Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
On Tuesday afternoon, Hazel Rose Markus argued for differences in psychological models of agency and choice between European Americans and Asians as well as middle and working class Americans. Markus, currently on the faculty at Stanford University, spoke to psychology students and faculty at a Tri-College lecture in Science Center 101.
Swarthmore psychology professor Barry Schwartz introduced Markus, who he described as “a leader in the field of social and personality psychology.” Markus began her talk, entitled “It’s a Free Country: Social Class, Agency, and Choice,” by addressing the importance of freedom in today’s society and that we are taught that freedom of choice is essential. She also noted, however, that people are “culturally shaped shapers of the world” and that not everyone may view freedom in the same light. In addition, she emphasized that humans are constantly “thinking, feeling, and acting in culture-specific ways.”
Markus discussed models of agency and noted that middle class European Americans generally follow the “disjoint” model of agency in that “normatively good actions originate in the attributions of an independent, autonomous self.” This pattern is evident all over in our culture in bumper stickers, TV commercials, and personal ads. Markus demonstrated that even young children are exposed to these ideas; she played a song by Grover of “Sesame Street,” in which Grover declares, “I seldom have a doubt of me.”
Then Markus discussed how models of agency and how the importance of choice can differ among European Americans and Asians. Markus and her colleagues studied patterns in magazine advertisements. While American ads emphasized choice and individualism, Asian ads focused on interdependence and tradition. In addition, in a study in which children were asked to solve anagrams, Americans solved more correctly when given the choice of which anagrams to solve, while Asians did a better job when told that their mother chose which anagrams they were supposed to solve.
Asians and European Americans differ in that parents have more of a role in choosing a major in college for Asian students as opposed to American students. Also, Markus and her colleagues also found that European Americans do not like when choices are taken away from them, while this was not the case for Asians. Finally, in forced choice situations, some Asians do not see what they are doing as making choices, although their American counterparts would say that they are making choices.
According to Markus’ research, the patterns observed in middle class Americans differs from those of the working class. Members of the working class value integrity and discipline more than their middle class counterparts. Working class Americans do not mind as much when their choices are taken away from them. Working class Americans tend to conform more than those in the middle class. Overall it appears that working class Americans resemble Asians more in many ways than middle class Americans.
At the end of her talk, Markus emphasized that “It’s a free country, but freedom rings differently in different contexts,” and many pieces of evidence support this idea, no matter if the contexts are different countries or social classes.
