The Cultural Category of Cooperation: A Cultural Consensus Model Analysis for China and the United States

Abstract

W e provide evidence that cooperation is a cultural category, and that what it means to cooperate is culturally conditioned. We use a cultural consensus model analysis to assess which types of situations people categorize as cooperation and whether these categorizations are consistent within and across China and the United States. The data support revisiting the role of cognition in mediating cooperative behavior and the means by which culture shapes behavior. The data also support broadening research attention to multiple aspects of cooperation within the same theory, generating new research on reciprocity, and rethinking how key behaviors, such as competition and helping, relate to cooperation.

Paradox Research in Management Science: Looking Back to Move Forward

“…Early philosophical writings depict Eastern thinking as emphasizing harmony and seeking to identity a 'middle way,' while Western thinking stresses distinctions, contradiction, and opposition (Chen, 2002;. At the individual level, scholars suggest that such national culture informs individual thinking (Keller & Loewenstein, 2011;Peng & Nisbett, 1999), and shifts leadership behaviors (Zhang et al, 2015). Organizational studies stress integrative thinking as a hallmark of several Eastern organizations, such as Toyota Eisenhardt & Westcott, 1988).…”

“…Following their different philosophical traditions, Eastern thinkers might stress more interdependence, middle way, and harmony, while Western thinkers might stress more contradictions, conflict, and tensions (Chen, 2002;Keller & Loewenstein, 2011). Since this distinction might be oversimplified (P. P. X.…”

Comparative Analysis of Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater Practices in Unconventional Shale Development: Newspaper Coverage of Stakeholder Concerns and Social License to Operate

“…A second possibility is that the co-occurrence of these vocabularies varies because the meanings, and hence the meaningfulness, of these vocabularies varies across jurisdictions and time (cf. [62]). For instance, SLO appeared a total of 54 times in our results, with 53 of these co-occurrences in AB and BC (see Section 4.1).…”

Culture, Conditions and Paradoxical Frames

“…Cooperation is typically defined as efforts advancing collective gain (e.g., Tyler & Blader, 2000). Consistent with this definition, "exerting effort on group work," "sharing knowledge to advance group gains," and "aligned goals" are features of conditions that have been validated as indicating cooperation to lay people in both China and the USA (Keller & Loewenstein, 2011). Researchers typically define competition as an effort to gain a relatively higher position or outcome (e.g., Johnson & Johnson, 1989;Kelley & Thibaut, 1978).…”

“…Outperforming indicates competition because it exhibits changes in members' relative standing. In addition, outperforming requires effort on group work, which is a central feature of cooperation in both Chinese and American cultures (Keller & Loewenstein, 2011). Thus, outperforming could indicate features of both cooperation and competition, and so provide a basis for adopting a paradoxical frame.…”