Interjudge Agreement, Self-Enhancement, and Liking: Cross-Cultural Divergences

The authors investigated whether the lower self-enhancement found among Japanese is due to them being more accurate in their self-perceptions than Americans. Japanese and American participants were recruited from school clubs, where groups of five people rated each other and themselves. The Japanese sample was overall self-critical, whereas the American sample was overall self-enhancing. Moreover, as the desirability of the traits increased, Americans showed more self-enhancement, whereas Japanese showed more self-criticism. An accuracy account is unable to account for the cultural differences in self-enhancement because Americans showed more accuracy in their self-perceptions (as evidenced by self-peer agreement) than Japanese. Intracultural analyses further revealed that individual self-enhancement can be “unpackaged” by trait measures of independence and interdependence. Exploratory analyses of liking were also con ducted, revealing that American liking hinged on perceived similarity, self-verification, familiarity, and reflected-self-enhancement, whereas Japanese liking was based on familiarity, reflected self-enhancement, lower independence, and interdependence.