Relational Compartmentalization: How Culture Keeps Our Social Worlds Apart

Segregation of social networks has been studied primarily at the macro level in disciplines such as sociology. The present research introduces the concept of relational compartmentalization to examine this phenomenon at the level of individual behavior through a cultural-psychological lens. Across two studies, we investigated relational compartmentalization using a mixed-methods approach and complementary measures: a novel behavioral paradigm and egocentric social network analysis. We found evidence that, compared to Euro-Americans, Chinese and Asian American participants exhibited a greater tendency to compartmentalize their social networks, mediated by self-consistency and relational mobility, but not by contextualism. In cultural contexts characterized by greater self-concept variability and lower relational fluidity, individuals are more likely to organize their social networks into discrete, self-contained, non-overlapping groups. These findings advance the understanding of cultural models of social networks, highlighting the roles of culturally salient psychological and socioecological characteristics in shaping networking behavior.