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Self-Enhancement in Latin America: Is It Linked to Interdependence?
Cristina E Salvador1, Sandra Idrovo Carlier2, Keiko Ishii3
1Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|January 24, 2025
Summary
Latin Americans exhibit self-enhancement, a positive self-perception bias, similar to European Americans. This trait surprisingly reinforces interdependence within Latin American cultures, challenging prior assumptions.
Area of Science:
- Cross-cultural psychology
- Social psychology
- Cultural sociology
Background:
- Latin Americans are often viewed as interdependent, yet also value uniqueness and positivity.
- European Americans are typically characterized as independent.
- The presence and cultural alignment of self-enhancement in Latin American individuals remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the extent of self-enhancement among Latin Americans.
- To examine the relationship between self-enhancement and cultural orientation (interdependence vs. independence) in Latin American populations.
- To compare self-enhancement tendencies between Latin Americans and European Americans.
Main Methods:
- Three studies were conducted with a total of 1,246 participants.
- Employed three different operationalizations to measure self-enhancement.
- Utilized priming techniques to manipulate cultural orientations (interdependence vs. independence) in Study 3.
Main Results:
- Mexicans, Colombians, and Ecuadorians demonstrated self-enhancement levels comparable to European Americans.
- Study 3 revealed a positive correlation between self-enhancement and interdependence among Latin Americans in Ecuador.
- Self-enhancement was more pronounced when interdependence was primed compared to independence, contrasting with European American patterns.
Conclusions:
- Self-enhancement is present in Latin American individuals across different nationalities.
- In Latin America, self-enhancement appears to coexist with and potentially reinforce interdependence.
- Cultural orientations significantly influence the expression and manifestation of self-enhancement in Latin American societies.
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