The Influence of Honor Threats on Goal Pursuit across Cultures

Honor means self-worth in one’s own eyes and in the eyes of others. In honor cultures (e.g., Middle Eastern and Latin American societies), self-worth strongly depends on other people’s opinions and can be damaged by their comments. When insulted, for example, members of honor cultures may retaliate to restore their self-worth. In dignity cultures (e.g., Northern US, Canada, Western Europe), however, self-worth is inherent and not as strongly affected by others’ comments. Due to current social, economic, or political events, many members of honor cultures are immigrating to dignity cultures. This necessitates a better understanding of each cultural group’s sensitivities and priorities in interpersonal relations. In two studies, we investigated whether honor-threatening comments interfere with individuals’ goal pursuit for members of honor cultures but not for members of dignity cultures. In Study 1, Turkish participants (an honor culture) but not northern Americans (a dignity culture) expected most people in their society to confront a person who insulted them and to give up a current goal. In Study 2, Turkish and northern American participants received honor threatening or other