Asians are more likely than North
Americans to refuse a small gift that is offered to them by a casual acquaintance.
Five experiments confirmed this difference and explored the reasons for its
occurrence. Asians, who are inclined to think of themselves in relation to
others, are more likely than North Americans to invoke a reciprocity norm in
exchanging gifts with casual acquaintances, and they refuse a gift in order to
avoid the feeling of indebtedness they would experience if they cannot
reciprocate. North Americans, however, who are inclined to think of themselves
independently of others, are more likely to base their acceptance of the gift
on its attractiveness without considering their obligation to reciprocate.
These cultural differences are not evident when the gift is offered by a close
friend with whom individuals have a communal relationship. Implications of our
findings for miscommunication between members of different cultures are
discussed.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
cultural differences in accepting gifts
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment