East–West Contrasts in Decision Making: Evidence from Chinese Canadians and European Canadians

Psychological science has historically relied on WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) populations, raising questions about the generalizability of its findings.This study extends cultural psychology by investigating decision-making among first-generation Chinese Canadians (n = 107) and European Canadians (n = 96) across five domains: submission to authority, filial piety, emotional expressiveness, sexual conservativeness, and water-drinking habits.Participants were randomly assigned to a cultural priming condition (Chinese, Western, neutral) and rated their likelihood of engaging in specific behaviors within hypothetical scenarios.Results revealed a consistent main effect of culture.Compared to European Canadians, Chinese Canadians demonstrated greater submission to authority, stronger filial piety, lower emotional expressiveness, higher sexual conservativeness, and a greater preference for warm water over cold.Notably, cultural priming had no significant effect.These findings highlight the resilience of cultural norms and the enduring influence of heritage culture on first-generation immigrants.The study underscores the importance of considering cultural heritage in multicultural societies and suggests future research may examine second-generation immigrants to clarify the mechanisms of cultural persistence and the dynamics of bicultural adaptation.