Colloquium: Yukiko Uchida

Title: Self-Construal as Value Systems: How independent cultural values induce positive outcomes in Organizations

Abstract: How do we foster and maintain cultural values (e.g., independence, interdependence) in our daily activities? This talk aims to provide direct evidence for the theoretical assumption that cultural values (independence or interdependence) exist at the group level (organization) and they are well functionated under the corresponding socio-ecological contexts such as job mobility. We collected data from various business organizations in Japan. Each organization has its own values. For example, in some organizations, independent-oriented culture (e.g., promotion-oriented, competition-oriented) could become dominant, while other organizations are more likely to sustain traditional interdependent-oriented culture (e.g., prevention-focused, group harmony-oriented). Using a large-scale survey from 3142 employees in 28 organizations, we examined the prediction that independence orientation at the organization-level promotes positive outcomes (e.g. cooperative social interactions) under high job mobility environments. Our findings carry important theoretical implications in understanding how cultural psychological constructs interact with local socio-ecological environments to constitute self-sustaining cultural systems. At the end of the talk I will describe how people react to COVID-19 and social distance in each cultural context.