Examining Sources of Culture-mismatch: Can Marginalizing Situations Cause Behaviors to deviate from Cultural Norms?

The culture-match hypothesis states that those whose personalities and values match the norms of their immediate and broader environment are likely to be mentally healthier than those whose values do not match (Fulmer et al., 2010). In terms of the psychological consequences of being in a cultural environment that is mismatched with one's personality, we propose two questions: 1) Is culture-mismatch associated with the risk of becoming marginalized? 2) If so, can marginalizing situations cause a cultural mismatch in values and behaviors? Previous studies have responded to the first question by confirming that the risk of marginalization is associated with culturally deviant values and culturally deviant motivational styles (Norasakkunkit & Uchida, 2011; Norasakkunkit & Uchida, 2014). The current study addresses the second question by randomly assigning American and Japanese participants to either imagining themselves in a marginalizing situation or imagining themselves in a secure situation. Following this priming task, participants have to complete measures of cultural values, motivational style, and risk of marginalization used in our previous correlational studies. We hypothesize that priming for a marginalized mindset will cause culturally deviant values and culturally deviant motivational styles, as well as increased risk of future marginalization. We are currently in the process of gathering the data to test this hypothesis.