Matching Versus Mismatching Cultural Norms in Performance Appraisal: Effects of the Cultural Setting and Bicultural Identity Integration

• Main Authors: MOK, Aurelia, CHENG, Chi-Ying, MORRIS, Michael W.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2010
• Subjects: bicultural identity integration; causal attribution; cultural frame switching; performance appraisal; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Multicultural Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1042; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2298/viewcontent/MatchingvMismatching_2010_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The present study examined how biculturals (Asian-Americans) adjust to differing cultural settings in performance appraisal. Biculturals vary in the degree to which their two cultural identities are compatible or oppositional — Bicultural Identity Integration (BII). The authors found that individual differences in BII interacted with the manipulation of the cultural setting (American or Asian) in determining whether employee outcomes were evaluated as matching or mismatching cultural norms. Results showed that Asian-Americans with high BII gave less weight to employees’ situational conditions in the American setting (matching American cultural norms) and more weight in the Asian setting (matching Asian cultural norms), whereas those with low BII showed the opposite pattern, giving more weight to employees’ situational conditions in the American setting (mismatching American cultural norms) and less weight in the Asian setting (mismatching Asian cultural norms). We discuss the implications of understanding bicultural identity dynamics in managerial judgment and behavior.