title: Cultural differences in asymmetric beliefs of interpersonal knowledge in vertical and horizontal relationships.
abstract: Previous studies have reported that our interpersonal knowledge shows an asymmetry; that is, we tend to believe that we know and understand other people's thoughts and feelings better than other people know and understand our own thoughts and feelings. In the present study, the authors compared American (114 men, 192 women) and Korean (99 men and 98 women) students to examine whether the asymmetry is greater in collectivistic than in individualistic culture in two types of relationships: horizontal (with best friends) and vertical (with parents). On all three items--Know, Understand, and Visibility--asymmetry was found for both horizontal and vertical relationships. Further, the Understand and Visibility items showed greater asymmetry for the Korean group than for the American group. It was concluded that asymmetry is greater in collectivistic than in individualistic culture. The cultural differences can be explained by self-consistency, sensitivity to social consequences, parent-child interaction, and living arrangement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA.
authors.forename: Yohan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Otani
authors.forename: Kyunghee
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: K Roger
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Van Horn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010379:Peer Group; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014481:United States