1. Running head: The Effectsof Culture onThe Developmentof Personality
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The Effects of Culture on the Development of Personality
Jamie Wiley
Southern New Hampshire University

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Personality 2
Literature Review
The first study reviewed was “Unpacking Cultural Differences in Interpersonal
Flexibility: Role of Culture-Related Personality and Situational Factors (Cheng et al., 2011)”.
This article was focused on ascertaining the role of culture as it pertains personality. The study
compared both Chinese and Caucasian Americans to establish the level of interpersonal
flexibility of the two groups. The study hypothesized that culture influenced content-dependent
information processing and interpersonal flexibility (Cheng et al., 2011). Simply stated that
culture has an effect on how individuals process information and their flexibility in their
interactions with others. This was a correlational study that took advantage of several types of
questionnaires to address the various variables in the study.
The second study considered was “Culture and Cause: American and Chinese
Attributions for Social and Physical Events (Morris et al., 1994)”. The focus of the research was
to compare American and Chinese characteristics in social and physical events. The study sought
to determine whether a person’s intrinsic qualities and characteristics for behavior reflects a
theory of social behavior more prevalent in individualist than collectivist cultures. The study was
correlational in nature and made extensive use of questionnaires to cover large cross sections.
The research appears to show no signs of unethical behavior and there was no direct influence
from the administrators of the testing.
The third study reviewed was “Cross-cultural evidence for the fundamental features of
extraversion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Lucas et al., 2000)” The essence of
this study sought to provide cross-cultural evidence of the fundamental features of extraversion.
The core goal of the study was to prove that extraversion factors are linked to reward sensitivity.

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Some of the variables that were locked at were reward sensitivity, sociability, and framing the
trait of extraversion across cultures. The data for this study was collected through four studies.
The two supplemental resources that were explored were “Stability and change in
adjustment profiles among Chinese American adolescents: The role of parenting. Journal of
Youth and Adolescence (Kim et al, 2015)” and “Acculturation, Psychological Adjustment, and
Parenting Styles of Chinese Immigrant Mothers in the United States. Cultural Diversity and
Ethnic Minority Psychology (Yu et al, 2016)” These studies showed there was a gap in the
available research on American and Chinese culture and the specific role the father plays in
personality development and to what impact they play by either their presence or absence.
Personality psychology has changed drastically since its inception. Where Freud looked
at personality being set within the first 2 years of life to the social cognitive school of thought of
that believes in the uniquely human cognitive capacities (Cervone 371). The studies presented
incorporate aspects of both schools of thought. They address the idea that parental influence at an
early age plays a part in development but also take into consideration that the geographical
location and other factors have influence. Most of the studies have suggested that independent
self-construal is more common among individuals from Western cultures while interdependent
self-construal is a more common trait among individuals from Asian cultures. Based on the
research considered and the information presented by the text it is clear that personality is
influenced at an early age but it would be too simplistic a concept to say that this was the sole
determining factor in personality development.
All of the studies reviewed were correlational studies which is the favored format for
studies of these scopes. The large amounts of raw data that is available for review gives
researchers much information to use to support or disprove a theory. The correlational study

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allows for a greater cross section to be studied than other types of research studies. All the
studies used appear to have been conducted ethically and there was no indication of influence of
the participants.
Research Design
Most of the studies I reviewed have focused on the role of the parents, especially the role
of the mother in the formation of behavior and personality development in Chinese children.
None of the studies considered specifically looked that the role the father in relation to
personality development and to what impact they play by either their presence or absence. The
research gap I identified was “Does existence or absence of a strong paternal presence in Chinese
children, both US and China born and raised, affect personality development in relation to
introversion or extraversion?’. The research design I have chosen to use will be a correlative
study. This type of study was selected because it allows for the greatest amount of raw data to be
collected and analyzed. As the study will be conducted in 2 separate countries this was the most
logical format for ease of data acquisition and to secure a large enough cross section to fully
explore the research question. By reviewing the available studies to identify a gap, the initial
research design has been refined down and the test question has been better defined. The test
subjects will be split into two groups. Those 2 groups will have 3 different subgroups as
variables to be compared to answer the research question.
Most of the studies that I have researched have focused on the role of the parents,
especially the role of the mother in the formation of behavior and personality development in
Chinese children. The gap that was identified was that none of the available studies specifically
investigated the role the father plays in relation to personality development. They also do not

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Personality 5
address the impact that they play by either their presence or their absence in Chinese adolescent
behavior development as it pertains to attributes of introversion and extroversion.
The research design will have a mirror set up in both the United States and China
consisting of maximum 75 subjects per country. Participants in the study will be broken down
into three groups. One group will consist of participants with both parents having been present
during childhood. The second group will have subjects that have been raised by only the mother
or that have acknowledged a strong maternal influence. The final group will have participants
raised by their fathers or that have noted a very strong paternal influence. Questionnaires will be
distributed along with Video examples of typical stressful social and business situations.
Responses will be compared across all three segments and between the two groups and results
compared.
The greatest ethics threat to this study is the potential for racial and social bias. To
account for this the Chinese portion of the test will be administered by Chinese national
psychologists and their American counterparts will administered the US testing. Both groups will
review all finding individually and then will be examined jointly to ease the possibility of bias.
All tests will be conducted in adherence to American Psychological Association (Testing and
Assessment, n.d.). To assure the highest level of ethics are maintained test disclosure statements
will be completed and releases signed for use of all information received from the test.
Conclusion
Based on the available studies there is definitely a gap in the research as to the specific
influence the father plays role the father in relation to personality development and to what
impact they play by either their presence or absence. Most of the studies focused on the role of

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the mother or of both parents with no available studies that specifically looked at paternal
influence. With the study designed to explore this gap there will be greater data to explore the
influence of culture and influence on the development of personality. The multinational nature of
the study and the review by transnational researchers will allow for collection and review of all
data to ensure a high level of ethics and the removal of cultural bias. This research looks to
substantiate the idea that independent self-construal is more common among individuals from
Western cultures while interdependent self-construal is a more common trait among individuals
from Asian cultures.

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References
Cervone, Daniel, Lawrence Pervin. Personality: Theory and Research, 13th Edition. Wiley,
2015-11-09. VitalBook file.
Cheng, C., Wang, F., & Golden, D. L. (2011). Unpacking Cultural Differences in Interpersonal
Flexibility: Role of Culture-Related Personality and Situational Factors. Journal of Cross-
Cultural Psychology, 42(3), 425-444. doi:10.1177/0022022110362755
Kim, S. Y., Wang, Y., Shen, Y., & Hou, Y. (2015). Stability and change in adjustment profiles
among Chinese American adolescents: The role of parenting. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, 44(9), 1735-1751. doi:10.1007/s10964-015-0303-3
Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., Grob, A., Suh, E. M., & Shao, L. (2000). Cross-cultural evidence for the
fundamental features of extraversion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
79(3), 452-468. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.3.452
Morris, M. W., & Peng, K. (1994, November). Culture and Cause: American and Chinese
Attributions for Social and Physical Events. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 67(6), 949-971.
Testing and Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from
http://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/
Yu, J., Cheah, C. L., & Calvin, G. (2016). Acculturation, Psychological Adjustment, and
Parenting Styles of Chinese Immigrant Mothers in the United States. Cultural Diversity
And Ethnic Minority Psychology, doi:10.1037/cdp0000091

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Reference
Cervone, D., & Pervin, L. A. (2015). Personality:Theory and research (13th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley &
Sons.