Hazel Markus

All Publications

• People who share encounters with racism are silenced online by humans and machines, but a guideline-reframing intervention holds promise. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Lee, C., Gligorić, K., Kalluri, P. R., Harrington, M., Durmus, E., Sanchez, K. L., San, N., Tse, D., Zhao, X., Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Jurafsky, D., Eberhardt, J. L. 2024; 121 (38): e2322764121

  Abstract

  Are members of marginalized communities silenced on social media when they share personal experiences of racism? Here, we investigate the role of algorithms, humans, and platform guidelines in suppressing disclosures of racial discrimination. In a field study of actual posts from a neighborhood-based social media platform, we find that when users talk about their experiences as targets of racism, their posts are disproportionately flagged for removal as toxic by five widely used moderation algorithms from major online platforms, including the most recent large language models. We show that human users disproportionately flag these disclosures for removal as well. Next, in a follow-up experiment, we demonstrate that merely witnessing such suppression negatively influences how Black Americans view the community and their place in it. Finally, to address these challenges to equity and inclusion in online spaces, we introduce a mitigation strategy: a guideline-reframing intervention that is effective at reducing silencing behavior across the political spectrum.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2322764121

  View details for PubMedID 39250662

• workplaces and human well-being: A mixed-methods study to quantify the effects of materials, windows, and representation on biobehavioral outcomes (vol 224, 109516, 2022) BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT Douglas, I. P., Murnane, E. L., Bencharit, L., Altaf, B., Costa, J., Yang, J., Ackerson, M., Srivastava, C., Cooper, M., Douglas, K., King, J., Paredes, P. E., Camp, N. P., Mauriello, M., Ardoin, N. M., Markus, H., Landay, J. A., Billington, S. L. 2024; 261

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111717

  View details for Web of Science ID 001252792900001

• Use of crowdsourced online surveys to study the impact of architectural and design choices on wellbeing (vol 4, 780376, 2022) FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE CITIES Altaf, B., Bianchi, E., Douglas, I. P., Douglas, K., Byers, B., Paredes, P. E., Ardoin, N. M., Markus, H. R., Murnane, E. L., Bencharit, L. Z., Landay, J. A., Billington, S. L. 2024; 6

  View details for DOI 10.3389/frsc.2024.1458100

  View details for Web of Science ID 001284821400001

• What causes social class disparities in education? The role of the mismatches between academic contexts and working-class socialization contexts and how the effects of these mismatches are explained. Psychological review Goudeau, S., Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., Darnon, C., Croizet, J., Cimpian, A. 2024

  Abstract

  Within psychology, the underachievement of students from working-class backgrounds has often been explained as a product of individual characteristics such as a lack of intelligence or motivation. Here, we propose an integrated model illustrating how educational contexts contribute to social class disparities in education over and beyond individual characteristics. According to this new Social Class-Academic Contexts Mismatch model, social class disparities in education are due to several mismatches between the experiences that students from working-class backgrounds bring with them to the classroom and those valued in academic contexts-specifically, mismatches between (a) academic contexts' culture of independence and the working-class orientation to interdependence, (b) academic contexts' culture of competition and the working-class orientation toward cooperation, (c) the knowledge valued in academic contexts and the knowledge developed through working-class socialization, and (d) the social identities valued in academic contexts and the negatively stereotyped social identities of students from working-class backgrounds. Because of these mismatches, students from working-class backgrounds are likely to experience discomfort and difficulty in the classroom. We further propose that, when attempting to make sense of these first-order effects, students and teachers rely on inherent characteristics (e.g., ability, motivation) more often than warranted; conversely, they overlook extrinsic, contextual factors. In turn, this explanatory bias toward inherent features leads (a) students from working-class backgrounds to experience self-threat and (b) their teachers to treat them unfairly. These second-order effects magnify social class disparities in education. This integrated model has the potential to reshape research and discourse on social class and education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/rev0000473

  View details for PubMedID 39023935

• A leadership-level culture cycle intervention changes teachers' culturally inclusive beliefs and practices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Brady, L. M., Wang, C., Griffiths, C., Yang, J., Markus, H. R., Fryberg, S. A. 2024; 121 (25): e2322872121

  Abstract

  Despite an abundance of support for culturally inclusive learning environments, there is little consensus regarding how to change educational contexts to effectively and sustainably foster cultural inclusion. To address this gap, we report findings from a research-practice partnership that leveraged the Culture Cycle Framework (CCF) to expand educators' praxis to include both independent and interdependent models of self. Most U.S. schools validate independent cultural models (i.e., those that prioritize individuality, uniqueness, and personal agency) and overlook interdependent models (i.e., those that prioritize connectedness, relationality, and collective well-being), which are more common among students from marginalized racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Using a quasi-experimental longitudinal design, we trained school leadership to integrate ideas about cultural inclusion (i.e., validating the importance of both independent and interdependent cultural models) into school-wide flagship practices. We assessed downstream indicators of culture change by surveying teachers and students across the district and found that a) leadership-level training enhanced school-wide beliefs about cultural inclusion, b) teachers' endorsement of culturally inclusive beliefs predicted their use of culturally inclusive practices, and c) teachers' use of culturally inclusive practices predicted enhanced psychosocial and academic outcomes among students. This research represents a comprehensive culture change effort using the CCF and illustrates a means of fostering inclusion-focused educational culture change and assessing downstream consequences of culture change initiatives.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2322872121

  View details for PubMedID 38857405

• "When the Cruiser Lights Come On": Using the Science of Bias & Culture to Combat Racial Disparities in Policing DAEDALUS Hetey, R. C., Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H., Eberhardt, J. L. 2024; 153 (1): 123-150

  View details for DOI 10.1162/daed_a_02052

  View details for Web of Science ID 001184386600010

• We built this culture (so we can change it): Seven principles for intentional culture change. The American psychologist Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Hetey, R. C., Eberhardt, J. L. 2023

  Abstract

  Calls for culture change abound. Headlines regularly feature calls to change the "broken" or "toxic" cultures of institutions and organizations, and people debate which norms and practices across society are now defunct. As people blame current societal problems on culture, the proposed fix is "culture change." But what is culture change? How does it work? Can it be effective? This article presents a novel social psychological framework for intentional culture change-actively and deliberately modifying the mutually reinforcing features of a culture. Synthesizing insights from research and application, it proposes an integrated, evidence-based perspective centered around seven core principles for intentional culture change: Principle 1: People are culturally shaped shapers, so they can be culture changers; Principle 2: Identifying, mapping, and evaluating the key levels of culture helps locate where to target change; Principle 3: Culture change happens in both top-down and bottom-up ways and is more effective when the levels are in alignment; Principle 4: Culture change can be easier when it leverages existing core values and harder when it challenges deep-seated defaults and biases; Principle 5: Culture change typically involves power struggles and identity threats; Principle 6: Cultures interact with one another and change can cause backlash, resistance, and clashes; and Principle 7: Timing and readiness matter. While these principles may be broadly used, here they are applied to the issue of social inequality in the United States. Even though culture change feels particularly daunting in this problem area, it can also be empowering-especially when people leverage evidence-based insights and tools to reimagine and rebuild their cultures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/amp0001209

  View details for PubMedID 37971839

• The OECD's 'Well-being 2030' agenda: how PISA's affective turn gets lost in translation COMPARATIVE EDUCATION Rappleye, J., Komatsu, H., Uchida, Y., Tsai, J., Markus, H. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1080/03050068.2023.2273640

  View details for Web of Science ID 001097705500001

• Listening to bridge societal divides. Current opinion in psychology Santoro, E., Markus, H. R. 2023; 54: 101696

  Abstract

  The U.S. is plagued by a variety of societal divides across political orientation, race, and gender, among others. Listening has the potential to be a key element in spanning these divides. Moreover, the benefits of listening for mitigating social division has become a culturally popular idea and practice. Recent evidence suggests that listening can bridge divides in at least two ways: by improving outgroup sentiment and by granting outgroup members greater status and respect. When reviewing this literature, we pay particular attention to mechanisms and to boundary conditions, as well as to the possibility that listening can backfire. We also review a variety of current interventions designed to encourage and improve listening at all levels of the culture cycle. The combination of recent evidence and the growing popular belief in the significance of listening heralds a bright future for research on the many ways that listening can diffuse stereotypes and improve attitudes underlying intergroup division.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101696

  View details for PubMedID 37897952

• Unequal opportunities from the start: Socioeconomic disparities in classroom participation in preschool. Journal of experimental psychology. General Goudeau, S., Sanrey, C., Autin, F., Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., Croizet, J. C., Cimpian, A. 2023

  Abstract

  Why do socioeconomic disparities in achievement emerge so early in life? Previous answers to this question have generally focused on the perceived deficits of parents from disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g., insufficient childrearing knowledge). Here, we instead focus on the structure of early childhood education and argue that early schooling contexts provide unequal opportunities for engagement to children of higher versus lower socioeconomic status (SES). As engagement is a longitudinal predictor of achievement, early SES disparities in engagement could serve to maintain or even exacerbate SES disparities in achievement. In Study 1 (1,236 observations; N = 98 children), we investigated preschool students' behavioral engagement during whole-class discussions-a core aspect of early childhood education. Low-SES children showed significantly lower engagement than their peers. Consistent with the claim of unequal opportunities for engagement, these differences were not accounted for by SES differences in language proficiency. As students' engagement in school is influenced by their peers' attitudes toward them, we also examined peer perceptions (Study 2, N = 94, and a meta-analysis, k = 2 studies). We found that preschoolers who show more engagement relative to others during whole-class discussions are perceived as possessing more positive qualities (e.g., intelligence). Given that higher-SES students are afforded more opportunities for engagement (see Study 1), they may be the ones benefiting from these positive peer perceptions as well, which might further boost their engagement. Our results suggest that aspects of early childhood education should be redesigned to foster engagement among all students, regardless of their SES. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/xge0001437

  View details for PubMedID 37384484

• Mitigating welfare-related prejudice and partisanship among US conservatives with moral reframing of a universal basic income policy JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Thomas, C. C., Walton, G. M., Reinhart, E. C., Markus, H. 2023; 105

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104424

  View details for Web of Science ID 000892204700002

• Enculturating the Science of International Development: Beyond the WEIRD Independent Paradigm JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY Thomas, C., Markus, H. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1177/00220221221128211

  View details for Web of Science ID 000922402100001

• The Significance of Status: What It Is and How It Shapes Inequality RSF-THE RUSSELL SAGE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Ridgeway, C. L., Markus, A. 2022; 8 (6): 1-25

  View details for DOI 10.7758/RSF.2022.8.6.01

  View details for Web of Science ID 000891719900001

• The Significance of Status: What It Is and How It Shapes Inequality RSF-THE RUSSELL SAGE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Ridgeway, C. L., Markus, H. 2022; 8 (7): 1-25

  View details for DOI 10.7758/RSF.2022.8.7.01

  View details for Web of Science ID 000891720900001

• Physical workplaces and human well-being: A mixed-methods study to quantify the effects of materials, windows, and representation on biobehavioral outcomes BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT Douglas, I. P., Murnane, E. L., Bencharit, L., Altaf, B., Costa, J., Yang, J., Ackerson, M., Srivastava, C., Cooper, M., Douglas, K., King, J., Paredes, P. E., Camp, N. P., Mauriello, M., Ardoin, N. M., Markus, H., Landay, J. A., Billington, S. L. 2022; 224

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109516

  View details for Web of Science ID 000862289200005

• Personal harm from the Covid-19 pandemic predicts advocacy for equality. Journal of experimental social psychology Birnbaum, H. J., Dittmann, A. G., Stephens, N. M., Reinhart, E. C., Carey, R. M., Markus, H. R. 2022: 104400

  Abstract

  The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the vast amount of economic inequality in the U.S. Yet, has it influenced Americans' attitudes and behaviors toward equality? With a three-wave longitudinal survey, the current research provides evidence that experiencing personal harm (e.g., contracting Covid-19, losing jobs, or psychological distress) from the pandemic predicts an increase in people's attitudinal and behavioral advocacy for equality. Specifically, we find that experiencing greater personal harm in the early stages of the pandemic (i.e., May 2020) is associated with increased advocacy for equality one year later (i.e., May 2021; e.g., contacting a public official to express support for reducing inequality). Furthermore, we find that this increase in advocacy for equality is explained, in part, by people's greater endorsement of how external factors (e.g., bad luck, discrimination, etc.) contribute to inequality. Our work provides evidence that the extent to which people experience harm from the Covid-19 pandemic can predict both their increased understanding of external sources of inequality, as well as their efforts to combat this inequality (e.g., by seeking to advocate for policies that combat structural contributors to inequality).

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104400

  View details for PubMedID 36032507

• Psychosocial Context and Food Healthiness in Top-Grossing American Films HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY Turnwald, B. P., Horii, R., Markus, H. R., Crum, A. J. 2022

  Abstract

  Healthy eating is shaped by the context. To understand how healthy eating is modeled in popular media, this systematic analysis quantified which contextual factors, character behaviors, and character demographics were associated with food healthiness in popular movies.Two researchers content-coded the contextual factors, character behaviors, and character demographics depicted across 9,093 foods in 244 top-grossing Hollywood movies released from 1994-2018. Food healthiness was calculated using the Nutrient Profile Index (0 = least healthy, 100 = healthiest) and coder reliability was assessed. Mixed effects regression models tested whether food healthiness was associated with contextual factors (e.g., geographic locations, social consumption situations, celebrations, foreground placement), character behaviors (actual consumption, food evaluations), and character demographics.Confirming six preregistered hypotheses (all p < .001), foods were less healthy when they were in American versus non-American settings (95% CI: Cohen's d = .29-.39), part of social consumption situations (d = .19-.28) and celebrations (d = .04-.17), and in the foreground versus background (d = .15-.24). The foods that characters actually consumed (d = .30-.42) and evaluated positively (vs. negatively, d = .37-.76) were also less healthy. However, disconfirming a gender hypothesis, female characters did not consume healthier foods than males (d = -.11-.13, p = .45).Top-grossing Hollywood movies depict different contexts and different character behaviors for healthier versus less healthy foods. Research is needed to understand whether depicting healthy foods in different contexts impacts viewers' beliefs and behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/hea0001215

  View details for Web of Science ID 000826183100001

  View details for PubMedID 35849357

• White patients' physical responses to healthcare treatments are influenced by provider race and gender. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Howe, L. C., Hardebeck, E. J., Eberhardt, J. L., Markus, H. R., Crum, A. J. 2022; 119 (27): e2007717119

  Abstract

  The healthcare workforce in the United States is becoming increasingly diverse, gradually shifting society away from the historical overrepresentation of White men among physicians. However, given the long-standing underrepresentation of people of color and women in the medical field, patients may still associate the concept of doctors with White men and may be physiologically less responsive to treatment administered by providers from other backgrounds. To investigate this, we varied the race and gender of the provider from which White patients received identical treatment for allergic reactions and measured patients' improvement in response to this treatment, thus isolating how a provider's demographic characteristics shape physical responses to healthcare. A total of 187 White patients experiencing a laboratory-induced allergic reaction interacted with a healthcare provider who applied a treatment cream and told them it would relieve their allergic reaction. Unbeknownst to the patients, the cream was inert (an unscented lotion) and interactions were completely standardized except for the provider's race and gender. Patients were randomly assigned to interact with a provider who was a man or a woman and Asian, Black, or White. A fully blinded research assistant measured the change in the size of patients' allergic reaction after cream administration. Results indicated that White patients showed a weaker response to the standardized treatment over time when it was administered by women or Black providers. We explore several potential explanations for these varied physiological treatment responses and discuss the implications of problematic race and gender dynamics that can endure "under the skin," even for those who aim to be bias free.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2007717119

  View details for PubMedID 35749352

• Negative consequences of self-presentation on disclosure of health information: A catch-22 for Black patients? Social science & medicine (1982) Louis, K., Crum, A. J., Markus, H. R. 2022: 115141

  Abstract

  RATIONALE: Most patients assume that it is adaptive to present oneself in a positive light when interacting with medical professionals. Here in two studies focused on Black patients we ask: might this desire to present oneself well inhibit the disclosure of health-relevant information when patients are concerned about negative and stereotypic evaluations by their health care providers?OBJECTIVE: Specifically, we explore three important questions: First, whether self-presentational efforts (e.g., working hard to sound knowledgeable or "smart") are negatively associated with disclosure of health information (e.g., not taking certain medications); Second, whether patient-provider racial congruence (e.g. Black patients interacting with a Black vs. a White doctor) moderates that relationship; and third, more broadly, what factors promote or inhibit disclosure of health information for Black patients in medical interactions.METHODS: These questions were investigated using mixed methodology (survey, experimental, qualitative) studies on CloudResearch and Prolific.RESULTS: We found a potential catch-22: participants who spend more effort self-presenting tend to be less comfortable disclosing health information to their healthcare providers. Moreover, Study 1 (N=321) indicated that the negative relationship between self-presentation and disclosure was significant in Black-incongruent (i.e., Black patient and White provider) and White-congruent (i.e., White patient and White provider) medical interactions. Study 2 (N=361) did not find a significant moderation by race of the provider but instead suggested that the relationship between self-presentation and disclosure was moderated by expectations of unfair treatment. Exploratory qualitative analyses suggested that some Black participants face a dilemma when deciding whether to disclose information to their healthcare providers. They weigh the kind of information they will share, and how sharing some information might lead to embarrassment and judgment.CONCLUSION: Mitigating the potentially counteractive effects of self-presentation on disclosure and working to foster contexts that encourage honest disclosure of health information may help to reduce health care inequalities.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115141

  View details for PubMedID 35778285

• Language in popular American culture constructs the meaning of healthy and unhealthy eating: Narratives of craveability, excitement, and social connection in movies, television, social media, recipes, and food reviews. Appetite Turnwald, B. P., Perry, M. A., Jurgens, D., Prabhakaran, V., Jurafsky, D., Markus, H. R., Crum, A. J. 1800: 105949

  Abstract

  Many people want to eat healthier but struggle to do so, in part due to a dominant perception that healthy foods are at odds with hedonic goals. Is the perception that healthy foods are less appealing than unhealthy foods represented in language across popular entertainment media and social media? Six studies analyzed dialogue about food in six cultural products - creations of a culture that reflect its perspectives - including movies, television, social media posts, food recipes, and food reviews. In Study 1 (N = 617 movies) and Study 2 (N = 27 television shows), healthy foods were described with fewer appealing descriptions (e.g., "couldn't stop eating"; d = 0.59 and d = 0.37, respectively) and more unappealing descriptions (e.g., "I hate peas"; d = -.57 and d = -.63, respectively) than unhealthy foods in characters' speech from the film and television industries. Using sources with richer descriptive language, Studies 3-6 analyzed popular American restaurants' Facebook posts (Study 3, N = 2275), recipe descriptions from Allrecipes.com (Study 4, N = 1000), Yelp reviews from six U.S. cities (Study 5, N = 4403), and Twitter tweets (Study 6, N = 10,000) for seven specific themes. Meta-analytic results across Studies 3-6 showed that healthy foods were specifically described as less craveworthy (d = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.44-0.59), less exciting (d = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.31-0.49), and less social (d = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.04-0.68) than unhealthy foods. Machine learning methods further generalized patterns across 1.6 million tweets spanning 42 different foods representing a range of nutritional quality. These data suggest that strategies to encourage healthy choices must counteract pervasive narratives that dissociate healthy foods from craveability, excitement, and social connection in individuals' everyday lives.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.appet.2022.105949

  View details for PubMedID 35090976

• Nutritional Analysis of Foods and Beverages Posted in Social Media Accounts of Highly Followed Celebrities. JAMA network open Turnwald, B. P., Anderson, K. G., Markus, H. R., Crum, A. J. 1800; 5 (1): e2143087

  Abstract

  Importance: Celebrity social media posts engage millions of young followers daily, but the nutritional quality of foods and beverages in such posts, sponsored and unsponsored, is unknown.Objective: To quantify the nutritional quality of foods and beverages depicted in social media accounts of highly followed celebrities and assess whether nutritional quality is associated with post sponsorship, celebrity profession or gender, and followers' likes and comments.Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study analyzed the content of food- and beverage-containing posts from Instagram (a photo- and video-sharing social media platform) accounts of 181 highly followed athletes, actors, actresses, television personalities, and music artists. Data were collected from May 2019 to March 2020.Main Outcomes and Measures: The nutritional quality of foods and beverages posted in celebrity social media accounts was rated using the Nutrient Profile Index (NPI) based on the sugar, sodium, energy, saturated fat, fiber, protein, and fruit and/or vegetable content per 100-g sample (a score of 0 indicated least healthy and 100, healthiest); foods with scores less than 64 and beverages with scores less than 70 were rated as "less healthy." Secondary outcomes were whether the nutritional quality of foods and beverages in social media posts was associated with post sponsorship, celebrity profession or gender, and followers' likes and comments. Mixed-effects regression models were used to estimate how outcomes differed across fixed effects.Results: The sample included social media accounts of 181 celebrities (66 actors, actresses, and television personalities [36.5%]; 64 music artists [35.4%]; and 51 athletes [28.2%]). A total of 102 celebrities (56.4%) were male, and the median age was 32 years (range, 17-73 years). Among 3065 social media posts containing 5180 total foods and beverages (2467 foods [47.6%]; 2713 beverages [52.4%]), snacks and sweets (920 [37.3%] of the foods) and alcoholic beverages (1375 [50.7%] of the beverages) were most common. Overall, 158 celebrity social media accounts (87.3%) earned a less healthy overall food nutrition score and 162 (89.5%) earned a less healthy overall beverage nutrition score, which would be unhealthy enough to fail legal youth advertising limits in the UK. For foods, social media posts with healthier nutrition scores were associated with significantly fewer likes (b, -0.003; 95% CI, -0.006 to 0.000; P=.04) and comments (b, -0.006; 95% CI, -0.009 to -0.003; P<.001) from followers. For beverages, nutrition scores were not significantly associated with likes (b, -0.010; 95% CI, -0.025 to 0.005; P=.18) or comments (b, -0.003; 95% CI, -0.022 to 0.016; P=.73). Only 147 food- or beverage-containing posts (4.8%) were sponsored by food- or beverage-relevant companies. Beverages in sponsored posts contained more than twice as much alcohol as those in nonsponsored posts (10.8 g [95% CI, 9.3 g to 12.3 g] per 100 g of beverage vs 5.3 g [95% CI, 4.7 g to 5.9 g] per 100 g of beverage).Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study, most highly followed celebrity social media accounts depicted an unhealthy profile of foods and beverages, primarily in nonsponsored posts. These results suggest that influential depictions of unhealthy food and beverage consumption on social media may be a sociocultural problem that extends beyond advertisements and sponsorships, reinforcing unhealthy consumption norms.

  View details for DOI 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.43087

  View details for PubMedID 35019982

• Use of Crowdsourced Online Surveys to Study the Impact of Architectural and Design Choices on Wellbeing Frontiers in Sustainable Cities Altaf, B., Bianchi, E., Douglas, I. P., Douglas, K., Byers, B., Paredes, P. E., Ardoin, N. M., Markus, H. R., Murnane, E. L., Bencharit, L. Z., Landay, J. A., Billington, S. L. 2022: 19

  View details for DOI 10.3389/frsc.2022.780376

• The salience of choice fuels independence: Implications for self-perception, cognition, and behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Nanakdewa, K., Madan, S., Savani, K., Markus, H. R. 2021; 118 (30)

  Abstract

  More than ever before, people across the world are exposed to ideas of choice and have opportunities to make choices. What are the consequences of this rapidly expanding exposure to the ideas and practice of choice? The current research investigated an unexamined and potentially powerful consequence of this salience of choice: an awareness and experience of independence. Four studies (n = 1,288) across three cultural contexts known to differ in both the salience of choice and the cultural emphasis on independence (the United States, Singapore, and India) provided converging evidence of a link between the salience of choice and independence. Singaporean students who recalled choices rather than actions represented themselves as larger than their peers (study 1). Conceptually replicating this finding, study 2 found that Americans who recalled choices rather than actions rated themselves as physically stronger. In a word/nonword lexical decision task (study 3), Singaporean students who recalled choices rather than actions were quicker at identifying independence-related words, but not neutral or interdependence-related words. Americans, Singaporeans, and Indians all indicated that when working in an organization that emphasized choice, they would be more likely to express their opinions. Similarly, Americans, Singaporeans, and Indians reported a preference for working in such an organization (studies 4a and 4b). The findings suggest that the salience of personal choice may drive an awareness and experience of independence even in contexts where, unlike in the United States, independence has not been the predominant ethos. Choice may be an unmarked and proximate mechanism of cultural change and growing global individualism.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2021727118

  View details for PubMedID 34301884

• Gender Inequality and Well-Being: Concepts and Their Measures Are Cultural Products-A Reflection on Li et al. (2021). Psychological science Markus, H. R. 2021: 9567976211018206

  Abstract

  This Further Reflections piece was invited by the Editors of the journal to provide additional consideration of some of the significant issues under study in "Culture Moderates the Relation Between Gender Inequality and Well-Being" (Li et al., 2021) available online at https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620972492 and on pages XXX-XXX of this issue. Further Reflections are not commentaries on a particular article, though they are inspired by one. Rather, they provide broader perspectives on issues considered in Research Articles, beyond those that authors are able to provide in the Introduction and Discussion sections of their articles. The Editors' objective with Further Reflections is that they will raise the level of conversation around psychological issues of societal importance. Further Reflections are by invitation only.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/09567976211018206

  View details for PubMedID 34061703

• Passion matters but not equally everywhere: Predicting achievement from interest, enjoyment, and efficacy in 59 societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Li, X., Han, M., Cohen, G. L., Markus, H. R. 2021; 118 (11)

  Abstract

  How to identify the students and employees most likely to achieve is a challenge in every field. American academic and lay theories alike highlight the importance of passion for strong achievement. Based on a Western independent model of motivation, passionate individuals-those who have a strong interest, demonstrate deep enjoyment, and express confidence in what they are doing-are considered future achievers. Those with less passion are thought to have less potential and are often passed over for admission or employment. As academic institutions and corporations in the increasingly multicultural world seek to acquire talent from across the globe, can they assume that passion is an equally strong predictor of achievement across cultural contexts? We address this question with three representative samples totaling 1.2 million students in 59 societies and provide empirical evidence of a systematic, cross-cultural variation in the importance of passion in predicting achievement. In individualistic societies where independent models of motivation are prevalent, relative to collectivistic societies where interdependent models of motivation are more common, passion predicts a larger gain (0.32 vs. 0.21 SD) and explains more variance in achievement (37% vs. 16%). In contrast, in collectivistic societies, parental support predicts achievement over and above passion. These findings suggest that in addition to passion, achievement may be fueled by striving to realize connectedness and meet family expectations. Findings highlight the risk of overweighting passion in admission and employment decisions and the need to understand and develop measures for the multiple sources and forms of motivation that support achievement.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2016964118

  View details for PubMedID 33712544

• Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors. Frontiers in psychology Boles, D. Z., DeSousa, M., Turnwald, B. P., Horii, R. I., Duarte, T., Zahrt, O. H., Markus, H. R., Crum, A. J. 2021; 12: 745950

  Abstract

  This paper investigates mindsets about the process of health behaviors-the extent to which people associate physical activity and healthy eating with appealing (pleasurable, fun, indulgent) versus unappealing (unpleasant, boring, depriving) qualities-to promote greater engagement. Study 1 (N = 536) examined how mindsets about physical activity and healthy eating relate to current and future health behavior. Study 2 (N = 149) intervened in actual fitness classes to compare the effects of brief appeal-focused and health-focused interventions on mindsets about physical activity and class engagement. Study 3 (N = 140) designed nutrition education classes that emphasized either the appeal or the importance of fruits and vegetables for health and compared its effects on mindsets about healthy eating and actual fruit and vegetable consumption. Holding more appealing mindsets about health behaviors predicts subsequent physical activity and healthy eating (Study 1). An intervention targeting mindsets about the appeal of physical activity promotes greater participation in fitness classes than emphasizing the importance of meeting activity guidelines (Study 2). Meanwhile, interventions targeting mindsets about the appeal of healthy eating increases in-class fruit and vegetable selection more than emphasizing the importance of eating nutritious foods (Study 3), however additional work is needed to sustain such changes in eating behavior. These studies suggest mindsets about the process of health behaviors can be influential and changeable factors in motivating physical activity and healthy eating.

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745950

  View details for PubMedID 34712186

• Will This Help Be Helpful? Giving Aid to Strangers in the United States and Japan. Frontiers in psychology Niiya, Y., Handron, C., Markus, H. R. 2021; 12: 784858

  Abstract

  Japanese rank among the least likely to intervene to help a stranger in a non-emergency situation while Americans rank among the most likely. Across four studies, we demonstrate that Japanese are less likely to offer help to strangers because their decisions rely more heavily on the assessment of the needs of others. Accordingly, when there is uncertainty about the need for help, Japanese are less likely to intervene than Americans because without an understanding of the needs of recipient, the impact of intervention may also be harmful. When the situation is unambiguous, Japanese and Americans are equally likely to help. This divergence in readiness to help strangers elaborates the understanding of why people in Japanese contexts are more likely than those in United States contexts to attend to the situation and to avoid uncertain situations. It also illuminates cultural differences in models of agency-implicit understandings of when and why a person should act to aid another.

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.784858

  View details for PubMedID 35145458

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8821533

• Nutritional Analysis of Foods and Beverages Depicted in Top-Grossing US Movies, 1994-2018. JAMA internal medicine Turnwald, B. P., Handley-Miner, I. J., Samuels, N. A., Markus, H. R., Crum, A. J. 2020

  Abstract

  Importance: Many countries now restrict advertisements for unhealthy foods. However, movies depict foods and beverages with nutritional quality that is unknown, unregulated, and underappreciated as a source of dietary influence.Objective: To compare nutritional content depicted in top-grossing US movies with established nutrition rating systems, dietary recommendations, and US individuals' actual consumption.Design and Setting: In this qualitative study, a content analysis was performed from April 2019 to May 2020 of the 250 top-grossing US movies released from 1994 to 2018.Main Outcomes and Measures: The proportion of movies with less healthy nutrition ratings using the Nutrient Profile Index, the proportion of movies with medium or high food nutrition ratings according to the United Kingdom's "traffic light" guidelines (in which green is low and indicates the healthiest foods; amber, medium; and red is high and indicates the least healthy foods), and how the movie-depicted nutritional content compared with US Food and Drug Administration-recommended daily levels and US individuals' actual consumption according to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2016 data. Secondary outcomes compared branded and nonbranded items and tested whether outcomes changed over time or for movies targeting youths.Results: Across 9198 foods and 5748 beverages, snacks and sweets (2173 [23.6%]) and alcoholic beverages (2303 [40.1%]) were most commonly depicted. Alcohol comprised 23 of 127 beverages (18.1%) in G-rated movies, 268 of 992 beverages (27.0%) in PG-rated movies, 1503 of 3592 beverages (41.8%) in PG-13-rated movies, and 509 of 1037 beverages (49.1%) in R-rated movies. Overall, 178 of 245 movies (72.7%) earned less healthy Nutrient Profile Index food ratings and 222 of 246 movies (90.2%) earned less healthy beverage ratings, which would be unhealthy enough to fail legal limits for advertising to youths in the United Kingdom. Among foods, most movies depicted medium or high (amber or red traffic light) levels of sugar (229 of 245 [93.5%]), saturated fat (208 of 245 [84.9%]), total fat (228 of 245 [93.1%]), and, to a lesser extent, sodium (123 of 245 [50.2%]). Only 1721 foods and beverages (11.5%) were visibly branded, but branded items received less healthy nutrition ratings than nonbranded items. Overall, movies failed recommended levels of saturated fat per 2000 kcal by 25.0% (95% CI, 20.6%-29.9%), sodium per 2000 kcal by 3.9% (95% CI, 0.2%-7.9%), and fiber per 2000 kcal by 45.1% (95% CI, 42.9%-47.0%). Movies also depicted 16.5% (95% CI, 12.3%-21.0%) higher total sugar content per 2000 kcal and 313% (95% CI, 298%-329%) higher alcohol content per 2000 kcal than US individuals consume. Neither food nor beverage nutrition scores improved over time or among movies targeting youths.Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that popular US movies depict an unhealthy diet that fails national dietary recommendations, akin to US individuals' actual diets. Depicting unhealthy consumption in media is a sociocultural problem that extends beyond advertisements and branded product placements.

  View details for DOI 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.5421

  View details for PubMedID 33226424

• Age-Related Trends in the Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes among Japanese and White and Black American Adults. Archives of epidemiology Coe, C. L., Tsenkova, V., Love, G. D., Kawakami, N., Karasawa, M., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Ryff, C. D. 2020; 4

  Abstract

  To compare the prevalence of poor glycemic control in probability samples of Japanese and American adults, and to determine the association with their somatic phenotypes.Blood samples and anthropometric measures were obtained from 382 Japanese, 32-79 years of age, randomly selected to reflect the 23 wards of Tokyo. HA1c values were compared to 1215 Americans, 35-86 years of age, from a national study across the 48 continental states, along with an over-sampling of African-Americans from one city (www.midus.wisc.edu). Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-hip ratio (WHR) were also assessed.Many Japanese now have high HA1c approaching Caucasian-American levels, although elevated HA1c (>6.5%, 48 mmol/mol) is not nearly as prevalent as among African-Americans. Significant age-related trends were evident in both countries, with poor glycemic control occurring at younger ages in males and rarely found until old age in Japanese women. Japanese had higher HA1c levels at BMIs of 23-25, in contrast to Americans with Type 2 diabetes who more typically had a BMI over 30. Central adiposity predicted HA1c levels better than BMI, a relationship also apparent at a smaller WHR in Japan.The prevalence of high HA1c in Tokyo almost rivals white Americans, but those statistics are dwarfed by the 37% of Afr-Amer adults identified with Type 2 diabetes. Elevated HA1c was more common in men, reflecting central adiposity, but poor glycemic control was also widespread among overweight Afr-Amer women. Type 2 diabetes was higher among older Japanese, when more women succumb. Overall, the findings highlight the societal and clinical challenges posed by demographic trends in both countries.

  View details for DOI 10.29011/2577-2252.100042

  View details for PubMedID 35425890

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9007276

• Masculine defaults: Identifying and mitigating hidden cultural biases. Psychological review Cheryan, S., Markus, H. R. 2020

  Abstract

  Understanding and remedying women's underrepresentation in majority-male fields and occupations require the recognition of a lesser-known form of cultural bias called masculine defaults. Masculine defaults exist when aspects of a culture value, reward, or regard as standard, normal, neutral, or necessary characteristics or behaviors associated with the male gender role. Although feminist theorists have previously described and analyzed masculine defaults (e.g., Bem, 1984; de Beauvoir, 1953; Gilligan, 1982; Warren, 1977), here we define masculine defaults in more detail, distinguish them from more well-researched forms of bias, and describe how they contribute to women's underrepresentation. We additionally discuss how to counteract masculine defaults and possible challenges to addressing them. Efforts to increase women's participation in majority-male departments and companies would benefit from identifying and counteracting masculine defaults on multiple levels of organizational culture (i.e., ideas, institutional policies, interactions, individuals). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/rev0000209

  View details for PubMedID 32804526

• Toward a science of delivering aid with dignity: Experimental evidence and local forecasts from Kenya. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Thomas, C. C., Otis, N. G., Abraham, J. R., Markus, H. R., Walton, G. M. 2020

  Abstract

  How can governments and nonprofits design aid programs that afford dignity and facilitate beneficial outcomes for recipients? We conceptualize dignity as a state that manifests when the stigma associated with receiving aid is countered and recipients are empowered, both in culturally resonant ways. Yet materials from the largest cash transfer programs in Africa predominantly characterize recipients as needy and vulnerable. Three studies examined the causal effects of alternative aid narratives on cash transfer recipients and donors. In study 1, residents of low-income settlements in Nairobi, Kenya (N = 565) received cash-based aid accompanied by a randomly assigned narrative: the default deficit-focused "Poverty Alleviation" narrative, an "Individual Empowerment" narrative, or a "Community Empowerment" narrative. They then chose whether to spend time building business skills or watching leisure videos. Both empowerment narratives improved self-efficacy and anticipated social mobility, but only the "Community Empowerment" narrative significantly motivated recipients' choice to build skills and reduced stigma. Given the diverse settings in which aid is delivered, how can organizations quickly identify effective narratives in a context? We asked recipients to predict which narrative would best motivate skill-building in their community. In study 2, this "local forecasting" methodology outperformed participant evaluations and experimental pilots in accurately ranking treatments. Finally, study 3 confirmed that the narrative most effective for recipients did not undermine donors' willingness to contribute to the program. Together these studies show that responding to recipients' psychological and sociocultural realities in the design of aid can afford recipients dignity and help realize aid's potential.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1917046117

  View details for PubMedID 32581121

• 'Better policies for better lives'?: constructive critique of the OECD's (mis)measure of student well-being JOURNAL OF EDUCATION POLICY Rappleye, J., Komatsu, H., Uchida, Y., Krys, K., Markus, H. 2020; 35 (2): 258–82

  View details for DOI 10.1080/02680939.2019.1576923

  View details for Web of Science ID 000508857700007

• Feeling Excited or Taking a Bath: Do Distinct Pathways Underlie the Positive Affect-Health Link in the US and Japan? EMOTION Clobert, M., Sims, T. L., Yoo, J., Miyamoto, Y., Markus, H. R., Karasawa, M., Levine, C. S. 2020; 20 (2): 164–78

  View details for DOI 10.1037/emo0000531

  View details for Web of Science ID 000513058500003

• Health in the United States: Are Appeals to Choice and Personal Responsibility Making Americans Sick? Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science Hook, C. J., Rose Markus, H. 2020: 1745691619896252

  Abstract

  The United States suffers high rates of preventable lifestyle disease despite widespread calls for people to take responsibility for their health. The United States also stands out in its rejection of government action to guide industry practices and consumer choices. Why? We examine how deeply rooted cultural narratives about "free choice" and "personal responsibility" infuse policymaking, advertising, media, social norms, and individual attitudes about health in the United States. We argue that these narratives contribute to ill health in the United States: They encourage stress and worry over health, blame and stigmatization of the unhealthy, widened health disparities, and the failure to adopt policies that could save lives. Psychologists can play a major role in expanding narratives about health so that they include the role of personal choice and responsibility but also reflect current science about the physical, social, and cultural drivers of health. These broader narratives can be used to promote a more comprehensive understanding of health and to better inform the design, communication, and implementation of effective health-supportive policies.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/1745691619896252

  View details for PubMedID 32097096

• The Paradoxical Consequences of Choice: Often Good for the Individual, Perhaps Less So for Society? CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Madan, S., Nanakdewa, K., Savani, K., Markus, H. 2019

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0963721419885988

  View details for Web of Science ID 000502430500001

• Race influences professional investors' financial judgments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Lyons-Padilla, S., Markus, H. R., Monk, A., Radhakrishna, S., Shah, R., Dodson, N. A., Eberhardt, J. L. 2019

  Abstract

  Of the $69.1 trillion global financial assets under management across mutual funds, hedge funds, real estate, and private equity, fewer than 1.3% are managed by women and people of color. Why is this powerful, elite industry so racially homogenous? We conducted an online experiment with actual asset allocators to determine whether there are biases in their evaluations of funds led by people of color, and, if so, how these biases manifest. We asked asset allocators to rate venture capital funds based on their evaluation of a 1-page summary of the fund's performance history, in which we manipulated the race of the managing partner (White or Black) and the strength of the fund's credentials (stronger or weaker). Asset allocators favored the White-led, racially homogenous team when credentials were stronger, but the Black-led, racially diverse team when credentials were weaker. Moreover, asset allocators' judgments of the team's competence were more strongly correlated with predictions about future performance (e.g., money raised) for racially homogenous teams than for racially diverse teams. Despite the apparent preference for racially diverse teams at weaker performance levels, asset allocators did not express a high likelihood of investing in these teams. These results suggest first that underrepresentation of people of color in the realm of investing is not only a pipeline problem, and second, that funds led by people of color might paradoxically face the most barriers to advancement after they have established themselves as strong performers.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1822052116

  View details for PubMedID 31405967

• The Rise of Opportunity Markets: How Did It Happen & What Can We Do? DAEDALUS Grusky, D. B., Hall, P. A., Markus, H. 2019; 148 (3): 19–45

  View details for DOI 10.1162/daed_a_01749

  View details for Web of Science ID 000473216100002

• Understanding Culture Clashes and Catalyzing Change: A Culture Cycle Approach FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. 2019; 10

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00700

  View details for Web of Science ID 000464351800001

• Understanding Culture Clashes and Catalyzing Change: A Culture Cycle Approach. Frontiers in psychology Hamedani, M. Y., Markus, H. R. 2019; 10: 700

  Abstract

  U.S. Americans repeatedly invoke the role of "culture" today as they struggle to make sense of their increasingly diverse and divided worlds. Given the demographic changes, cultural interactions and hybridizations, and shifting power dynamics that many U.S. Americans confront every day, we ask how psychological scientists can leverage insights from cultural psychology to shed light on these issues. We propose that the culture cycle-a tool that represents culture as a multilayered, interacting, dynamic system of ideas, institutions, interactions, and individuals-can be useful to researchers and practitioners by: (1) revealing and explaining the psychological dynamics that underlie today's significant culture clashes and (2) identifying ways to change or improve cultural practices and institutions to foster a more inclusive, equal, and effective multicultural society.

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00700

  View details for PubMedID 31031669

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6470200

• Americans' Health Mindsets: Content, Cultural Patterning, and Associations With Physical and Mental Health ANNALS OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE Conner, A. L., Boles, D. Z., Markus, H., Eberhardt, J. L., Crum, A. J. 2019; 53 (4): 321–32

  View details for DOI 10.1093/abm/kay041

  View details for Web of Science ID 000480802100002

• Students of color show health advantages when they attend schools that emphasize the value of diversity PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Levine, C. S., Markus, H., Austin, M. K., Chen, E., Miller, G. E. 2019; 116 (13): 6013–18

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1812068116

  View details for Web of Science ID 000462382800035

• Americans' Health Mindsets: Content, Cultural Patterning, and Associations With Physical and Mental Health. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine Conner, A. L., Boles, D. Z., Markus, H. R., Eberhardt, J. L., Crum, A. J. 2019; 53 (4): 321–32

  Abstract

  BACKGROUND: Health mindsets are mental frameworks that help people recognize, organize, interpret, and respond to health-relevant information. Although mindsets shape health behaviors and outcomes, no study has examined the health mindsets of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse Americans.PURPOSE: We explored the content, cultural patterning, and health correlates of diverse Americans' health mindsets.METHODS: Two studies surveyed approximately equal numbers of African American, Asian American, European American, and Latinx American men and women of lower and higher socioeconomic status (SES). Study 1 (N = 334) used open-ended questions to elicit participants' mindsets about the definitions, causes, and benefits of health. Study 2 (N = 320) used Study 1's results to develop a closed-ended instrument.RESULTS: In Study 1, open-ended questioning revealed six overarching mindset themes: behavioral, medical, physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. The most prevalent mindsets were psychological definitions, behavioral causes, and psychological benefits. Participants mentioned more cause themes than definition or benefit themes, and mindset theme mentions correlated with worse health. Older participants mentioned more themes than younger, women mentioned more definition themes than men, and low-SES participants mentioned more cause themes than high-SES participants. In Study 2, closed-ended scales uncovered more complex and positive health mindsets. Psychological and spiritual benefit mindsets correlated with good mental health. African Americans and women endorsed the widest array of mindsets, and the spiritual benefit mindset partially explained the superior mental health of African Americans.CONCLUSIONS: Many Americans hold simplistic, illness-focused health mindsets. Cultivating more complex, benefit-focused, and culturally appropriate health mindsets could support health.

  View details for PubMedID 30892642

• Students of color show health advantages when they attend schools that emphasize the value of diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., Austin, M. K., Chen, E., Miller, G. E. 2019

  Abstract

  As the United States becomes more diverse, the ways in which mainstream institutions recognize and address race and ethnicity will be increasingly important. Here, we show that one novel and salient characteristic of an institutional environment, that is, whether a school emphasizes the value of racial and ethnic diversity, predicts better cardiometabolic health among adolescents of color. Using a diverse sample of adolescents who attend more than 100 different schools in predominantly urban locations, we find that when schools emphasize the value of diversity (operationalized as mentioning diversity in their mission statements), students of color, but not white students, have lower values on a composite of five biomarkers of inflammation, have less insulin resistance and compensatory beta-cell activity, and have fewer metabolic syndrome signs and score lower on a continuous metabolic syndrome composite. These results suggest that institutions that emphasize diversity may play an unacknowledged role in protecting the health of people of color and, thus, may be a site for future interventions to reduce health disparities.

  View details for PubMedID 30858317

• The Psychology of Neoliberalism and the Neoliberalism of Psychology JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES Adams, G., Estrada-Villalta, S., Sullivan, D., Markus, H. 2019; 75 (1): 189–216

  View details for DOI 10.1111/josi.12305

  View details for Web of Science ID 000461207600009

• Feeling excited or taking a bath: Do distinct pathways underlie the positive affect-health link in the U.S. and Japan? Emotion (Washington, D.C.) Clobert, M., Sims, T. L., Yoo, J., Miyamoto, Y., Markus, H. R., Karasawa, M., Levine, C. S. 2019

  Abstract

  Feeling good is linked to better health in Western contexts. Recent studies show, however, that the affect-health link is not consistent across cultures. We suggest two reasons for such inconsistency. The first follows from research showing that North American (vs. East Asian) cultures tend to value high arousal positive (HAP) states, for example, excited, more than low arousal positive (LAP) states, for example, calm. The second is one we propose for the first time. Positive affective experience is manifest in internal feelings but also in affective practices, such as taking a bath (a highly valued affective experience in Japan) or a fitness workout (a highly valued affective experience in the United States). We hypothesized that the HAP feelings/practices-health link would be stronger in the United States versus Japan, and the LAP feelings/practices-health link would be stronger in Japan versus the United States. Using survey samples from the United States (N = 640) and Japan (N = 382), we examined how health outcomes are shaped by positive affective feelings and practices varying in arousal. In a first set of analyses, HAP feelings predicted better physical and biological health in the United States but not in Japan. No cultural differences were consistently found for the effect of LAP feelings on health. In addition, engaging in HAP practices predicted better physical and biological health in the United States whereas engaging in LAP practices predicted better physical health in Japan but not in the United States. These findings suggest that the pathways underlying the culture-health link are culturally variable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for PubMedID 30676038

• Culture and Social Hierarchy: Self- and Other-Oriented Correlates of Socioeconomic Status Across Cultures JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Miyamoto, Y., Yoo, J., Levine, C. S., Park, J., Boylan, J., Sims, T., Markus, H., Kitayama, S., Kawakami, N., Karasawa, M., Coe, C. L., Love, G. D., Ryff, C. D. 2018; 115 (3): 427–45

  Abstract

  Current theorizing on socioeconomic status (SES) focuses on the availability of resources and the freedom they afford as a key determinant of the association between high SES and stronger orientation toward the self and, by implication, weaker orientation toward others. However, this work relies nearly exclusively on data from Western countries where self-orientation is strongly sanctioned. In the present work, we predicted and found that especially in East Asian countries, where other-orientation is strongly sanctioned, high SES is associated with stronger other-orientation as well as with self-orientation. We first examined both psychological attributes (Study 1, N = 2,832) and socialization values (Study 2a, N = 4,675) in Japan and the United States. In line with the existent evidence, SES was associated with greater self-oriented psychological attributes and socialization values in both the U.S. and Japan. Importantly, however, higher SES was associated with greater other orientation in Japan, whereas this association was weaker or even reversed in the United States. Study 2b (N = 85,296) indicated that the positive association between SES and self-orientation is found, overall, across 60 nations. Further, Study 2b showed that the positive association between SES and other-orientation in Japan can be generalized to other Confucian cultures, whereas the negative association between SES and other-orientation in the U.S. can be generalized to other Frontier cultures. Implications of the current findings for modernization and globalization are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

  View details for PubMedID 29771553

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6095715

• Behavioral Adjustment Moderates the Link Between Neuroticism and Biological Health Risk: A US-Japan Comparison Study PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Kitayama, S., Park, J., Miyamoto, Y., Date, H., Boylan, J., Markus, H. R., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., Coe, C. L., Love, G. D., Ryff, C. D. 2018; 44 (6): 809–22

  Abstract

  Neuroticism, a broad personality trait linked to negative emotions, is consistently linked to ill health when self-report is used to assess health. However, when health risk is assessed with biomarkers, the evidence is inconsistent. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the association between neuroticism and biological health risk is moderated by behavioral adjustment, a propensity to flexibly adjust behaviors to environmental contingencies. Using a U.S.-Japan cross-cultural survey, we found that neuroticism was linked to lower biological health risk for those who are high, but not low, in behavioral adjustment. Importantly, Japanese were higher in behavioral adjustment than European Americans, and as predicted by this cultural difference, neuroticism was linked to lower biological health risk for Japanese but not for European Americans. Finally, consistent with prior evidence, neuroticism was associated with worse self-reported health regardless of behavioral adjustment or culture. Discussion focused on the significance of identifying sociocultural correlates of biological health.

  View details for PubMedID 29380686

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC5940540

• Hypocrisy and culture: Failing to practice what you preach receives harsher interpersonal reactions in independent (vs. interdependent) cultures JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Effron, D. A., Markus, H., Jackman, L. M., Muramoto, Y., Muluk, H. 2018; 76: 371–84

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.12.009

  View details for Web of Science ID 000432508900036

• Editorial overview: Inequality and social class: The psychological and behavioral consequences of inequality and social class: a theoretical integration CURRENT OPINION IN PSYCHOLOGY Markus, H., Stephens, N. M. 2017; 18: IV-xii

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.11.001

  View details for Web of Science ID 000419528000001

  View details for PubMedID 29174920

• Social class shapes the form and function of relationships and selves CURRENT OPINION IN PSYCHOLOGY Carey, R. M., Markus, H. 2017; 18: 123–30

  Abstract

  Social class shapes relational realities, which in turn situate and structure different selves and their associated psychological tendencies. We first briefly review how higher class contexts tend to foster independent models of self and lower class contexts tend to foster interdependent models of self. We then consider how these independent and interdependent models of self are situated in and adapted to different social class-driven relational realities. We review research demonstrating that in lower social class contexts, social networks tend to be small, dense, homogenous and strongly connected. Ties in these networks provide the bonding capital that is key for survival and that promotes the interdependence between self and other(s). In higher social class contexts, social networks tend to be large, far-reaching, diverse and loosely connected. Ties in these networks provide the bridging capital that is key for achieving personal goals and that promotes an independence of self from other. We conclude that understanding and addressing issues tied to social class and inequality requires understanding the form and function of relationships across class contexts.

  View details for PubMedID 28915494

• Choice as an Engine of Analytic Thought JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-GENERAL Savani, K., Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. 2017; 146 (9): 1234–46

  Abstract

  Choice is a behavioral act that has a variety of well-documented motivational consequences-it fosters independence by allowing people to simultaneously express themselves and influence the environment. Given the link between independence and analytic thinking, the current research tested whether choice also leads people to think in a more analytic rather than holistic manner. Four experiments demonstrate that making choices, recalling choices, and viewing others make choices leads people to think more analytically, as indicated by their attitudes, perceptual judgments, categorization, and patterns of attention allocation. People who made choices scored higher on a subjective self-report measure of analytic cognition compared to whose did not make a choice (pilot study). Using an objective task-based measure, people who recalled choices rather than actions were less influenced by changes in the background when making judgments about focal objects (Experiment 1). People who thought of others' behaviors as choices rather than actions were more likely to group objects based on categories rather than relationships (Experiment 2). People who recalled choices rather than actions subsequently allocated more visual attention to focal objects in a scene (Experiment 3). Together, these experiments demonstrate that choice has important yet previously unexamined consequences for basic psychological processes such as attention and cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record

  View details for PubMedID 28846005

• In This Together: Doing and Undoing Inequality and Social Class Divides JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES Markus, H. R. 2017; 73 (1): 211-221

  View details for DOI 10.1111/josi.12212

  View details for Web of Science ID 000397473400012

• American = Independent? Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science Markus, H. R. 2017; 12 (5): 855–66

  Abstract

  U.S. American cultures and psyches reflect and promote independence. Devos and Banaji (2005) asked, does American equal White? This article asks, does American equal independent? The answer is that when compared to people in East Asian or South Asian contexts, people in American contexts tend to show an independent psychological signature-a sense of self as individual, separate, influencing others and the world, free from influence, and equal to, if not better than, others (Markus & Conner, 2013). Independence is a reasonable description of the selves of people in the White, middle-class American mainstream. Yet it is a less good characterization of the selves of the majority of Americans who are working-class and/or people of color. A cultural psychological approach reveals that much of North American psychology is still grounded in an independent model of the self and, as such, neglects social contexts and the psychologies of a majority of Americans. Given the prominence of independence in American ideas and institutions, the interdependent tendencies that arise from intersections of national culture with social class, race, and ethnicity go unrecognized and are often misunderstood and stigmatized. This unseen clash of independence and interdependence is a significant factor in many challenges, including those of education, employment, health, immigration, criminal justice, and political polarization.

  View details for PubMedID 28972850

• Social class matters: A rejoinder JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY Carey, R. M., Markus, H. R. 2016; 26 (4): 599-602

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jcps.2016.08.007

  View details for Web of Science ID 000384390100015

• Culture and Healthy Eating: The Role of Independence and Interdependence in the United States and Japan PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Levine, C. S., Miyamoto, Y., Markus, H. R., Rigotti, A., Boylan, J. M., Park, J., Kitayama, S., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., Coe, C. L., Love, G. D., Ryff, C. D. 2016; 42 (10): 1335-1348

  Abstract

  Healthy eating is important for physical health. Using large probability samples of middle-aged adults in the United States and Japan, we show that fitting with the culturally normative way of being predicts healthy eating. In the United States, a culture that prioritizes and emphasizes independence, being independent predicts eating a healthy diet (an index of fish, protein, fruit, vegetables, reverse-coded sugared beverages, and reverse-coded high fat meat consumption; Study 1) and not using nonmeat food as a way to cope with stress (Study 2a). In Japan, a culture that prioritizes and emphasizes interdependence, being interdependent predicts eating a healthy diet (Studies 1 and 2b). Furthermore, reflecting the types of agency that are prevalent in each context, these relationships are mediated by autonomy in the United States and positive relations with others in Japan. These findings highlight the importance of understanding cultural differences in shaping healthy behavior and have implications for designing health-promoting interventions.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0146167216658645

  View details for Web of Science ID 000383260900004

  View details for PubMedID 27516421

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC5023492

• Understanding consumer psychology in working-class contexts JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY Carey, R. M., Markus, H. R. 2016; 26 (4): 568-582

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jcps.2016.08.004

  View details for Web of Science ID 000384390100012

• Teaching a lay theory before college narrows achievement gaps at scale PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Yeager, D. S., Walton, G. M., Brady, S. T., Akcinar, E. N., Paunesku, D., Keane, L., Kamentz, D., Ritter, G., Duckworth, A. L., Urstein, R., Gomez, E. M., Markus, H. R., Cohen, G. L., Dweck, C. S. 2016; 113 (24): E3341-E3348

  Abstract

  Previous experiments have shown that college students benefit when they understand that challenges in the transition to college are common and improvable and, thus, that early struggles need not portend a permanent lack of belonging or potential. Could such an approach-called a lay theory intervention-be effective before college matriculation? Could this strategy reduce a portion of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic achievement gaps for entire institutions? Three double-blind experiments tested this possibility. Ninety percent of first-year college students from three institutions were randomly assigned to complete single-session, online lay theory or control materials before matriculation (n > 9,500). The lay theory interventions raised first-year full-time college enrollment among students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds exiting a high-performing charter high school network or entering a public flagship university (experiments 1 and 2) and, at a selective private university, raised disadvantaged students' cumulative first-year grade point average (experiment 3). These gains correspond to 31-40% reductions of the raw (unadjusted) institutional achievement gaps between students from disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged backgrounds at those institutions. Further, follow-up surveys suggest that the interventions improved disadvantaged students' overall college experiences, promoting use of student support services and the development of friendship networks and mentor relationships. This research therefore provides a basis for further tests of the generalizability of preparatory lay theories interventions and of their potential to reduce social inequality and improve other major life transitions.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1524360113

  View details for PubMedID 27247409

• What moves people to action? Culture and motivation. Current opinion in psychology Markus, H. R. 2016; 8: 161–66

  Abstract

  The study of motivation answers the question: what moves people to action in particular situations. A large volume of research provides compelling evidence that the answer to this question depends on the cultural context. In the individualist West, particularly in middle-class, college educated North America, the motivation for 'good' actions such as persistent productive performance is commonly understood to come from preferences and values inside the person. Yet in most contexts (those of the majority world), motivation takes form as being receptive to specific others, realizing expectations, and following culturally inscribed norms. Explaining the actions of people with a mismatched model of motivation can lead to inferences of irrationality, deficiency or immorality and is a barrier to intercultural communication.

  View details for PubMedID 29506793

• "Two Souls, Two Thoughts," Two Self-Schemas: Double Consciousness Can Have Positive Academic Consequences for African Americans JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Brannon, T. N., Markus, H. R., Taylor, V. J. 2015; 108 (4): 586-609

  Abstract

  African Americans can experience a double consciousness-the two-ness of being an American and an African American. The present research hypothesized that: (a) double consciousness can function as 2 self-schemas-an independent self-schema tied to mainstream American culture and an interdependent self-schema tied to African American culture, and (b) U.S. educational settings can leverage an interdependent self-schema associated with African American culture through inclusive multicultural practices to facilitate positive academic consequences. First, a pilot experiment and Studies 1 and 2 provided evidence that double consciousness can be conceptualized as 2 self-schemas. That is, African Americans shifted their behavior (e.g., cooperation) in schema-relevant ways from more independent when primed with mainstream American culture to more interdependent when primed with African American culture. Then, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that incorporating African American culture within a university setting enhanced African Americans' persistence and performance on academic-relevant tasks. Finally, using the Gates Millennium Scholars dataset (Cohort 1), Study 5 conceptually replicated Studies 3 and 4 and provided support for one process that underlies the observed positive academic consequences. Specifically, Study 5 provided evidence that engagement with African American culture (e.g., involvement with cultural events/groups) on college campuses makes an interdependent self-schema more salient that increases African American students' sense of academic fit and identification, and, in turn, enhances academic performance (self-reported grades) and persistence (advanced degree enrollment in a long-term follow-up). The discussion examines double consciousness as a basic psychological phenomenon and suggests the intra- and intergroup benefits of inclusive multicultural settings.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0038992

  View details for Web of Science ID 000352321900005

  View details for PubMedID 25844575

• ANGER EXPRESSION AND ILL-HEALTH IN TWO CULTURES: AN EXAMINATION OF INFLAMMATION AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK Boylan, J., Kitayama, S., Park, J., Miyamoto, Y., Levine, C., Markus, H., Karasawa, M., Coe, C., Kawakami, N., Love, G., Ryff, C. LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS. 2015: A8

  View details for Web of Science ID 000352860000025

• Expression of Anger and Ill Health in Two Cultures: An Examination of Inflammation and Cardiovascular Risk PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Kitayama, S., Park, J., Boylan, J. M., Miyamoto, Y., Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., Karasawa, M., Coe, C. L., Kawakami, N., Love, G. D., Ryff, C. D. 2015; 26 (2): 211-220

  Abstract

  Expression of anger is associated with biological health risk (BHR) in Western cultures. However, recent evidence documenting culturally divergent functions of the expression of anger suggests that its link with BHR may be moderated by culture. To test this prediction, we examined large probability samples of both Japanese and Americans using multiple measures of BHR, including pro-inflammatory markers (interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein) and indices of cardiovascular malfunction (systolic blood pressure and ratio of total to HDL cholesterol). We found that the link between greater expression of anger and increased BHR was robust for Americans. As predicted, however, this association was diametrically reversed for Japanese, among whom greater expression of anger predicted reduced BHR. These patterns were unique to the expressive facet of anger and remained after we controlled for age, gender, health status, health behaviors, social status, and reported experience of negative emotions. Implications for sociocultural modulation of bio-physiological responses are discussed.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797614561268

  View details for Web of Science ID 000349622000010

  View details for PubMedID 25564521

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4323672

• Culture, inequality, and health: evidence from the MIDUS and MIDJA comparison. Culture and brain Ryff, C. D., Miyamoto, Y. n., Boylan, J. M., Coe, C. L., Karasawa, M. n., Kawakami, N. n., Kan, C. n., Love, G. D., Levine, C. n., Markus, H. R., Park, J. n., Kitayama, S. n. 2015; 3 (1): 1–20

  Abstract

  This article seeks to forge scientific connections between three overarching themes (culture, inequality, health). Although the influence of cultural context on human experience has gained notable research prominence, it has rarely embraced another large arena of science focused on the influence social hierarchies have on how well and how long people live. That literature is increasingly focused psychosocial factors, working interactively with biological and brain-based mechanisms, to account for why those with low socioeconomic standing have poorer health. Our central question is whether and how these processes might vary by cultural context. We draw on emerging findings from two parallel studies, Midlife in the U.S. and Midlife in Japan, to illustrate the cultural specificity evident in how psychosocial and neurobiological factors are linked with each other as well as how position in social hierarchies matters for psychological experience and biology. We conclude with suggestions for future multidisciplinary research seeking to understand how social hierarchies matter for people's health, albeit in ways that may possibly differ across cultural contexts.

  View details for PubMedID 25750852

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4342505

• Feeling at Home in College: Fortifying School-Relevant Selves to Reduce Social Class Disparities in Higher Education SOCIAL ISSUES AND POLICY REVIEW Stephens, N. M., Brannon, T. N., Markus, H. R., Nelson, J. E. 2015; 9 (1): 1-24

  View details for DOI 10.1111/sipr.12008

  View details for Web of Science ID 000347717900001

• Just how bad negative affect is for your health depends on culture. Psychological science Curhan, K. B., Sims, T., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., Love, G. D., Coe, C. L., Miyamoto, Y., Ryff, C. D. 2014; 25 (12): 2277-2280

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797614543802

  View details for PubMedID 25304884

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4267914

• Subjective and Objective Hierarchies and Their Relations to Psychological Well-Being: A U.S./Japan Comparison SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE Curhan, K. B., Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S., Park, J., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., Love, G. D., Coe, C. L., Miyamoto, Y., Ryff, C. D. 2014; 5 (8): 855-864

  Abstract

  Hierarchy can be conceptualized as objective social status (e.g., education level) or subjective social status (i.e., one's own judgment of one's status). Both forms predict well-being. This is the first investigation of the relative strength of these hierarchy-well-being relationships in the U.S. and Japan, cultural contexts with different normative ideas about how social status is understood and conferred. In probability samples of Japanese (N=1027) and U.S. (N=1805) adults, subjective social status more strongly predicted life satisfaction, positive affect, sense of purpose, and self acceptance in the U.S. than in Japan. In contrast, objective social status more strongly predicted life satisfaction, positive relations with others, and self acceptance in Japan than in the U.S. These differences reflect divergent cultural models of self. The emphasis on independence characteristic of the U.S. affords credence to one's own judgment (subjective status) and the interdependence characteristic of Japan to what others can observe (objective status).

  View details for DOI 10.1177/1948550614538461

  View details for Web of Science ID 000343836600001

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4266948

• Subjective and Objective Hierarchies and Their Relations to Psychological Well-Being: A U.S/Japan Comparison. Social psychological and personality science Curhan, K. B., Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S., Park, J., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., Love, G. D., Coe, C. L., Miyamoto, Y., Ryff, C. D. 2014; 5 (8): 855-864

  Abstract

  Hierarchy can be conceptualized as objective social status (e.g., education level) or subjective social status (i.e., one's own judgment of one's status). Both forms predict well-being. This is the first investigation of the relative strength of these hierarchy-well-being relationships in the U.S. and Japan, cultural contexts with different normative ideas about how social status is understood and conferred. In probability samples of Japanese (N=1027) and U.S. (N=1805) adults, subjective social status more strongly predicted life satisfaction, positive affect, sense of purpose, and self acceptance in the U.S. than in Japan. In contrast, objective social status more strongly predicted life satisfaction, positive relations with others, and self acceptance in Japan than in the U.S. These differences reflect divergent cultural models of self. The emphasis on independence characteristic of the U.S. affords credence to one's own judgment (subjective status) and the interdependence characteristic of Japan to what others can observe (objective status).

  View details for DOI 10.1177/1948550614538461

  View details for PubMedID 25530829

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4266948

• Preferences Don't Have to Be Personal: Expanding Attitude Theorizing With a Cross-Cultural Perspective PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW Riemer, H., Shavitt, S., Koo, M., Markus, H. R. 2014; 121 (4): 619-648

  Abstract

  Attitudes, theorized as behavioral guides, have long been a central focus of research in the social sciences. However, this theorizing reflects primarily Western philosophical views and empirical findings emphasizing the centrality of personal preferences. As a result, the prevalent psychological model of attitudes is a person-centric one. We suggest that incorporating research insights from non-Western sociocultural contexts can significantly enhance attitude theorizing. To this end, we propose an additional model-a normative-contextual model of attitudes. The currently dominant person-centric model emphasizes the centrality of personal preferences, their stability and internal consistency, and their possible interaction with externally imposed norms. In contrast, the normative-contextual model emphasizes that attitudes are always context-contingent and incorporate the views of others and the norms of the situation. In this model, adjustment to norms does not involve an effortful struggle between the authentic self and exogenous forces. Rather, it is the ongoing and reassuring integration of others' views into one's attitudes. According to the normative-contextual model, likely to be a good fit in contexts that foster interdependence and holistic thinking, attitudes need not be personal or necessarily stable and internally consistent and are only functional to the extent that they help one to adjust automatically to different contexts. The fundamental shift in focus offered by the normative-contextual model generates novel hypotheses and highlights new measurement criteria for studying attitudes in non-Western sociocultural contexts. We discuss these theoretical and measurement implications as well as practical implications for health and well-being, habits and behavior change, and global marketing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0037666

  View details for Web of Science ID 000344356500003

• Preferences don't have to be personal: expanding attitude theorizing with a cross-cultural perspective. Psychological review Riemer, H., Shavitt, S., Koo, M., Markus, H. R. 2014; 121 (4): 619-48

  Abstract

  Attitudes, theorized as behavioral guides, have long been a central focus of research in the social sciences. However, this theorizing reflects primarily Western philosophical views and empirical findings emphasizing the centrality of personal preferences. As a result, the prevalent psychological model of attitudes is a person-centric one. We suggest that incorporating research insights from non-Western sociocultural contexts can significantly enhance attitude theorizing. To this end, we propose an additional model-a normative-contextual model of attitudes. The currently dominant person-centric model emphasizes the centrality of personal preferences, their stability and internal consistency, and their possible interaction with externally imposed norms. In contrast, the normative-contextual model emphasizes that attitudes are always context-contingent and incorporate the views of others and the norms of the situation. In this model, adjustment to norms does not involve an effortful struggle between the authentic self and exogenous forces. Rather, it is the ongoing and reassuring integration of others' views into one's attitudes. According to the normative-contextual model, likely to be a good fit in contexts that foster interdependence and holistic thinking, attitudes need not be personal or necessarily stable and internally consistent and are only functional to the extent that they help one to adjust automatically to different contexts. The fundamental shift in focus offered by the normative-contextual model generates novel hypotheses and highlights new measurement criteria for studying attitudes in non-Western sociocultural contexts. We discuss these theoretical and measurement implications as well as practical implications for health and well-being, habits and behavior change, and global marketing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0037666

  View details for PubMedID 25347311

• My Mother and Me: Why Tiger Mothers Motivate Asian Americans But Not European Americans PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Fu, A. S., Markus, H. R. 2014; 40 (6): 739-749

  Abstract

  "Tiger Mother" Amy Chua provoked a culture clash with her claim that controlling parenting in Asian American (AA) contexts produces more successful children than permissive parenting in European American (EA) contexts. At the heart of this controversy is a difference in the normative models of self that guide behavior. Ideas and practices prevalent in AA contexts emphasize that the person is and should be interdependent with one's close others, especially one's mother. In contrast, EA contexts emphasize the person as independent, even from one's mother. We find that AA compared with EA high school students experience more interdependence with their mothers and pressure from them, but that the pressure does not strain their relationship with their mothers. Furthermore, following failure, AAs compared with EAs are more motivated by their mothers, and AAs are particularly motivated by pressure from their mothers when it conveys interdependence.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0146167214524992

  View details for Web of Science ID 000336787200005

• My Mother and Me: Why Tiger Mothers Motivate Asian Americans But Not European Americans. Personality & social psychology bulletin Fu, A. S., Markus, H. R. 2014; 40 (6): 739-749

  Abstract

  "Tiger Mother" Amy Chua provoked a culture clash with her claim that controlling parenting in Asian American (AA) contexts produces more successful children than permissive parenting in European American (EA) contexts. At the heart of this controversy is a difference in the normative models of self that guide behavior. Ideas and practices prevalent in AA contexts emphasize that the person is and should be interdependent with one's close others, especially one's mother. In contrast, EA contexts emphasize the person as independent, even from one's mother. We find that AA compared with EA high school students experience more interdependence with their mothers and pressure from them, but that the pressure does not strain their relationship with their mothers. Furthermore, following failure, AAs compared with EAs are more motivated by their mothers, and AAs are particularly motivated by pressure from their mothers when it conveys interdependence.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0146167214524992

  View details for PubMedID 24727812

• Obscuring Gender Bias with "Choice" SCIENCE Conner, A. L., Cook, K. S., Correll, S. J., Markus, H. R., Moss-Racusin, C. A., Muller, C. B., Raymond, J. L., Simard, C. 2014; 343 (6176): 1200-1200

  View details for PubMedID 24626914

• Psychological Resources as Mediators of the Association Between Social Class and Health: Comparative Findings from Japan and the USA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE Kan, C., Kawakami, N., Karasawa, M., Love, G. D., Coe, C. L., Miyamoto, Y., Ryff, C. D., Kitayama, S., Curhan, K. B., Markus, H. R. 2014; 21 (1): 53-65

  Abstract

  Recently, researchers have proposed that psychological resources might be key concept in explaining the association between social class and health. However, empirical examinations of the extent to which psychological resources to social class in health are still few.This study investigated mediating effects of selected psychological resources (sense of control, self-esteem, optimism, and neuroticism) on the association of social class [education and subjective social status (SSS)] with current health status (self-rated health and the number of chronic conditions).This sample consisted of 1,805 Americans (818 males and 987 females) from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) survey, 2004-2006 and 1,027 Japanese (505 males and 522 females) from the Midlife in Japan (MIDJA) survey in Tokyo, Japan, 2008-2010. Information on social class, psychological resources, and health status was obtained using telephone interviews or written questionnaires.A mediation analysis was conducted separately for males and females in Japan and the USA. Neuroticism significantly mediated the association of education and SSS with self-rated health and chronic conditions among males and females in both countries, with one exception (not for chronic conditions among Japanese females). Sense of control significantly mediated the association of education and SSS with self-rated health among males and females in both countries. As hypothesized, self-esteem significantly mediated almost all of the associations of education and SSS with self-rated health and chronic conditions among men and women in the USA, but very few such associations in Japan. Optimism significantly mediated most associations of social class and health status in both countries, but only among females.Overall, the findings underscore important culture- and gender specificity in the ways in which psychosocial resources mediate the links between social class and health.

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s12529-012-9249-y

  View details for Web of Science ID 000332005600008

  View details for PubMedID 23242835

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3708975

• Social Class Culture Cycles: How Three Gateway Contexts Shape Selves and Fuel Inequality ANNUAL REVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY, VOL 65 Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., Phillips, L. T. 2014; 65: 611-634

  Abstract

  America's unprecedented levels of inequality have far-reaching negative consequences for society as a whole. Although differential access to resources contributes to inequality, the current review illuminates how ongoing participation in different social class contexts also gives rise to culture-specific selves and patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. We integrate a growing body of interdisciplinary research to reveal how social class culture cycles operate over the course of the lifespan and through critical gateway contexts, including homes, schools, and workplaces. We first document how each of these contexts socializes social class cultural differences. Then, we demonstrate how these gateway institutions, which could provide access to upward social mobility, are structured according to middle-class ways of being a self and thus can fuel and perpetuate inequality. We conclude with a discussion of intervention opportunities that can reduce inequality by taking into account the contextual responsiveness of the self.

  View details for DOI 10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115143

  View details for Web of Science ID 000329821700023

  View details for PubMedID 24079532

• Culture and the Promotion of Well-being in East and West: Understanding Varieties of Attunement to the Surrounding Context INCREASING PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN CLINICAL AND EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS: INTERVENTIONS AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS Ryff, C. D., Love, G. D., Miyamoto, Y., Markus, H., Curhan, K. B., Kitayama, S., Park, J., Kawakami, N., Kan, C., Karasawa, M., Fava, G. A., Ruini, C. 2014; 8: 1-19

  View details for DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8669-0_1

  View details for Web of Science ID 000337236400002

• Social Status and Anger Expression: The Cultural Moderation Hypothesis EMOTION Park, J., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Coe, C. L., Miyamoto, Y., Karasawa, M., Curhan, K. B., Love, G. D., Kawakami, N., Boylan, J. M., Ryff, C. D. 2013; 13 (6): 1122-1131

  Abstract

  Individuals with lower social status have been reported to express more anger, but this evidence comes mostly from Western cultures. Here, we used representative samples of American and Japanese adults and tested the hypothesis that the association between social status and anger expression depends on whether anger serves primarily to vent frustration, as in the United States, or to display authority, as in Japan. Consistent with the assumption that lower social standing is associated with greater frustration stemming from life adversities and blocked goals, Americans with lower social status expressed more anger, with the relationship mediated by the extent of frustration. In contrast, consistent with the assumption that higher social standing affords a privilege to display anger, Japanese with higher social status expressed more anger, with the relationship mediated by decision-making authority. As expected, anger expression was predicted by subjective social status among Americans and by objective social status among Japanese. Implications for the dynamic construction of anger and anger expression are discussed.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0034273

  View details for Web of Science ID 000328291400014

  View details for PubMedID 24098926

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3859704

• Negative emotions predict elevated interleukin-6 in the United States but not in Japan BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY Miyamoto, Y., Boylan, J. M., Coe, C. L., Curhan, K. B., Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., Park, J., Kitayama, S., Kawakami, N., Karasawa, M., Love, G. D., Ryff, C. D. 2013; 34: 79-85

  Abstract

  Previous studies conducted in Western cultures have shown that negative emotions predict higher levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers, specifically interleukin-6 (IL-6). This link between negative emotions and IL-6 may be specific to Western cultures where negative emotions are perceived to be problematic and thus may not extend to Eastern cultures where negative emotions are seen as acceptable and normal. Using samples of 1044 American and 382 Japanese middle-aged and older adults, we investigated whether the relationship between negative emotions and IL-6 varies by cultural context. Negative emotions predicted higher IL-6 among American adults, whereas no association was evident among Japanese adults. Furthermore, the interaction between culture and negative emotions remained even after controlling for demographic variables, psychological factors (positive emotions, neuroticism, extraversion), health behaviors (smoking status, alcohol consumption), and health status (chronic conditions, BMI). These findings highlight the role of cultural context in shaping how negative emotions affect inflammatory physiology and underscore the importance of cultural ideas and practices relevant to negative emotions for understanding of the interplay between psychology, physiology, and health.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.bbi.2013.07.173

  View details for Web of Science ID 000325840300011

  View details for PubMedID 23911591

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3826918

• Feeling close and doing well: The prevalence and motivational effects of interpersonally engaging emotions in Mexican and European American cultural contexts INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY Savani, K., Alvarez, A., Mesquita, B., Markus, H. R. 2013; 48 (4): 682-694

  Abstract

  Two studies investigate whether interpersonally engaging emotions-those that bring the self closer to others (e.g., affection, shame)-are central to the model of self and relationships prevalent in Mexican cultural contexts. Study 1 demonstrated that compared to people in European American contexts, people in Mexican contexts were more likely to report experiencing interpersonally engaging emotions and less likely to report experiencing interpersonally disengaging emotions. Study 2 found that interpersonally engaging emotions had a substantial influence on performance motivation in Mexican contexts-Mexican participants solved more word search puzzles after recalling instances in which they experienced positive interpersonally engaging emotions, and fewer after recalling negative interpersonally disengaging emotions; in contrast, there were no differences by condition for European Americans. These findings significantly extend previous research by documenting the implications of relational concerns (e.g., simpatia, personalismo) for emotion and motivation in Mexican contexts, and are the first to demonstrate the motivational effects of interpersonally engaging emotions.

  View details for DOI 10.1080/00207594.2012.688131

  View details for Web of Science ID 000322696600022

  View details for PubMedID 22731253

• Who Explains Hurricane Katrina and the Chilean Earthquake as an Act of God? The Experience of Extreme Hardship Predicts Religious Meaning-Making JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Hamedani, M. G. 2013; 44 (4): 606-619

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0022022112454330

  View details for Web of Science ID 000330301000006

• Social Class and Race: Burdens but Also Some Benefits of Chronic Low Rank PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY Brannon, T. N., Markus, H. R. 2013; 24 (2): 97-101

  View details for DOI 10.1080/1047840X.2013.794102

  View details for Web of Science ID 000320691800002

• In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Fu, A. S. 2013; 24 (2): 189-196

  Abstract

  Today's most pressing social challenges require people to recognize their shared fate and work together--to think and act interdependently. In the three studies reported here, we found that appeals for increased interdependence may undermine the very motivation they seek to inspire. We examined the hypothesis that invoking interdependent action undermines motivation for chronically independent European Americans but not for bicultural Asian Americans who are both chronically independent and chronically interdependent. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that priming interdependent rather than independent action undermined European Americans' motivation to perform challenging mental and physical tasks. Study 3 showed that framing an appeal for environmental sustainability in terms of interdependent rather than independent action led to decreased motivation and resource allocation among European Americans. Motivation was not undermined for Asian Americans, which reveals how behavior is divergently shaped, in the land of the free, by foundational sociocultural schemas of independence and interdependence. This research has the novel implication that it may be necessary to invoke independent behaviors in order to successfully motivate interdependence.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797612452864

  View details for Web of Science ID 000316641400009

  View details for PubMedID 23302297

• Clarifying the links between social support and health: Culture, stress, and neuroticism matter JOURNAL OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY Park, J., Kitayama, S., Karasawa, M., Curhan, K., Markus, H. R., Kawakami, N., Miyamoto, Y., Love, G. D., Coe, C. L., Ryff, C. D. 2013; 18 (2): 226-235

  Abstract

  Although it is commonly assumed that social support positively predicts health, the empirical evidence has been inconsistent. We argue that three moderating factors must be considered: (1) support-approving norms (cultural context); (2) support-requiring situations (stressful events); and (3) support-accepting personal style (low neuroticism). Our large-scale cross-cultural survey of Japanese and US adults found significant associations between perceived support and health. The association was more strongly evident among Japanese (from a support-approving cultural context) who reported high life stress (in a support-requiring situation). Moreover, the link between support and health was especially pronounced if these Japanese were low in neuroticism.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/1359105312439731

  View details for Web of Science ID 000313980000007

  View details for PubMedID 22419414

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3556221

• How the Media Frames the Immigration Debate: The Critical Role of Location and Politics ANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES AND PUBLIC POLICY Fryberg, S. A., Stephens, N. M., Covarrubias, R., Markus, H. R., Carter, E. D., Laiduc, G. A., Salido, A. J. 2012; 12 (1): 96-112

  View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1530-2415.2011.01259.x

  View details for Web of Science ID 000312563400008

• The Cultural Construction of Self and Well-Being: A Tale of Two Cities PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Plaut, V. C., Markus, H. R., Treadway, J. R., Fu, A. S. 2012; 38 (12): 1644-1658

  Abstract

  Does local context (e.g., city of residence) matter for self and well-being? We theorized that it does because local contexts diverge in prevalent historically-derived ideas, norms, and products. Through historical analysis, studies of norms (tightness-looseness; Study 1) and cultural products (content analyses of newspaper headlines, venture capital firm websites, hospital websites; Studies 2-4), and studies assessing individuals' self and well-being (Studies 5-7), we compared Boston and San Francisco-similar cities on many metrics. We find that self and well-being are, in some important part, local. Reflecting themes of "old and established," Boston's history and cultural products emphasize tradition, status, and community, and social norms are relatively tight; accordingly feelings and selves are socially contingent. In contrast, reflecting themes of "new and free," San Francisco's history and cultural products emphasize unlimited possibility, egalitarianism, and innovation, and social norms are relatively loose; accordingly feelings and selves are relatively less contingent on others.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0146167212458125

  View details for Web of Science ID 000311570600009

  View details for PubMedID 22988054

• A cultural mismatch: Independent cultural norms produce greater increases in cortisol and more negative emotions among first-generation college students JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Stephens, N. M., Townsend, S. S., Markus, H. R., Phillips, L. T. 2012; 48 (6): 1389-1393

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.07.008

  View details for Web of Science ID 000310107900024

• Social Class Disparities in Health and Education: Reducing Inequality by Applying a Sociocultural Self Model of Behavior PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., Fryberg, S. A. 2012; 119 (4): 723-744

  Abstract

  The literature on social class disparities in health and education contains 2 underlying, yet often opposed, models of behavior: the individual model and the structural model. These models refer to largely unacknowledged assumptions about the sources of human behavior that are foundational to research and interventions. Our review and theoretical integration proposes that, in contrast to how the 2 models are typically represented, they are not opposed, but instead they are complementary sets of understandings that inform and extend each other. Further, we elaborate the theoretical rationale and predictions for a third model: the sociocultural self model of behavior. This model incorporates and extends key tenets of the individual and structural models. First, the sociocultural self model conceptualizes individual characteristics (e.g., skills) and structural conditions (e.g., access to resources) as interdependent forces that mutually constitute each other and that are best understood together. Second, the sociocultural self model recognizes that both individual characteristics and structural conditions indirectly influence behavior through the selves that emerge in the situation. These selves are malleable psychological states that are a product of the ongoing mutual constitution of individuals and structures and serve to guide people's behavior by systematically shaping how people construe situations. The theoretical foundation of the sociocultural self model lays the groundwork for a more complete understanding of behavior and provides new tools for developing interventions that will reduce social class disparities in health and education. The model predicts that intervention efforts will be more effective at producing sustained behavior change when (a) current selves are congruent, rather than incongruent, with the desired behavior and (b) individual characteristics and structural conditions provide ongoing support for the selves that are necessary to support the desired behavior.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0029028

  View details for Web of Science ID 000309899500002

  View details for PubMedID 23088339

• Unseen Disadvantage: How American Universities' Focus on Independence Undermines the Academic Performance of First-Generation College Students JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Johnson, C. S., Covarrubias, R. 2012; 102 (6): 1178-1197

  Abstract

  American universities increasingly admit first-generation college students whose parents do not have 4-year degrees. Once admitted, these students tend to struggle academically, compared with continuing-generation students--students who have at least 1 parent with a 4-year degree. We propose a cultural mismatch theory that identifies 1 important source of this social class achievement gap. Four studies test the hypothesis that first-generation students underperform because interdependent norms from their mostly working-class backgrounds constitute a mismatch with middle-class independent norms prevalent in universities. First, assessing university cultural norms, surveys of university administrators revealed that American universities focus primarily on norms of independence. Second, identifying the hypothesized cultural mismatch, a longitudinal survey revealed that universities' focus on independence does not match first-generation students' relatively interdependent motives for attending college and that this cultural mismatch is associated with lower grades. Finally, 2 experiments at both private and public universities created a match or mismatch for first-generation students and examined the performance consequences. Together these studies revealed that representing the university culture in terms of independence (i.e., paving one's own paths) rendered academic tasks difficult and, thereby, undermined first-generation students' performance. Conversely, representing the university culture in terms of interdependence (i.e., being part of a community) reduced this sense of difficulty and eliminated the performance gap without adverse consequences for continuing-generation students. These studies address the urgent need to recognize cultural obstacles that contribute to the social class achievement gap and to develop interventions to address them.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0027143

  View details for Web of Science ID 000304492000006

  View details for PubMedID 22390227

• A processing advantage associated with analytic perceptual tendencies: European Americans outperform Asians on multiple object tracking JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Savani, K., Markus, H. R. 2012; 48 (3): 766-769

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.01.005

  View details for Web of Science ID 000303075000022

• INTRODUCTION: A WIDE-ANGLE LENS ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL CLASS FACING SOCIAL CLASS: HOW SOCIETAL RANK INFLUENCES INTERACTION Markus, H., Fiske, S. T., Fiske, S. T., Markus, H. R. 2012: 1-11

  View details for Web of Science ID 000361610900001

• IT'S YOUR CHOICE: HOW THE MIDDLE-CLASS MODEL OF INDEPENDENCE DISADVANTAGES WORKING-CLASS AMERICANS FACING SOCIAL CLASS: HOW SOCIETAL RANK INFLUENCES INTERACTION Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H., Fiske, S. T., Markus, H. R. 2012: 87-106

  View details for Web of Science ID 000361610900005

• Influencing and adjusting in daily emotional situations: A comparison of European and Asian American action styles COGNITION & EMOTION Boiger, M., Mesquita, B., Tsai, A. Y., Markus, H. 2012; 26 (2): 332-340

  Abstract

  Emotions are for action, but action styles in emotional episodes may vary across cultural contexts. Based on culturally different models of agency, we expected that those who engage in European-American contexts will use more influence in emotional situations, while those who engage in East-Asian contexts will use more adjustment. European-American (N=60) and Asian-American (N=44) college students reported their action style during emotional episodes four times a day during a week. Asian Americans adjusted more than European Americans, whereas both used influence to a similar extent. These cultural differences in action style varied across types of emotion experienced. Moreover, influencing was associated with life satisfaction for European Americans, but not for Asian Americans.

  View details for DOI 10.1080/02699931.2011.572422

  View details for Web of Science ID 000301650700011

  View details for PubMedID 21707271

• Being Mixed: Who Claims a Biracial Identity? CULTURAL DIVERSITY & ETHNIC MINORITY PSYCHOLOGY Townsend, S. S., Fryberg, S. A., Wilkins, C. L., Markus, H. R. 2012; 18 (1): 91-96

  Abstract

  What factors determine whether mixed-race individuals claim a biracial identity or a monoracial identity? Two studies examine how two status-related factors-race and social class-influence identity choice. While a majority of mixed-race participants identified as biracial in both studies, those who were members of groups with higher status in American society were more likely than those who were members of groups with lower status to claim a biracial identity. Specifically, (a) Asian/White individuals were more likely than Black/White or Latino/White individuals to identify as biracial and (b) mixed-race people from middle-class backgrounds were more likely than those from working-class backgrounds to identify as biracial. These results suggest that claiming a biracial identity is a choice that is more available to those with higher status.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0026845

  View details for Web of Science ID 000299648600010

  View details for PubMedID 22250901

• The Unanticipated Interpersonal and Societal Consequences of Choice: Victim Blaming and Reduced Support for the Public Good PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Savani, K., Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R. 2011; 22 (6): 795-802

  Abstract

  Choice makes North Americans feel more in control, free, and independent, and thus has many positive consequences for individuals' motivation and well-being. We report five studies that uncovered novel consequences of choice for public policy and interpersonal judgments. Studies 1 through 3 found that activating the concept of choice decreases support for policies promoting intergroup equality (e.g., affirmative action) and societal benefits (e.g., reducing environmental pollution), but increases support for policies promoting individual rights (e.g., legalizing drugs). Studies 4 and 5 found that activating the concept of choice increases victim blaming and decreases empathy for disadvantaged people. Study 5 found that choice does not decrease Indians' empathy for disadvantaged individuals, indicating that the social and interpersonal consequences of choice are likely culture-specific. This research suggests that the well-known positive effects of choice for individuals can be accompanied by an array of previously unexamined and potentially negative outcomes for other people and for society.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797611407928

  View details for Web of Science ID 000294709200014

  View details for PubMedID 21537057

• My Nation, My Self: Divergent Framings of America Influence American Selves PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Fu, A. S. 2011; 37 (3): 350-364

  Abstract

  Current public discourse calls for America to act more interdependently in the world or act more like a conjoint agent. America and American selves, however, are typically associated acting independently or disjoint agency. Since nation is a significant sociocultural source of self, the authors examine what happens to American selves if America is instead associated with conjoint agency. Study 1 surveyed participants in America and nine nations (N=610) about America's role in the world and found that although people currently associate America with disjoint agency, they overwhelmingly prefer America to be a conjoint agent. Studies 2-4 demonstrated that framing America's role in the world with conjoint agency rather than disjoint agency led Americans to see themselves more positively (Studies 2 and 3) and be less individualistic in their self-descriptions and actions (Study 4). The results reveal how changes in the sociocultural context can catalyze a corresponding change in the selves that inhabit that context.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0146167211398139

  View details for Web of Science ID 000287126600004

  View details for PubMedID 21307177

• Population differences in proinflammatory biology: Japanese have healthier profiles than Americans BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY Coe, C. L., Love, G. D., Karasawa, M., Kawakami, N., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Tracy, R. P., Ryff, C. D. 2011; 25 (3): 494-502

  Abstract

  The pleiotropic cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), has emerged as a key factor in the biology of aging and the physiology of inflammation. Yet much of what we know about the normal functioning of IL-6 has been generated primarily from research on European populations and Americans of European descent. Our analyses compared IL-6 levels in 382 middle-aged and older Japanese to the values found in 1209 Caucasian- and African-Americans from the Midlife in the United States survey (MIDUS). Across the life span from 30 to 80 years of age, mean IL-6 levels were strikingly lower in Japanese individuals. Significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen (FBG) provided confirmatory evidence for a population difference in proinflammatory activity. Because IL-6 release has been associated with obesity, differences in body mass index (BMI) were taken into consideration. Japanese had the lowest, and African-Americans had the highest overall BMIs, but significant group differences in IL-6 persisted even after BMI was included as a covariate in the analyses. Additional support for distinct variation in IL-6 biology was generated when systemic levels of the soluble receptor for IL-6 (sIL-6r) were evaluated. Serum sIL-6r was higher in Japanese than Americans, but was most notably low in African-Americans. Our cytokine data concur with national differences in the prevalence of age-related illnesses linked to inflammatory physiology, including cardiovascular disease. The findings also highlight the importance of broadening the diversity of people included in population studies of health and aging, especially given the relative paucity of information for some Asian countries and on individuals of Asian heritage living in the US.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.bbi.2010.11.013

  View details for Web of Science ID 000287626600014

  View details for PubMedID 21112385

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3039107

• When Choice Does Not Equal Freedom: A Sociocultural Analysis of Agency in Working-Class American Contexts SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE Stephens, N. M., Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R. 2011; 2 (1): 33-41

  View details for DOI 10.1177/1948550610378757

  View details for Web of Science ID 000208992000006

• CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGING AND WELL-BEING: A COMPARISON OF JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGING & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Karasawa, M., Curhan, K. B., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. S., Love, G. D., Radler, B. T., Ryff, C. D. 2011; 73 (1): 73-98

  Abstract

  This study investigated age differences in multiple aspects of psychological well-being among midlife and older adults in Japan (N = 482) and the United States (N = 3,032) to test the hypothesis that older Japanese adults would rate aspects of their well-being (personal growth, purpose in life, positive relations with others) more highly that older U.S. adults. Partial support was found: older adults in Japan showed higher scores on personal growth compared to midlife adults, whereas the opposite age pattern was found in the United States. However, purpose in life showed lower scores for older adults in both cultural contexts. Interpersonal well-being, as hypothesized, was rated significantly higher, relative to the overall well-being, among Japanese compared to U.S. respondents, but only among younger adults. Women in both cultures showed higher interpersonal well-being, but also greater negative affect compared with men. Suggestions for future inquiries to advance understanding of aging and well-being in distinct cultural contexts are detailed.

  View details for DOI 10.2190/AG.73.1.d

  View details for Web of Science ID 000294649300004

  View details for PubMedID 21922800

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3183740

• Culture and Social Psychology: Converging Perspectives SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY DiMaggio, P., Markus, H. R. 2010; 73 (4): 347-352

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0190272510389010

  View details for Web of Science ID 000285504300013

• Does Choice Mean Freedom and Well-Being? JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Markus, H. R., Schwartz, B. 2010; 37 (2): 344-355

  View details for DOI 10.1086/651242

  View details for Web of Science ID 000279443600012

• Cultures and Selves: A Cycle of Mutual Constitution PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. 2010; 5 (4): 420-430

  Abstract

  The study of culture and self casts psychology's understanding of the self, identity, or agency as central to the analysis and interpretation of behavior and demonstrates that cultures and selves define and build upon each other in an ongoing cycle of mutual constitution. In a selective review of theoretical and empirical work, we define self and what the self does, define culture and how it constitutes the self (and vice versa), define independence and interdependence and determine how they shape psychological functioning, and examine the continuing challenges and controversies in the study of culture and self. We propose that a self is the "me" at the center of experience-a continually developing sense of awareness and agency that guides actions and takes shape as the individual, both brain and body, becomes attuned to various environments. Selves incorporate the patterning of their various environments and thus confer particular and culture-specific form and function to the psychological processes they organize (e.g., attention, perception, cognition, emotion, motivation, interpersonal relationship, group). In turn, as selves engage with their sociocultural contexts, they reinforce and sometimes change the ideas, practices, and institutions of these environments.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/1745691610375557

  View details for Web of Science ID 000286983100008

• Cultures and Selves: A Cycle of Mutual Constitution. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. 2010; 5 (4): 420-30

  Abstract

  The study of culture and self casts psychology's understanding of the self, identity, or agency as central to the analysis and interpretation of behavior and demonstrates that cultures and selves define and build upon each other in an ongoing cycle of mutual constitution. In a selective review of theoretical and empirical work, we define self and what the self does, define culture and how it constitutes the self (and vice versa), define independence and interdependence and determine how they shape psychological functioning, and examine the continuing challenges and controversies in the study of culture and self. We propose that a self is the "me" at the center of experience-a continually developing sense of awareness and agency that guides actions and takes shape as the individual, both brain and body, becomes attuned to various environments. Selves incorporate the patterning of their various environments and thus confer particular and culture-specific form and function to the psychological processes they organize (e.g., attention, perception, cognition, emotion, motivation, interpersonal relationship, group). In turn, as selves engage with their sociocultural contexts, they reinforce and sometimes change the ideas, practices, and institutions of these environments.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/1745691610375557

  View details for PubMedID 26162188

• Temperament trait of sensory processing sensitivity moderates cultural differences in neural response SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE Aron, A., Ketay, S., Hedden, T., Aron, E. N., Markus, H. R., Gabrieli, J. D. 2010; 5 (2-3): 219-226

  Abstract

  This study focused on a possible temperament-by-culture interaction. Specifically, it explored whether a basic temperament/personality trait (sensory processing sensitivity; SPS), perhaps having a genetic component, might moderate a previously established cultural difference in neural responses when making context-dependent vs context-independent judgments of simple visual stimuli. SPS has been hypothesized to underlie what has been called inhibitedness or reactivity in infants, introversion in adults, and reactivity or responsivness in diverse animal species. Some biologists view the trait as one of two innate strategies-observing carefully before acting vs being first to act. Thus the central characteristic of SPS is hypothesized to be a deep processing of information. Here, 10 European-Americans and 10 East Asians underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing simple visuospatial tasks emphasizing judgments that were either context independent (typically easier for Americans) or context dependent (typically easier for Asians). As reported elsewhere, each group exhibited greater activation for the culturally non-preferred task in frontal and parietal regions associated with greater effort in attention and working memory. However, further analyses, reported here for the first time, provided preliminary support for moderation by SPS. Consistent with the careful-processing theory, high-SPS individuals showed little cultural difference; low-SPS, strong culture differences.

  View details for DOI 10.1093/scan/nsq028

  View details for Web of Science ID 000282071900013

  View details for PubMedID 20388694

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2894664

• What Counts as a Choice? US Americans Are More Likely Than Indians to Construe Actions as Choices PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Savani, K., Markus, H. R., Naidu, N. V., Kumar, S., Berlia, N. 2010; 21 (3): 391-398

  Abstract

  People everywhere select among multiple alternatives, but are they always making choices? In five studies, we found that people in U.S. American contexts, where the disjoint model of agency is prevalent, are more likely than those in Indian contexts to construe their own and other individuals' behaviors as choices, to construe ongoing behaviors and behaviors recalled from memory as choices, to construe naturally occurring and experimentally controlled behaviors as choices, to construe mundane and important actions as choices, and to construe personal and interpersonal actions as choices. Indians showed a greater tendency to construe actions as choices when these actions involved responding to other people than when they did not. These findings show that whether people construe actions as choices is significantly shaped by sociocultural systems of meanings and practices. Together, they suggest that the positive consequences associated with maximizing the availability of personal choice may not be universal and instead may be limited to North American contexts.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797609359908

  View details for Web of Science ID 000276076500016

  View details for PubMedID 20424076

• Independence and interdependence predict health and wellbeing: divergent patterns in the United States and Japan FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY Kitayama, S., Karasawa, M., Curhan, K. B., Ryff, C. D., Markus, H. R. 2010; 1

  Abstract

  A cross-cultural survey was used to examine two hypotheses designed to link culture to wellbeing and health. The first hypothesis states that people are motivated toward prevalent cultural mandates of either independence (personal control) in the United States or interdependence (relational harmony) in Japan. As predicted, Americans with compromised personal control and Japanese with strained relationships reported high perceived constraint. The second hypothesis holds that people achieve wellbeing and health through actualizing the respective cultural mandates in their modes of being. As predicted, the strongest predictor of wellbeing and health was personal control in the United States, but the absence of relational strain in Japan. All analyses controlled for age, gender, educational attainment, and personality traits. The overall pattern of findings underscores culturally distinct pathways (independent versus interdependent) in achieving the positive life outcomes.

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00163

  View details for Web of Science ID 000208849100060

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3153777

• Emotions as Within or Between People? Cultural Variation in Lay Theories of Emotion Expression and Inference PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Uchida, Y., Townsend, S. S., Markus, H. R., Bergsieker, H. B. 2009; 35 (11): 1427-1439

  Abstract

  Four studies using open-ended and experimental methods test the hypothesis that in Japanese contexts, emotions are understood as between people, whereas in American contexts, emotions are understood as primarily within people. Study 1 analyzed television interviews of Olympic athletes. When asked about their relationships, Japanese athletes used significantly more emotion words than American athletes. This difference was not significant when questions asked directly about athletes' feelings. In Study 2, when describing an athlete's emotional reaction to winning, Japanese participants implicated others more often than American participants. After reading an athlete's self-description, Japanese participants inferred more emotions when the athlete mentioned relationships, whereas American participants inferred more emotions when the athlete focused only on herself (Study 3). Finally, when viewing images of athletes, Japanese participants inferred more emotions for athletes pictured with teammates, whereas American participants inferred more emotions for athletes pictured alone (Studies 4a and 4b).

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0146167209347322

  View details for Web of Science ID 000270512900001

  View details for PubMedID 19745200

• Why Did They "Choose" to Stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina Observers and Survivors PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Stephens, N. M., Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Bergsieker, H. B., Eloul, L. 2009; 20 (7): 878-886

  Abstract

  Models of agency--powerful implicit assumptions about what constitutes normatively "good" action--shaped how observers and survivors made meaning after Hurricane Katrina. In Study 1, we analyzed how 461 observers perceived survivors who evacuated (leavers) or stayed (stayers) in New Orleans. Observers described leavers positively (as agentic, independent, and in control) and stayers negatively (as passive and lacking agency). Observers' perceptions reflected the disjoint model of agency, which is prevalent in middle-class White contexts and defines "good" actions as those that emanate from within the individual and proactively influence the environment. In Study 2, we examined interviews with 79 survivors and found that leavers and stayers relied on divergent models of agency. Leavers emphasized independence, choice, and control, whereas stayers emphasized interdependence, strength, and faith. Although both leavers and stayers exercised agency, observers failed to recognize stayers' agency and derogated them because observers assumed that being independent and in control was the only way to be agentic.

  View details for Web of Science ID 000267885400014

  View details for PubMedID 19538433

• My Choice, Your Categories: The Denial of Multiracial Identities JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES Townsend, S. S., Markus, H. R., Bergsieker, H. B. 2009; 65 (1): 185-204

  View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01594.x

  View details for Web of Science ID 000262646700011

• Pride, Prejudice, and Ambivalence: Toward a Unified Theory of Race and Ethnicity AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST Markus, H. R. 2008; 63 (8): 651-670

  Abstract

  For more than a century, hundreds of psychologists have studied race and ethnicity. Yet this scholarship, like American culture at large, has been ambivalent, viewing race and ethnicity both as sources of pride, meaning, and motivation as well as sources of prejudice, discrimination, and inequality. Underlying this ambivalence is widespread confusion about what race and ethnicity are and why they matter. To address this ambivalence and confusion, as well as to deepen the American conversation about race and ethnicity, the article first examines the field's unclear definitions and faulty assumptions. It then offers an integrated definition of race and ethnicity--dynamic sets of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and practices--while noting that race, although often used interchangeably with ethnicity, indexes an asymmetry of power and privilege between groups. Further, it shows how psychology's model of people as fundamentally independent, self-determining entities impedes the field's--and the nation's--understanding of how race and ethnicity influence experience and how the still-prevalent belief that race and ethnicity are biological categories hinders a more complete understanding of these phenomena. Five first propositions of a unified theory of race and ethnicity are offered.

  View details for Web of Science ID 000261004800002

  View details for PubMedID 19014214

• Let your preference be your guide? Preferences and choices are more tightly linked for North Americans than for Indians JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Savani, K., Markus, H. R., Conner, A. L. 2008; 95 (4): 861-876

  Abstract

  Using experimental paradigms from economics and social psychology, the authors examined the cross-cultural applicability of 3 widely held assumptions about preference and choice: People (a) recruit or construct preferences to make choices; (b) choose according to their preferences; and (c) are motivated to express their preferences in their choices. In 6 studies, they compared how middle-class North American and Indian participants choose among consumer products. Participants in both contexts construct nonrandom preferences at similar speeds. Those in Indian contexts, however, are slower to make choices, less likely to choose according to their personal preferences, and less motivated to express their preferences in their choices. The authors infer that the strong link between preferences and choices observed among North Americans is not a universal feature of human nature. Instead, this link reflects the disjoint model of agency, which prescribes that people should choose freely on the basis of their preferences. In contrast, Indian contexts reflect and promote a conjoint model of agency, according to which agency is responsive to the desires and expectations of important others and may require restraining one's preferences.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/a0011618

  View details for Web of Science ID 000259336300007

  View details for PubMedID 18808264

• A nation challenged: The impact of foreign threat on America's tolerance for diversity JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Davies, P. G., Steele, C. M., Markus, H. R. 2008; 95 (2): 308-318

  Abstract

  Three experiments investigated how perceived foreign threats to the United States can influence Americans' endorsement of assimilation and multiculturalism as models for foreign and domestic intergroup relations. The initial study, conducted during the 6-month anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (9/11), discovered that a diverse group of Americans preferred assimilation as a foreign policy and multiculturalism as a domestic policy. After reading that foreigners were supporting the dominant global status of the United States, however, Americans in Experiment 2 no longer expressed this preference for assimilation as a model for foreign intergroup relations. Experiment 3 discovered that Americans primed with 9/11 (i.e., a foreign threat) revealed higher levels of national identity than did those primed with the Columbine massacre (i.e., a domestic threat); moreover, level of national identity predicted support for multiculturalism as a domestic policy and assimilation as a foreign policy.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.308

  View details for Web of Science ID 000257845500005

  View details for PubMedID 18665704

• Of Warrior Chiefs and Indian Princesses: The Psychological Consequences of American Indian Mascots BASIC AND APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Oyserman, D., Stone, J. M. 2008; 30 (3): 208-218

  View details for DOI 10.1080/01973530802375003

  View details for Web of Science ID 000260219200003

• The ethics of characterizing difference: guiding principles on using racial categories in human genetics GENOME BIOLOGY Lee, S. S., Mountain, J., Koenig, B., Altman, R., Brown, M., Camarillo, A., Cavalli-Sforza, L., Cho, M., Eberhardt, J., Feldman, M., Ford, R., Greely, H., King, R., Markus, H., Satz, D., Snipp, M., Steele, C., Underhill, P. 2008; 9 (7)

  Abstract

  We are a multidisciplinary group of Stanford faculty who propose ten principles to guide the use of racial and ethnic categories when characterizing group differences in research into human genetic variation.

  View details for DOI 10.1186/gb-2008-9-7-404

  View details for Web of Science ID 000258773600005

  View details for PubMedID 18638359

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2530857

• Cultural influences on neural substrates of attentional control PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Hedden, T., Ketay, S., Aron, A., Markus, H. R., Gabrieli, J. D. 2008; 19 (1): 12-17

  Abstract

  Behavioral research has shown that people from Western cultural contexts perform better on tasks emphasizing independent (absolute) dimensions than on tasks emphasizing interdependent (relative) dimensions, whereas the reverse is true for people from East Asian contexts. We assessed functional magnetic resonance imaging responses during performance of simple visuospatial tasks in which participants made absolute judgments (ignoring visual context) or relative judgments (taking visual context into account). In each group, activation in frontal and parietal brain regions known to be associated with attentional control was greater during culturally nonpreferred judgments than during culturally preferred judgments. Also, within each group, activation differences in these regions correlated strongly with scores on questionnaires measuring individual differences in culture-typical identity. Thus, the cultural background of an individual and the degree to which the individual endorses cultural values moderate activation in brain networks engaged during even simple visual and attentional tasks.

  View details for Web of Science ID 000251937100003

  View details for PubMedID 18181784

• Choice as an act of meaning: The case of social class JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Stephens, N. M., Markus, H. R., Townsend, S. S. 2007; 93 (5): 814-830

  Abstract

  Social class is one important source of models of agency--normative guidelines for how to be a "good" person. Using choice as a prototypically agentic action, 5 studies test the hypotheses that models of agency prevalent in working-class (WK) contexts reflect a normative preference for similarity to others, whereas models prevalent in middle-class (MD) contexts reflect a preference for difference from others. Focusing on participants' choices, Studies 1 and 2 showed that participants from WK relative to MD contexts more often chose pens that appeared similar to, rather than different from, other pens in the choice set, and more often chose the same images as another participant. Examining participants' responses to others' choices, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that participants from WK relative to MD contexts liked their chosen pens more when a confederate chose similarly and responded more positively when a friend chose the same car in a hypothetical scenario. Finally, Study 5 found that car advertisements targeting WK rather than MD consumers more often emphasized connection to, rather than differentiation from, others, suggesting that models of agency are reflected in pervasive cultural products.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.93.5.814

  View details for Web of Science ID 000250397700008

  View details for PubMedID 17983302

• Going for the gold - Models of agency in Japanese and American contexts PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Markus, H. R., Uchida, Y., Omoregie, H., Townsend, S. S., Kitayama, S. 2006; 17 (2): 103-112

  Abstract

  Two studies examined how Olympic performance is explained in American and Japanese contexts. Study 1, an analysis of media coverage of the 2000 and 2002 Olympics, shows that in both Japanese and American contexts, performance is construed mainly in terms of the actions of persons. However, Japanese and American accounts differ in their explanations of the nature and source of intentional agency, that is, in their models of agency. In Japanese contexts, agency is construed as conjoint and simultaneously implicates athletes' personal attributes (both positive and negative), background, and social and emotional experience. In American contexts, agency is construed as disjoint, separate from athletes' background or social and emotional experience; performance is explained primarily through positive personal characteristics and features of the competition. Study 2, in which participants chose information to be included in an athlete's description, confirms these findings. Differences in the construction of agency are reflected in and fostered by common cultural products (e.g., television accounts).

  View details for Web of Science ID 000234801000004

  View details for PubMedID 16466417

• You can't always get what you want: Educational attainment, agency, and choice JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Snibbe, A. C., Markus, H. R. 2005; 88 (4): 703-720

  Abstract

  Using educational attainment to indicate socioeconomic status, the authors examined models of agency and effects of choice among European American adults of different educational backgrounds in 3 studies. Whereas college-educated (BA) participants and their preferred cultural products (i.e., rock music lyrics) emphasized expressing uniqueness, controlling environments, and influencing others, less educated (HS) participants and their preferred cultural products (i.e., country music lyrics) emphasized maintaining integrity, adjusting selves, and resisting influence. Reflecting these models of agency, HS and BA participants differently responded to choice in dissonance and reactance paradigms: BA participants liked chosen objects more than unchosen objects, but choice did not affect HS participants' preferences. Results suggest that HS and BA models of agency qualitatively differ, despite overlap between HS and BA worlds.

  View details for DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.88.4.703

  View details for Web of Science ID 000228076500008

  View details for PubMedID 15796669

• On telling less than we can know: The too tacit wisdom of social psychology PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY Markus, H. R. 2005; 16 (4): 180-184

  View details for Web of Science ID 000233687800008

• Is there any "free" choice? Self and dissonance in two cultures PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Kitayama, S., Snibbe, A. C., Markus, H. R., Suzuki, T. 2004; 15 (8): 527-533

  Abstract

  Four experiments provided support for the hypothesis that upon making a choice, individuals justify their choice in order to eliminate doubts about culturally sanctioned aspects of the self, namely, competence and efficacy in North America and positive appraisal by other people in Japan. Japanese participants justified their choice (by increasing liking for chosen items and decreasing liking for rejected items) in the standard free-choice dissonance paradigm only when self-relevant others were primed, either by questionnaires (Studies 1-3) or by incidental exposure to schematic faces (Study 4). In the absence of these social cues, Japanese participants showed no dissonance effect. In contrast, European Americans justified their choices regardless of the social-cue manipulations. Implications for cognitive dissonance theory are discussed.

  View details for Web of Science ID 000222822600005

  View details for PubMedID 15270997

• Culture and personality: Brief for an arranged marriage 3rd Annual Conference of the Association-for-Research-in-Personality Markus, H. R. ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. 2004: 75–83

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jrp.2003.09.008

  View details for Web of Science ID 000188607300012

• Self-Portraits: Possible Selves in European-American, Chilean, Japanese and Japanese-American Cultural Contexts SELF AND IDENTITY Unemori, P., Omoregie, H., Markus, H. R. 2004; 3 (4): 321-338

  View details for DOI 10.1080/13576500444000100

  View details for Web of Science ID 000209508600003

• They saw a game - A Japanese and American (football) field study JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY Snibbe, A. C., Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Suzuki, T. 2003; 34 (5): 581-595

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0022022103256480

  View details for Web of Science ID 000184941600009

• Models of agency: Sociocultural diversity in the construction of action 49th Annual Nebraska Symposium on Motivation Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. UNIV NEBRASKA PRESS. 2003: 1–57

  View details for Web of Science ID 000228444700002

  View details for PubMedID 14569670

• On Being American Indian: Current and Possible Selves SELF AND IDENTITY Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R. 2003; 2 (4): 325-344

  View details for DOI 10.1080/15298860290106814

  View details for Web of Science ID 000209508200005

• Culture, self, and the reality of the social PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. 2003; 14 (3-4): 277-283

  View details for Web of Science ID 000187553300017

• Place matters: Consensual features and regional variation in American well-being and self JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Plaut, V. C., Markus, H. R., Lachman, M. E. 2002; 83 (1): 160-184

  Abstract

  Consensual and regionally distinct features of well-being and self were examined in a nationally representative survey of midlife Americans (ages 25-75). Consistent with key American ideology, Study 1 found that a majority of Americans believe they have high levels of mastery, purpose, life satisfaction, overall health, family and work obligation, and partner and family support. Study 2 found distinct regional well-being profiles (e.g., New England reflected concern with not being constrained by others; Mountain showed concern with environmental mastery; West South Central with personal growth and feeling cheerful and happy; West North Central with feeling calm, peaceful, and satisfied; and East South Central with contributing to others' well-being). Study 3 found regional self profiles consistent with the well-being profiles.

  View details for DOI 10.1037//0022-3514.83.1.160

  View details for Web of Science ID 000176293700010

  View details for PubMedID 12088124

• The psychology of religion and the religion of psychology PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY Snibbe, A. C., Markus, H. R. 2002; 13 (3): 229-234

  View details for Web of Science ID 000180577800015

• "Who am I?" - The cultural psychology of the conceptual self PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Kanagawa, C., Cross, S. E., Markus, H. R. 2001; 27 (1): 90-103

  View details for Web of Science ID 000167788200008

• Colorblindness as a barrier to inclusion: Assimilation and nonimmigrant minorities DAEDALUS Markus, H. R., Steele, C. M., Steele, D. M. 2000; 129 (4): 233-259

  View details for Web of Science ID 000090105600012

• Culture, emotion, and well-being: Good feelings in Japan and the United States COGNITION & EMOTION Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Kurokawa, M. 2000; 14 (1): 93-124

  View details for Web of Science ID 000084911800004

• Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. 1999; 106 (4): 766-794

  Abstract

  It is assumed that people seek positive self-regard; that is, they are motivated to possess, enhance, and maintain positive self-views. The cross-cultural generalizability of such motivations was addressed by examining Japanese culture. Anthropological, sociological, and psychological analyses revealed that many elements of Japanese culture are incongruent with such motivations. Moreover, the empirical literature provides scant evidence for a need for positive self-regard among Japanese and indicates that a self-critical focus is more characteristic of Japanese. It is argued that the need for self-regard must be culturally variant because the constructions of self and regard themselves differ across cultures. The need for positive self-regard, as it is currently conceptualized, is not a universal, but rather is rooted in significant aspects of North American culture. Conventional interpretations of positive self-regard are too narrow to encompass the Japanese experience.

  View details for Web of Science ID 000083338800005

  View details for PubMedID 10560328

• Deviance or uniqueness, harmony or conformity? A cultural analysis JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Kim, H., Markus, H. R. 1999; 77 (4): 785-800

  View details for Web of Science ID 000083036300010

• Activities and well-being in older age: Effects of self-concept and educational attainment PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING Herzog, A. R., Franks, M. M., Markus, H. R., Holmberg, D. 1998; 13 (2): 179-185

  Abstract

  The positive effect of activities on well-being is proposed to be mediated by self-conceptualizations and facilitated by socioeconomic status. The hypothesized processes were estimated with LISREL VIII using data from a large cross-sectional survey with a sample of 679 adults aged 65 and older who were representative of older adults living in the Detroit area. Findings indicate that the frequency of performing both leisure and productive activities yields an effect on physical health and depression and that these effects are mediated in part by a sense of self as agentic, but less clearly by a sense of self as social. Furthermore, socioeconomic status, operationalized as formal educational attainment, facilitates the effect of leisure to a greater extent than that of productive activities.

  View details for Web of Science ID 000074257800001

  View details for PubMedID 9640579

• Self-schemas and possible selves as predictors and outcomes of risky behaviors in adolescents NURSING RESEARCH Stein, K. F., Roeser, R., Markus, H. R. 1998; 47 (2): 96-106

  Abstract

  Although there is extensive evidence that the self-concept changes in many important ways during the adolescent years and that these changes influence behavioral choices, the majority of studies completed to date have been based on a static model in which the self-concept is viewed solely as an antecedent of the risky behaviors.To investigate the pattern of relationships between three components of the self-concept--the popular, the conventional, and the deviant selves--and risky behaviors in a sample of middle adolescents during their transition from junior high to high school.A sample of 160 adolescents completed questionnaires measuring the content of their self-schemas and possible selves and involvement in four risky behaviors (tobacco and alcohol use, sexual intercourse, poor school performance) during the winter of eighth and ninth grades.Popular self-schema score in the eighth grade positively predicted ninth grade risky behaviors. Risky behavior involvement in the eighth grade predicted ninth-grade deviant self-schema and possible self-scores.These findings suggest that the self-concept may not only play a role in the early stages of engagement in the risky behaviors but may also be one means through which the behaviors become structuralized into potentially enduring aspects of the self.

  View details for Web of Science ID 000072626800007

  View details for PubMedID 9536193

• On being well: The role of the self in building the bridge from philosophy to biology PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY Keough, K. A., Markus, H. R. 1998; 9 (1): 49-53

  View details for Web of Science ID 000072139000007

• The cultural psychology of personality JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. 1998; 29 (1): 63-87

  View details for Web of Science ID 000071373900004

• Individual and collective processes in the construction of the self: Self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Matsumoto, H., Norasakkunkit, V. 1997; 72 (6): 1245-1267

  Abstract

  A collective constructionist theory of the self proposes that many psychological processes, including enhancement of the self (pervasive in the United States) and criticism and subsequent improvement of the self (widespread in Japan), result from and support the very ways in which social acts and situations are collectively defined and subjectively experienced in the respective cultural contexts. In support of the theory, 2 studies showed, first, that American situations are relatively conducive to self-enhancement and American people are relatively likely to engage in self-enhancement and, second, that Japanese situations are relatively conducive to self-criticism and Japanese people are relatively likely to engage in self-criticism. Implications are discussed for the collective construction of psychological processes implicated in the self and, more generally, for the mutual constitution of culture and the self.

  View details for Web of Science ID A1997XB13900001

  View details for PubMedID 9177018

• The role of the self in behavioral change JOURNAL OF PSYCHOTHERAPY INTEGRATION Stein, K. F., Markus, H. R. 1996; 6 (4): 349-384

  View details for Web of Science ID 000071186000003

• The mutual interactions of culture and emotion PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES Markus, H., Kitayama, S., VANDENBOS, G. R. 1996; 47 (3): 225-226

  View details for Web of Science ID A1996TY09600002

  View details for PubMedID 8820543

• THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SELF - AN ALTERNATIVE FOCUS FOR PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR-CHANGE JOURNAL OF PSYCHOTHERAPY INTEGRATION Stein, K. F., Markus, H. R. 1994; 4 (4): 317-353

  View details for Web of Science ID A1994PZ11000003

• A COLLECTIVE FEAR OF THE COLLECTIVE - IMPLICATIONS FOR SELVES AND THEORIES OF SELVES PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN Markus, H. R., Kitayama, S. 1994; 20 (5): 568-579

  View details for Web of Science ID A1994PH22700013