The goal of the investigation is to examine cultural influences on the development of motivation to be responsive to the needs of others. Three experimental studies will be undertaken among samples of American and Hindu Indian adults and elementary- school aged children. The first study examines the development of individuals' perceived reasons for being responsive to the needs of their peers, with a focus on the structure of these reasons and on their relationship to individuals' socio-emotional functioning. The second study assesses whether the presence of role-related interpersonal responsibilities reduces endogenous motivation for helping behavior and degrades its quality. The third study evaluates the impact of normative expectations to render aid on intrinsic motivation and on the quality of individual behavioral performance. The research is expected to demonstrate that, reflecting their contrasting culturally based views of self, Americans maintain a less self-determined motivational orientation toward interpersonal responsibilities than do Indians. Thus, it is hypothesized that whereas among Americans, normative expectations to help others will lead to the diminishing of endogenous forms of motivation and will be associated with less adaptive behavioral functioning, they will not have such effects among Indians. The research is also expected to document respects in which the dominant psychological theories of internalization are culturally- bound. These theories link acting out of a perceived sense of obligation to feelings of pressure or coercion. However, such a linkage is hypothesized not to occur among Indians whom it is anticipated do not perceive an antithetical relationship between self-determined forms of motivation and social duty. Finally, the project is anticipated to reveal that the direction of developmental change in interpersonal motivation is culturally variable, with Americans developing a relatively exogenous view of interpersonal responsibilities and Hindu Indians retaining a relatively endogenous view. The investigation will contribute to an understanding of ways in which social development is affected by the beliefs and values of the larger cultural context. A series of experimental studies will be undertaken contrasting the motivation to help others among adults and elementary school aged children sampled from the United States and India. Substantively, the research is expected to identify respects in which the individualistic emphasis of American culture leads Americans to develop less self-determined perspectives toward helping others than arise in cultures emphasizing more collectivist conceptions. It also will provide much needed data on ways that the contrasting culturally grounded motivational orientations that develop in the two cultural contexts affect adaptation in school and friendship relationships. Regarding developmental implications, the research focus on the social perceptions and behavior of children from markedly different cultural backgrounds will make it possible to identify both common and culture-specific aspects of child development. Finally, on a theoretical level, the investigation will contribute to the refinement of existing psychological models of motivation by identifying respects in which these models may reflect culturally-specific assumptions and may need to be modified to account for interpersonal motivation in more collectivist cultures.
