Culture Fit
Cultural tendencies in generative AI
Jackson Lu, Lesley Luyang Song & Lu Doris Zhang
Nature Human Behaviour, forthcoming
Abstract:
We show that generative artificial intelligence (AI) models -- trained on textual data that are inherently cultural -- exhibit cultural tendencies when used in different human languages. Here we focus on two foundational constructs in cultural psychology: social orientation and cognitive style. First, we analyse GPT's responses to a large set of measures in both Chinese and English. When used in Chinese (versus English), GPT exhibits a more interdependent (versus independent) social orientation and a more holistic (versus analytic) cognitive style. Second, we replicate these cultural tendencies in ERNIE, a popular generative AI model in China. Third, we demonstrate the real-world impact of these cultural tendencies. For example, when used in Chinese (versus English), GPT is more likely to recommend advertisements with an interdependent (versus independent) social orientation. Fourth, exploratory analyses suggest that cultural prompts (for example, prompting generative AI to assume the role of a Chinese person) can adjust these cultural tendencies.
Migration and Social Change: Evidence from post-WWII Displacement in Germany
Volha Charnysh & Max Schaub
Journal of Politics, forthcoming
Abstract:
How do large-scale migration and resulting cultural diversity affect receiving societies? We argue that in contexts where individuals from different cultures regularly interact, exposure to cultural differences increases tolerance for deviant behavior, liberalizing social norms over time. We support this argument with evidence from Bavaria, which experienced a quasi-exogenous change in denominational diversity after WWII, following the arrival of 1.9 million German expellees from Central and Eastern Europe. Denominationally-blind allocation policy reduced the number of homogeneous settlements from 1,704 to nine as displaced Protestants were frequently assigned to predominantly Catholic communities and vice versa. Using original municipality-level data, we show that this sudden increase in denominational diversity reduced church attendance and membership, lowered support for socially conservative political parties, shored up support for progressive parties, and liberalized norms on gender, sexuality, and doctor-assisted suicide. These findings advance research on cultural change, intergroup contact, and consequences of migration.
Innovation Under Suppression: Censorship's Effect on Cultural Production in Early-Modern England
Peter Murrell & Peter Grajzl
University of Maryland Working Paper, August 2025
Abstract:
We use a panel-data framework to study the effects of print censorship on early-modern England's cultural production. Doing so requires distilling dispersed qualitative information into quantitative data. Integrating the historical record implicit in a large language model (LLM) with facts from secondary sources, we generate an annual index of print censorship. Applying a machine-learning (ML) algorithm to a major corpus, we construct document-level measures of the innovativeness (quality) and volume (quantity) of cultural production. We use pre-existing topic-model estimates to apportion each document among distinct cultural themes-three affected by censorship and five unaffected. We thereby assemble a yearly theme-level panel for 1525-1700. We use local projections to estimate censorship's dynamic effects. Paradoxically, censorship raises the level of innovativeness in censorship-affected themes relative to non-affected themes. Censorship has a temporary chilling effect on the quantity of cultural production, with output recovering within a decade. Our findings are robust to the use of an instrumental-variable approach addressing the endogeneity of censorship. Our findings are unchanged when using three alternative LLMs to produce the censorship index. Using LLMs and ML to measure hard-to-quantify phenomena like censorship and cultural production, we provide new insights into the drivers of cultural evolution.
The Relationship Between Financial Scarcity and Perceived Control Across 51 Societies
Leon Hilbert et al.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
When people lack needed financial resources, they can experience financial scarcity. In a cross-societal study conducted across 51 societies (N = 12,779), we examined whether financial scarcity threatens perceived control over one's life. Moreover, in line with Compensatory Control Theory (CCT), we tested whether formal institutions buffer against the control threat of financial scarcity and explored whether several cultural values serve a similar protective function. Results revealed an overall negative association between financial scarcity and perceived control that varied significantly across societies. Unexpectedly, the negative relationship was weaker in societies with lower welfare provisions, weaker institutions, and poorer labor conditions. Exploratory analyses also indicated attenuation effects in societies with lower economic development and social capital, tighter cultural norms, and stronger traditional and collectivist values. This suggests that cultural values may be more effective than formal institutions in buffering individuals against the psychological consequences of financial scarcity.
Silver spoons and scales of justice: The fairness preference over unequal intergenerational wealth transfers between Americans and Chinese
Kelin Lu
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, August 2025
Abstract:
Intergenerational transfers are widespread and markedly unequal. To examine fairness preferences toward inequality arising from wealth transfers by economically advantaged parents, we conducted a large-scale experiment with American and Chinese participants making distributive choices in identical settings. In our experiment, workers earned income either through merit or luck or transfers from parents whose earnings were similarly derived from merit or luck. Impartial spectators then made real distributive decisions. We find a pronounced aversion among Americans to inequalities from intergenerational transfers compared with those from self-earned wealth, whereas the Chinese exhibit only mild aversion. In addition, Americans accept more inequality when it is derived from inherited merit than inherited luck, a pattern not observed among Chinese. Additional experiments show that aversion toward unequal intergenerational transfers is not affected by whether parents actively transfer wealth. We also discuss other potential mechanisms underlying this aversion.
Semantic change in adults is not primarily a generational phenomenon
Gaurav Kamath et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 5 August 2025
Abstract:
A central question in the study of language change is whether or not such change is generational. If a language changes over time generation-by-generation, the process looks as follows: New generations of speakers introduce innovations, while older speakers conserve their usage patterns, and the language changes as new generations replace older ones. At the opposite extreme, language change could be a zeitgeist phenomenon, in which changes are universally adopted by speakers simultaneously, regardless of age or generational cohort. This paper asks this question in the context of word meaning change. We analyze meaning change in over 100 words across more than 7.9 million U.S. congressional speeches, to observe whether, when a word sense rises or falls in prominence, adult speakers from different generations uniformly adopt it, or those from older generations conserve their prior usage. Using language model-based word sense induction methods, we identify different senses of each word, and then model the prevalence of each of these word senses as a function of time and speaker age. We find that most words show a small but statistically significant effect of speaker age; across almost 140 y of Congress, older speakers typically take longer than younger speakers to follow changes in word usage, but nevertheless do so within a few years. Our findings indicate that despite minor age-based differences, word meaning change among mature speakers is likely not a generational process, but rather a zeitgeist process, in which older adult speakers can readily adopt new word usage patterns.
Is political system justification (counter-) normative? A comparison between France and Germany
Marie Mancassola, Melanie Steffens & Eva Louvet
Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
The present research examined the normativity of political system justification comparing France and Germany, two Western countries that substantially differ in their level of system justification. We conducted two studies, in France (N = 177) and Germany (N = 202), respectively, using the self-presentation paradigm. Participants were asked to answer a political system justification scale to present a good versus bad image of themselves either to a potential employer (context social utility) or a potential friend (context social desirability). Results indicated that political system justification appeared to be counter-normative in France regarding social desirability, but normative in Germany regarding social utility. We relate these results to frequent protest against the political system in France.
Willpower or Strategy? Self-Control Beliefs and Strategies in Collectivist and Individualist Contexts
Boqiang Zhao et al.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Is self-control always dependent on willpower? Recent research has categorized self-control beliefs into two types: a process-oriented view argues that self-control fundamentally relies on willpower, whereas a result-oriented view contends that any psychological or behavioral process inhibiting impulses qualifies as self-control, regardless of willpower involvement. Furthermore, differences in self-control beliefs influence the self-control strategies. However, few studies have examined the differences in self-control beliefs and strategies from a macro-social and cultural perspective. This study aims to explore cultural differences in self-control beliefs and strategies from collectivist and individualistic perspectives and examines whether strategies differences stem from cultural disparities in self-control beliefs. Study 1 recruited 188 Chinese participants and 147 American participants, utilizing situational materials to measure self-control beliefs. Study 2 included 273 Chinese participants and 284 American participants, employing the Self-Control Belief Scale and Self-Control Strategy Scale to measure beliefs and strategies. Results showed that American participants were more likely to believe that self-control requires willpower, leading them to prefer willpower-based strategies. In contrast, Chinese participants were more inclined to view situation and attention strategies as valid forms of self-control, which in turn led them to favor these strategies. This study highlights cross-cultural differences in self-control beliefs and strategies, underscoring the role of cultural influences in shaping self-control processes.