In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation

Abstract

Today's most pressing social challenges require people to recognize their shared fate and work together--to think and act interdependently. In the three studies reported here, we found that appeals for increased interdependence may undermine the very motivation they seek to inspire. We examined the hypothesis that invoking interdependent action undermines motivation for chronically independent European Americans but not for bicultural Asian Americans who are both chronically independent and chronically interdependent. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that priming interdependent rather than independent action undermined European Americans' motivation to perform challenging mental and physical tasks. Study 3 showed that framing an appeal for environmental sustainability in terms of interdependent rather than independent action led to decreased motivation and resource allocation among European Americans. Motivation was not undermined for Asian Americans, which reveals how behavior is divergently shaped, in the land of the free, by foundational sociocultural schemas of independence and interdependence. This research has the novel implication that it may be necessary to invoke independent behaviors in order to successfully motivate interdependence.

Public engagement with climate change: the role of human values

“…66 Many non-Western nations are more collectivist (and less individually-oriented) in terms of their culture, 67 and so the tension between proenvironmental messages and individualism may be less apparent than in strongly individualist nations like the United States. 68 Several reports on public engagement with climate change in African countries like Uganda have pointed to the importance of communicating climate change in ways that resonate with religious or indigenous values and beliefs, 69,70 while an analysis of a large sample of the Indian population used ratings of egalitarian and individualistic valuestatements as one criteria for identifying six distinct interpretative communities for climate change communication (mirroring similar work with the US public 71 ).…”

Culture and Healthy Eating

“…Multiple practices, policies, products, and institutions prioritize and promote independence, and agency derives from free choice and the expression of personal preferences, intentions, and goals (Markus & Kitayama, 2003). Consequently, agency is linked with autonomy, and enjoyable or intrinsically motivated actions are those that are free from others’ influence (Hamedani, Markus, & Fu, 2013; Markus & Kitayama, 2003; Markus & Conner, 2014; Miller, 2003). We suggest that, because of this powerful association between appropriate behavior and independence in the U.S, good outcomes—that is, positive, productive, moral, and healthy outcomes—will be associated with being independent.…”

Understanding consumer psychology in working‐class contexts

“…As a result, interdependence can actually be demotivating. When American college students were primed with interdependent behaviors like “adjust,” “accommodate,” and “flexible,” they did not persist as long on physical and mental tasks as they did when primed with neutral words or with independent behaviors like “autonomous,” “influence,” “control” (Hamedani, Markus, & Fu, 2013). For those from working‐class contexts, however, the interdependent self can be motivating.…”