Individualism and the extended-self: cross-cultural differences in the valuation of authentic objects

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 21;9(3):e90787. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090787. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The current studies examine how valuation of authentic items varies as a function of culture. We find that U.S. respondents value authentic items associated with individual persons (a sweater or an artwork) more than Indian respondents, but that both cultures value authentic objects not associated with persons (a dinosaur bone or a moon rock) equally. These differences cannot be attributed to more general cultural differences in the value assigned to authenticity. Rather, the results support the hypothesis that individualistic cultures place a greater value on objects associated with unique persons and in so doing, offer the first evidence for how valuation of certain authentic items may vary cross-culturally.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Culture*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • India
  • Individuality*
  • Male
  • Social Values*
  • United States

Grants and funding

Funding for publication has been provided by a research grant from the Immortality Project, administered by UC Riverside, to the first and last authors. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.