Cross-Cultural Perspectives

What Behavioral Scientists Should Know about Hofstede’s Cultural Framework
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What Behavioral Scientists Should Know about Hofstede’s Cultural Framework

Behavioral Theory & Insights, Business & Management, Cross-Cultural Perspectives

What Behavioral Scientists Should Know about Hofstede’s Cultural Framework

Geert Hofstede revolutionized cultural research in the 1970s with a massive survey of IBM employees worldwide, using factor analysis to identify six key cultural dimensions. While his framework remains influential, it's essential for behavioral scientists to explore beyond these dimensions, acknowledge within-country diversity, and leverage modern research methods and technology. This nuanced approach can lead to more accurate and culturally sensitive insights in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

By Lachezar Ivanov|2024-06-13T03:01:25+00:00June 10th, 2024|Categories: Behavioral Theory & Insights, Business & Management, Cross-Cultural Perspectives|Tags: cross-cultural, cultural dimensions, culture, Hofstede|

The Rapid Growth of Behavioral Science
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The Rapid Growth of Behavioral Science

Behavioral Theory & Insights, Cross-Cultural Perspectives

The Rapid Growth of Behavioral Science

The field of behavioral science is growing. Practitioners are now spread across 72 countries, facing challenges such as making the case for behavioral science (see also the BE Guide 2023 editorial) and measuring its impact. Our survey aims to understand this growth and welcomes participation from practitioners and researchers worldwide, especially from regions outside Western developed countries.

By Steve Wendel|2023-09-19T02:10:02+00:00September 19th, 2023|Categories: Behavioral Theory & Insights, Cross-Cultural Perspectives|Tags: behavioral insights, cross-cultural, government, professional associations|

How to Depolarize Ourselves: Communication and Understanding Across Cultures
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How to Depolarize Ourselves: Communication and Understanding Across Cultures

Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Government & Civic Behavior, Society & Everyday Life

How to Depolarize Ourselves: Communication and Understanding Across Cultures

The world is becoming increasingly polarized, as is seen through evidence of “us” versus “them” mindsets. Divisions have evolved into partisanship across groups, highlighting the need to understand how we differ culturally and across groups, why we are becoming more polarized, and how we can begin to reduce the impact of these divides. Cross-cultural and other models provide insight into how individuals differ across groups, and how we can reconnect with those around us.

By Shaye-Ann Hopkins|2023-03-07T01:43:56+00:00March 7th, 2023|Categories: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Government & Civic Behavior, Society & Everyday Life|Tags: communication, connection, cross-cultural psychology, identity, polarization, social psychology, trust|

Combining Behavioural Science and Māori Cultural Values to Improve the Criminal Justice System
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Combining Behavioural Science and Māori Cultural Values to Improve the Criminal Justice System

Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Government & Civic Behavior, Morality & Prosocial Behavior

Combining Behavioural Science and Māori Cultural Values to Improve the Criminal Justice System

In behavioural science, context is everything. Behavioural Science Aotearoa (BSA) works across the justice sector in New Zealand, where indigenous Māori people make up almost 17% of the population. We combined behavioural science with Māori cultural principles to encourage people to clear their Warrants to Arrest by voluntarily appearing at court. Working with New Zealand Police, we designed and tested a phone-based initiative and found promising evidence for its success.

By Kaori Takenaka|2022-05-26T06:56:24+00:00April 18th, 2022|Categories: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Government & Civic Behavior, Morality & Prosocial Behavior|Tags: behavior change, behavioral economics, behavioral science, corrections, implementationintentions, justice, messengereffect, nudge, public policy|

National Identity and Public Health Behaviors During Covid-19
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National Identity and Public Health Behaviors During Covid-19

Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Health & Medicine

National Identity and Public Health Behaviors During Covid-19

In a massive international collaboration including more than 200 researchers, we examined the adoption of public health behaviors and support of public policy interventions during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. We found that individuals who identified more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviors and greater support for public health policies. This result was later replicated using aggregated behavioral data.

By Hallgeir Sjåstad|2022-02-17T05:51:59+00:00June 8th, 2021|Categories: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Health & Medicine|Tags: behavior change, covid-19, data analytics, data science, identity, public health, public policy, RCT|

When Red Means “Go”: Color and Cultural Reactance in Risk Preferences
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When Red Means “Go”: Color and Cultural Reactance in Risk Preferences

Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Finance & Investing, Marketing & Consumer Behavior

When Red Means “Go”: Color and Cultural Reactance in Risk Preferences

Color can affect judgment and decision making, and its effects may vary across cultures. Research reported in this article shows that cross-cultural color effects on risk preferences are influenced by personal associations of color-gain/loss. Our research finds a cultural reactance effect, a phenomenon in which people who hold culturally incongruent (vs. cultural mainstream) color associations show a stronger risk preference.

By Feng Jiang|2022-02-17T05:52:36+00:00April 6th, 2021|Categories: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Finance & Investing, Marketing & Consumer Behavior|Tags: consumer psychology, cross-cultural psychology, culture, decision making, loss aversion, marketing, priming, risk, risk aversion, risk preferences, risk taking, risk tolerance, social norms|

Black Magic: How Product Colors Influence Prosocial Behaviors
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Black Magic: How Product Colors Influence Prosocial Behaviors

Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Marketing & Consumer Behavior, Morality & Prosocial Behavior

Black Magic: How Product Colors Influence Prosocial Behaviors

There are “moral meanings” that people ascribe to objects in white and black colors. We show that consumers see buying a product in white color as an act that is morally good and buying a product in black color as an act that is morally bad. Those who buy white-colored products feel licensed to behave less prosocially afterward, while those who buy black-colored products are more prosocial as they feel a need to compensate for their initial misconduct.

By Yan Meng|2022-02-17T05:53:53+00:00January 5th, 2021|Categories: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Marketing & Consumer Behavior, Morality & Prosocial Behavior|Tags: consumer behavior, cpg, fmcg, marketing, morality, priming, prosocial behavior|

Why We Know so Little About Culture and Decision-Making
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Why We Know so Little About Culture and Decision-Making

Behavioral Theory & Insights, Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Research Methods, Society & Everyday Life

Why We Know so Little About Culture and Decision-Making

There is a lot of evidence on the variation of human experience and that economic, social and linguistic environments strongly shape people’s behaviour, motivations and preferences. Despite this, these topics have not received a lot of attention in decision making psychology. In this article, I shed some light on the background of why this is the case.

By Elina Halonen|2022-06-30T01:20:31+00:00August 3rd, 2020|Categories: Behavioral Theory & Insights, Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Research Methods, Society & Everyday Life|Tags: bias, culture, decision making, generalizability, heuristic, WEIRD|

Words Matter for Life: How Language Can Influence Suicide Behavior
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Words Matter for Life: How Language Can Influence Suicide Behavior

Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Society & Everyday Life

Words Matter for Life: How Language Can Influence Suicide Behavior

Languages influence perceptions and decision-making. We highlight one of the most important linguistic features – Future Time Reference. FTR impacts speakers’ behaviors involving intertemporal considerations, even the most critical decision on life – suicide.

By Donald Lien|2022-02-17T06:12:01+00:00May 25th, 2020|Categories: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Society & Everyday Life|Tags: behavior, cross-cultural psychology, culture, decision making, future, language, linguistics, psycholinguistics, suicide, temporal discounting, time reference|

Does “Irrationality” Travel?
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Does “Irrationality” Travel?

Behavioral Theory & Insights, Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Does “Irrationality” Travel?

As the enthusiasm for applied behavioural science spreads across the globe, it is time to think how well "irrationality" travels. This is the start of an article series exploring the impact of factors such as cultural context on decision making - and how our understanding of the human mind is based on a thin slice of humanity.

By Elina Halonen|2022-02-17T06:09:21+00:00January 20th, 2020|Categories: Behavioral Theory & Insights, Cross-Cultural Perspectives|Tags: bias, culture, decision making, generalizability, heuristic, WEIRD|