Do you think that this effect is likely to vary cross-culturally?

Activity. Psychology of Choices and Decisions

Read carefully the brief description of each study. Then answer the question that follows this description. Make sure you always justify your points. Your answers will be graded based on how solid and clear your points are.

1. CUING CONSUMERISM: SITUATIONAL MATERIALISM UNDERMINES PERSONAL AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING (Bauer, Wilkie, Kim, & Bodenhausen, 2012, Study 4)

Bauer and colleagues (2012) examined whether being in a consumer mindset would lead to less trust towards others. Participants read about a hypothetical water conservation dilemma in which they were involved.Participants were randomly assigned to either a condition that referred to the participant and others in the scenario as “consumers” or as “individuals.” Participants in the “consumer” condition reported less trust towards others to conserve water compared to the “individual” condition.

Question: Do you think that this effect is likely to vary cross-culturally? In others words, if we were to run a similar study in various cultures, would we find a similar effect or would the effect be stronger in some cultures than in others? Make sure you explain the reason why you think one way or another. [Write a minimum of 4-5 sentences]

2. THE “FALSE CONSENSUS EFFECT”: AN EGOCENTRIC BIAS IN SOCIAL PERCEPTION AND ATTRIBUTION PROCESSES (Ross, Greene & House, 1977, Study 1, Supermarket Scenario)

People perceive a “false consensus” about the commonness of their responses among others. Thus, estimates of the prevalence of a particular belief, opinion or behavior are biased in the direction of the perceiver’s beliefs, opinions and behaviors. Ross and colleagues (1977, Study 1) presented college undergraduates with a hypothetical event that culminated in a clear dichotomous choice of action. Participants first estimated what percentage of peers would choose each option, and then indicated their own choice.Participants who chose the first option believed that a higher percentage of others would also choose that option than participants who chose the second option.

Question: Do you think that this effect is likely to vary cross-culturally? In others words, if we were to run a similar study in various cultures, would we find a similar effect or would the effect be stronger in some cultures than in others? Make sure you explain the reason why you think one way or another. [Write a minimum of 4-5 sentences]

3. THE FRAMING OF DECISIONS AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHOICE (Tversky &Kahneman, 1981, Study 10)

In Tversky and Kahneman (1981), participants considered a scenario in which they were buying two items, one relatively cheap ($15) and one relatively costly ($125). In one condition, the cheap item could be purchased for $5 less by going to a different branch of the store 20 minutes away.In another condition, the costly item could be purchased for $5 less at the other branch. Therefore, the total cost for the two items, and the cost savings for traveling to the other branch, was the same across conditions.Participants were more likely to say that they would go to the other branch when the cheap item was on sale than when the costly item was on sale. This suggests that the decision of whether to travel was influenced by the base cost of the discounted item rather than the total cost.

Question: Do you think that this effect is likely to vary cross-culturally? In others words, if we were to run a similar study in various cultures, would we find a similar effect or would the effect be stronger in some cultures than in others? Make sure you explain the reason why you think one way or another. [Write a minimum of 4-5 sentences]

4. share your thoughts on the extent to which choices in our daily-lives are reflections of our cultural background. Try to describe and discuss examples illustrating that how we go about deciding to do (or not do) something or how we go about taking one course of action over another involves psychological processes that are influenced by culture.

Video:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDq9-QxvsNU