Differences in Self-Effacing Behavior between European and Japanese Americans

Abstract

Self-presentational differences and subsequent misperceptions between Japanese Americans and European Americans were examined. In Experiment 1, Japanese Americans and European Americans were given positive feedback on their performance and were asked to either publicly or privately describe their performance. As predicted, Japanese Americans described their performance less favorably than European Americans in public but not in private. In Experiment 2, interviewees from the first study were evaluated on the basis of their self-reported performance descriptions. Observers consistently evaluated Japanese Americans less favorably than European Americans. The study illustrates the judgmental and interpersonal consequences of self-presentational differences between minority and majority individuals.