In Search of East Asian Self-Enhancement
Abstract
A meta-analysis of published cross-cultural studies of self-enhancement reveals pervasive and pronounced differences between East Asians and Westerners. Across 91 comparisons, the average cross-cultural effect was d = .84. The effect emerged in all 30 methods, except for comparisons of implicit self-esteem. Within cultures, Westerners showed a clear self-serving bias (d = .87), whereas East Asians did not (d = -.01), with Asian Americans falling in between (d = .52). East Asians did self-enhance in the methods that involved comparing themselves to average but were self-critical in other methods. It was hypothesized that this inconsistency could be explained in that these methods are compromised by the "everyone is better than their group's average effect" (EBTA). Supporting this rationale, studies that were implicated by the EBTA reported significantly larger self-enhancement effect for all cultures compared to other studies. Overall, the evidence converges to show that East Asians do not self-enhance.
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North Americans, compared to East Asians, are especially likely to show self-enhancing biases in social perception.
“North Americans, compared to East Asians, are also especially likely to show self-enhancing biases in social perception (Heine & Hamamura, 2007;Kitayama et al., 1997), which may make them especially motivated to derogate and distance themselves from victims of misfortune as a way to defend their view of themselves as good people subject to just processes.”
From Victim blaming and belief in karma (2024) · cites this paper as Heine & Hamamura, 2007
Self-enhancement motives tend to be weaker, or even reversed, in Asian samples.
“Self-enhancement motives tend to be weaker, or even reversed, in Asian samples (Heine & Hamamura, 2007;Kitayama et al., 1997)”
From Victim blaming and belief in karma (2024) · cites this paper as Heine & Hamamura, 2007
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Influential
- Authors
- Heine, S. J., & Hamamura, T.
- Affiliations
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Heine, Steven J.
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-02
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-27
- ISSN
- 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7957
- OpenAlex
- W2053197653
- Cited by
- 590
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 4.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh060155-04)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH060155-01A2)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- self-enhancement, self-serving bias, East Asian culture, cross-cultural comparison, self-criticism, Asian Americans, self-esteem, implicit self-esteem
- MeSH terms
- Cross-Cultural Comparison, Culture, Humans, Motivation, Self Concept, Social Identification, Asian People
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