that national personality has powerful
predictive utility, meaning it can help explain - above and beyond cultural factors
like religion and wealth - why individuals in some countries are happier, less
corrupt, or more likely to tip workers than citizens of other countries.
This group has found several effects supporting their perspective, including:
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--More extraverted nations are happier, perhaps by facilitating fun and exciting social situations that make people happier. (Steel & Ones, 2002)
--Less neurotic nations are also happier, maybe because neuroticism (that is, being self-conscious and prone to lots of negative emotion like anxiety and depression) drags people down together. (Steel & Ones, 2002)
--More neurotic nations tend to be more corrupt (measured with the CPI) than less neurotic nations, though it’s not clear why – it could be that living in a corrupt nation threatens one’s emotional stability and well-being. (Connelly & Ones, 2008)
--Less open-minded nations are also more corrupt, perhaps because low openness to new experiences (that is, conservatism and traditionalism) may prevent progressive legislation designed to curb corruption. (Connelly & Ones, 2008)
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--More extraverted nations are likely to tip more service professionals (waiters, taxi drivers, etc.), perhaps because folks from these countries think that tipping will encourage more attention and meet their desire for recognition as benevolent customers. (Lynn, 2000)
--More neurotic nations are also more likely to tip, maybe as a strategy for reducing their anxious concerns about being served by strangers. (Lynn, 2000)
Simply Stereotypes
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When they asked people from 49 cultures on six continents to
describe (1) the typical member of their culture and (2) the typical American
(as a point of comparison), they found that:
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--However, national character ratings exaggerated any actual existing differences. That is, perceptions of differences in national personality far exceeded actual assessed differences in national personality. We see nations as being much more different than they really are, which is one effect of stereotypes.
--Further, the national character ratings were almost entirely unrelated to self-reports of personality by people in those nations. Of the 49 cultures in this study, only Poland’s self-report cohered with the national stereotype (which, take note, does not mean that all stereotypes about Polish people are true).
--But here are some fun differences in stereotypical country personalities, anyway! Keep in mind that this is how nations are seen, not how they actually are (except, maybe, for Poland).
Trait
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5 Lowest
Countries
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5 Highest
Countries
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The Phillippines
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Indonesia
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Canada
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Nigeria
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New Zealand
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Turkey
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Australia
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Poland
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Burkina Faso
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Japan
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Slovenia
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Puerto Rico
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Indonesia
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Australia
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French Switzerland
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Spain
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Japan
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New Zealand
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Estonia
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Serbia
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P. R. China
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Russia
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Estonia
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India
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Chile
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Kuwait
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Turkey
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Nigeria
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Japan
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Puerto Rico
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Czech Republic
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Burkina Faso
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Lebanon
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India
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United States
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Canada
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Argentina
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Botswana
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Hong Kong
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Russia
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Spain
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German Switzerland
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Turkey
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Sweden
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Croatia
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Germany
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Chile
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Burkina Faso
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Indonesia
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Estonia
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To be sure, a multitude of factors interfere with conducting
valid cross-cultural research, including many potential confounding variables. Moreover,
the studies above used many different types of samples and methodologies to
look at these questions, and as always, with slight tweaks to their procedures they
may have produced different results.
So in the end, it’s hard to say what’s really true in the
domain of national personality. But at least you have a few fun facts about
lying, happiness, tipping, and corruption for your next cocktail party conversation!
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Instead, let’s strive to celebrate cultural differences but keep in mind what we all have in common: Being human.
Questions to Consider:
Do you see national personalities as nasty stereotypes or interesting insights into cultures?
Do you have any expectations for how certain countries will behave at the Olympics, based on their personalities?
Do you agree or disagree with the stereotypes of countries in the table above?
Do you think your own culture can be described with just one personality? How about other cultures?
The Articles:
Steel, P., & Ones, D. S. (2002). Personality and Happiness: A National-Level Analysis Journal of Personality and Social Psychology DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.83.3.767
Connelly, B., & Ones, D. S. (2008). The Personality of Corruption: A National-Level Analysis Cross-Cultural Research DOI: 10.1177/1069397108321904
Lynn, M. (2000). National Personality and Tipping Customs Personality and Individual Differences DOI: 10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00109-9
Im in physc. Class and through observational learning, when one sees a person happy or in a certain mood, that person is more likely to imitate or be influence by that same mood until you have a group of people with the same attitudes and it seems like one massive thing is causing that certain behavior.
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