Avoiding Rejection or Seeking Harmony: The Underlying Motivation to Social Tune for Collectivists

Abstract

The current work examined why collectivists engage in more chronic social tuning: to seek harmony or to avoid rejection. In Study 1, 159 Asian participants self-reported being more motivated to avoid rejection in a situation involving social tuning. In Study 2, 190 Asian participants engaged in social tuning to a classmate’s perceived views more when primed to avoid rejection than seek harmony. While study 3 found that 192 American participants reported avoiding rejection in social tuning situations, Study 4, showed that 206 American participants did not engage in social tuning when primed to avoid rejection. Collectivists will social tune and reduce prejudice when motivated to avoid rejection. This warrants future attention to cultural variation in other social tuning domains.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This study used participants from Japan. Japan scores a 46 out of 100 on Hofstede’s Individualism scale, indicating a more collectivist than individualistic orientation.

2 These studies used participants from Japan and Hong Kong. Hong Kong scores a 25 out of 100 (and Japan scores 46) on Hofstede’s Individualism scale, indicating a more collectivist than individualistic orientation.

3 The results were similar if these three participants were included or excluded from the analysis.

4 The pattern of results was the same if these 19 participants were included or excluded from the analyses.