Culture-specific social constructs and their implications for cross-cultural experiments

Cross-cultural economics experiments have identified cultural variation in social behavior, but they are often unable to identify causal mechanisms behind those differences. They also often do not adequately consider cultural differences in focal points for decision-making. In this study, we address these two issues. First, we identify one causal factor that explains observed differences between two cultures. In Confucian-influenced South Korea, social interactions are heavily influenced by age-based social constructs, with age gaps of even just one year carrying important social implications that influence norms, expectations, preferences, and even grammar. In a Stag Hunt game with a Korean participant pool, providing age information increased Stag choices (by 15%, 9 percentage points) and coordination on Stag-Stag outcomes (31%, 11 points) in both younger and older partners. Similarly, in a Prisoner’s Dilemma game, age information increased Cooperate choices (15%, 7 points) and mutual Cooperate outcomes (33%, 7 points). Conversely, age information had no effect on an American participant pool in either game (0%, <1 point). Second, we find that baseline rates of Stag and Cooperate were higher in the U.S., but these between-country differences largely disappeared with age information. Importantly, results with age information are more externally valid in Korea, where ages are typically salient and common knowledge. Thus, we demonstrate firstly that cultural differences in games can sometimes be caused by variation in the social constructs, focal points, or cues used for decision-making, and secondly that researchers must account for these culture-specific social constructs in order to make externally valid comparisons.