Relational Mobility Mediates Cross-cultural Differences in the Behavior and Expected Outcomes of Facebook Self-promotion

When past studies attempt to explain cultural differences in self-promotion (appeals to one’s status, success and talents) many fail to demonstrate a country→culture→behavior path of association. In this study we focus on societal differences in self-promotion on Facebook, and empirically demonstrate a path via users’ offline social ecology. We propose that in countries such as Japan where Facebook users’ offline social ecologies are characterized by low relational mobility, users should self-promote less than users in a country such as the US where relational mobility is higher. This is because in low relational mobility countries, there are relatively fewer opportunities to dissolve current and form new interpersonal relationships; relationships are relatively long-lasting and difficult to change. In such socioecological environments, it should be adaptive to avoid disharmony via status competition—i.e., keep self-promotion to a minimum—within one’s relatively rigid relationships. We tested this proposition by surveying 136 Japanese and 144 American Facebook users, using two newly developed scales to measure Facebook self-promotion and perceived interpersonal demerits of self-promotion on Facebook. Results showed as predicted, Facebook users from Japan self-promoted less than US users. Also, this societal difference in self-promotion was partially mediated by relational mobility and perceived demerits associated with self-promotion on Facebook; Japan was lower in relational mobility, which led to higher emphasis placed on demerits associated with self-promotion, leading to less Facebook self-promotion in Japan. Implications for a socio-ecological approach to cross-cultural differences in interpersonal behavior on- and offline will be discussed.