A Study On Cooperation And Cultural Priming Tested

I. Summary of Study The Rosanna Wong and Ying Hong study on cooperation and cultural priming tested whether recognized symbols of American and Chinese culture could influence frame-switching among bi-cultural participants. In other words, are frame-switching behaviors influenced by specific contexts or are both cultural behaviors simultaneously used across all situations regardless of the context. Wong and Hong reviewed over 10 other studies of previous research to get an accurate understanding of the effects of culture priming on cultural specific behavior. As a result, the review of the previous research has lead them to two separate hypotheses. One, bi-cultural participants would be more likely to cooperate with friends when their†¦show more content†¦There were 3 different priming conditions to the experiment and 2 different context levels that were used to measure the three dependent variables. The 3 priming conditions were Chinese symbolism, American symbolism, and neu tral geometric drawings. All hundred and seventy-one participants are randomly assigned one of the 3 priming conditions. Next, all participants are asked to play a game of Prisoner Dilemma that focuses on cooperation or separation of individuals. Three dependent variables are measured. The choice of cooperation versus going at it on their own. The expectation of cooperation from each game of partners. Lastly, the motivation to maximize cooperation benefits. IV. Procedure The participants were culturally primed randomly by presenting seven slides of either Chinese or American culture symbols such as, a Chinese dragon or American flag (Wong Hong, 2005). For these two experimental conditions, the participants were asked questions that indicated that the participants knew the symbols and what ideas they represented culturally. The participants in the control group were shown geometric shapes and asked to trace those shapes on a paper that was provided, which indicated they understood what shapes they were looking at. Next, all the participants were asked to play a game that involved separation or cooperation to win. There were two separate conditions of the way this game was played. One condition, the players played with complete strangers, and