Self-construal, Cultural Values, and Everyday Life With a Smartphone: Intercultural Differences in Being Permanently Online and Connected

• In Event: CAT Interactive Paper Session 4

Abstract

The global phenomenon of ubiquitous communication through online mobile technologies has challenged established social norms, values, and behaviors. The smartphone use habits evolving in this climate might be associated with an individual’s cultural values. Previous research suggests that there are intercultural differences with regard to the appropriateness of using a smartphone in various situations. This study will build upon the idea that the motivations to use smartphones depend on the individual’s value system. Based on the distinction between individualist (such as power and achievement), collectivist (e.g., tradition, security) and meta-values (e.g., benevolence), and between independent vs. interdependent self-construals, the association between cultural values, self-construal, and the manifestation of specific patterns of smartphone usage will be discussed. Data from three countries (Germany, USA, China) on cognitive and behavioral patterns related to smartphone use will be presented to foster a discussion on the prevalence of mobile technologies in our everyday life.

Authors

• Sabine Reich, Hanover U of Music, Drama and Media

• Leonard Reinecke, U of Mainz

• Dorothee Hefner, Hanover Univ. of Music, Drama and Media

• Julia R. Winkler, University of Mannheim

• Frederic Ren� Hopp, U of California, Santa Barbara

• Katharina Knop-Huelss, Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media

• Michael Che Ming Chan, Chinese U of Hong Kong

• Bradford Owen, California State U, San Bernardino

• Peter Vorderer, U of Mannheim