How does cultural self-construal influence regulatory mode?

Goal pursuit comprises several functional components. Two important components identified by recent research are assessment (critical evaluation and comparison of entities and states) and locomotion (movement from state to state), alternately termed regulatory modes. We used both experiments and surveys across five studies, which examined the relation between cultural orientation and regulatory mode, and the processes underlying this relation. Results suggested that Caucasians (vs. Asians/Hispanics), independents (vs. interdependents), and individualists (vs. collectivists) have a greater tendency to engage in assessment because they are more likely to engage in cost-benefit analysis. In contrast, interdependents (vs. independents), Asians/Hispanics (vs. Caucasians), and collectivists (vs. individualists) have a greater tendency to engage in locomotion because they tend to acquiesce and avoid conflict. The research makes fundamental contributions to the literatures on decision making and cross-cultural psychology.