Unfolding the Cultural Construct of Honor

Research evidence and theoretical accounts of honor point to differing definitions of the construct in differing cultural contexts. We examined the construct of honor in Turkey and the Northern United States, exemplifying honor and dignity cultures, respectively, by asking participants to describe what honor is and to list situations that would represent most effective ways of attacking or enhancing someone else’s honor. We analyzed descriptions of honor using a prototype analysis and the generated situations using situation-sampling method, which have allowed gaining insight into how members of these cultural groups conceptualize honor. Findings revealed substantial differences in the specific features of honor generated by members of the two groups and the situations they considered as having an impact on honor in positive or negative ways. However, findings also revealed similarities between the two groups in the underlying dimensions of self-respect, moral behavior, and social status/respect. Ratings of the centrality and personal importance of these factors were similar across the two groups, but their association with other relevant constructs differed. We will discuss the tripartite nature of honor we uncovered in the prototype studies and how the different factors relate to different constructs across several studies. We will also discuss difference in the types of situations considered relevant to honor by members of both cultural groups and their consequences for emotion and behavior for oneself and for close others. We will conclude by linking our findings to observations made by other researchers in this field in terms what honor entails