TY - JOUR
T1 - Culture, Control, and Illusory Pattern Perception
AU - Wang, Cynthia S.
AU - Whitson, Jennifer A.
AU - Menon, Tanya
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research was funded by a National University of Singapore Grant (R-317-000-088-112) and University of Texas at Austin.
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - Lacking control causes illusory pattern perception, but does culture influence the patterns people perceive? Different cultural contexts invite distinct types of control, with people from Western cultures emphasizing primary control methods (i.e., personal agency) and people from East Asian cultures emphasizing secondary control methods (i.e., adjustment to surroundings). Four experiments suggest that cultural differences in primary versus secondary control orientation shape the patterns people perceive within horoscopes. When lacking (vs. possessing) control, Westerners are relatively more likely to rely on horoscopes that help them understand themselves, whereas East Asians are relatively more likely to rely on horoscopes that help them understand others. The authors isolate underlying mechanisms, demonstrating that, following loss of control, people high on primary control rely on self-focused horoscopes and people high on secondary control rely on horoscopes about friends. Thus, cultural differences in primary versus secondary control create unique signatures in pattern perception.
AB - Lacking control causes illusory pattern perception, but does culture influence the patterns people perceive? Different cultural contexts invite distinct types of control, with people from Western cultures emphasizing primary control methods (i.e., personal agency) and people from East Asian cultures emphasizing secondary control methods (i.e., adjustment to surroundings). Four experiments suggest that cultural differences in primary versus secondary control orientation shape the patterns people perceive within horoscopes. When lacking (vs. possessing) control, Westerners are relatively more likely to rely on horoscopes that help them understand themselves, whereas East Asians are relatively more likely to rely on horoscopes that help them understand others. The authors isolate underlying mechanisms, demonstrating that, following loss of control, people high on primary control rely on self-focused horoscopes and people high on secondary control rely on horoscopes about friends. Thus, cultural differences in primary versus secondary control create unique signatures in pattern perception.
KW - culture
KW - pattern perception
KW - primary control
KW - secondary control
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865186467&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84865186467&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1948550611433056
DO - 10.1177/1948550611433056
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865186467
SN - 1948-5506
VL - 3
SP - 630
EP - 638
JO - Social Psychological and Personality Science
JF - Social Psychological and Personality Science
IS - 5
ER -