VV o n g B a
09-22-2004, 01:37 PM
more proof that stereotypes are wrong?
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Researching Risk Preference
When It Comes To Cross-Cultural Predictions, Your Best Guess May Not Be Good Enough
Research by Christopher K. Hsee
"Don't judge a book by its cover" is a universal adage, but many business people do exactly that when speculating about foreign cultures. Relying on cultural stereotypes to make predictions about the behavior of foreign business partners is outdated and unreliable, and in the era of multinational business, it is one of the surest ways to sabotage negotiations and relationships.
In the study "Cross-national Differences in Risk Preferences and Lay Predictions for the Differences," University of Chicago Graduate School of Business professor Christopher K. Hsee and Elke U. Weber of Columbia University present evidence that even some of our most basic stereotypes-such as generalities about Asian versus Western cultures-are inaccurate, and that relying on these stereotypes can lead us to misjudge the decisions of foreign counterparts.
Hsee and Weber examine whether American and Chinese respondents could accurately predict the "risk preferences" of their counterparts.
Risk preference is defined as one's tendency to choose a risky option (such as an investment that has equal chances to yield a 20 percent return or a 0 percent return), or a safe option of an equal or lower expected value (such as an investment with a guaranteed return of 5 percent).
Although researchers have compared Chinese with Americans in many decision-related topics, little is known about how Chinese differ from Americans in their risk preference or how people formulate predictions of the risk preference of foreign counterparts.
The authors chose to compare the two countries for many reasons, including the fact that on issues such as traditional values and current political systems, the United States and China stand on almost opposite ends of the continuum and respectively represent Western and Eastern values. Also, both countries wield significant impact on the world economy.
Results from the study showed that both the Americans and the Chinese predicted that the Americans would be more willing to take risks. The Americans underestimated the Chinese propensity to seek risk, and the Chinese overestimated the Americans' willingness to take risks.
Contrary to these predictions, the authors found that the American participants were considerably more risk-averse than the Chinese.
"We are talking about relative terms," says Hsee. "We do not imply that the Americans are not risk-seeking enough or that the Chinese are not prudent enough. We do not draw conclusions about what is the optimal level of risk-seeking. Maybe the Chinese are too risk-seeking, or maybe the Americans are too risk-averse."
full article (http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/news/capideas/sept04/riskpreference.html)
---------------------------------------
Researching Risk Preference
When It Comes To Cross-Cultural Predictions, Your Best Guess May Not Be Good Enough
Research by Christopher K. Hsee
"Don't judge a book by its cover" is a universal adage, but many business people do exactly that when speculating about foreign cultures. Relying on cultural stereotypes to make predictions about the behavior of foreign business partners is outdated and unreliable, and in the era of multinational business, it is one of the surest ways to sabotage negotiations and relationships.
In the study "Cross-national Differences in Risk Preferences and Lay Predictions for the Differences," University of Chicago Graduate School of Business professor Christopher K. Hsee and Elke U. Weber of Columbia University present evidence that even some of our most basic stereotypes-such as generalities about Asian versus Western cultures-are inaccurate, and that relying on these stereotypes can lead us to misjudge the decisions of foreign counterparts.
Hsee and Weber examine whether American and Chinese respondents could accurately predict the "risk preferences" of their counterparts.
Risk preference is defined as one's tendency to choose a risky option (such as an investment that has equal chances to yield a 20 percent return or a 0 percent return), or a safe option of an equal or lower expected value (such as an investment with a guaranteed return of 5 percent).
Although researchers have compared Chinese with Americans in many decision-related topics, little is known about how Chinese differ from Americans in their risk preference or how people formulate predictions of the risk preference of foreign counterparts.
The authors chose to compare the two countries for many reasons, including the fact that on issues such as traditional values and current political systems, the United States and China stand on almost opposite ends of the continuum and respectively represent Western and Eastern values. Also, both countries wield significant impact on the world economy.
Results from the study showed that both the Americans and the Chinese predicted that the Americans would be more willing to take risks. The Americans underestimated the Chinese propensity to seek risk, and the Chinese overestimated the Americans' willingness to take risks.
Contrary to these predictions, the authors found that the American participants were considerably more risk-averse than the Chinese.
"We are talking about relative terms," says Hsee. "We do not imply that the Americans are not risk-seeking enough or that the Chinese are not prudent enough. We do not draw conclusions about what is the optimal level of risk-seeking. Maybe the Chinese are too risk-seeking, or maybe the Americans are too risk-averse."
full article (http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/news/capideas/sept04/riskpreference.html)