Perceptions of Other Nations Produce Selective Cultural Transmission

As the world globalizes, a greater volume of cross-cultural interactions produces more opportunities for cultural transmission across group lines. How do psychological processes shape this transmission of cultural information between groups? We examine how people’s perceptions of other nations shape their willingness to transmit cultural information from individuals in that nation to others within their own nation. Drawing on theories of prestige-based cultural transmission, we tested whether people were more likely to transmit cultural information from individuals whose countries are perceived as internationally influential. We also tested whether this effect was shaped by two theoretically motivated moderators: the domain of information shared by a model (instrumental vs. value-oriented), and perceived competition with the model’s country. Across four studies using correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Studies 2-4) methods, and across samples from both the United States and New Zealand (Study 4), we found consistent evidence that international influence increases transmission of instrumental—but not value-oriented—cultural information across national borders. The role of competition is less consistent, sometimes moderating the effect of influence (Study 1), sometimes independently increasing transmission of instrumental—but not value-oriented—cultural information (Studies 3 & 4), and varying across countries (Study 4). Together, these results suggest that psychological processes may support the transmission of norms from globally influential nations, but that this effect may be critically bounded by the type of cultural information in question, with implications for how cultural norms, practices, and traditions may flow across borders and ultimately shape large-scale cultural change.