Abstract

The present research offers a critical analysis of the ‘bias perspective’ on modesty in cross-cultural psychology. The authors argue that the notion of ‘modesty bias’ does not adequately capture the psychological core of the everyday experiences of modesty in the Korean cultural context. Along the lines, we surveyed the lay theory of modesty among Korean adults (N = 167) and content analyzed the responses. From this, we found two higher-order conceptual categories (other/relation focus, self-focus) that include a total of seven major components pertaining to the definition of modesty (Study 1). The other/relation-focused lay theories reflect the understanding of modesty in terms of inhibiting self-expression, respecting others, lowering oneself, and acting with propriety. The self-focused lay theories included objective self-awareness, self-cultivation, and self-certainty. In an independent sample of Korean adults (N = 500), we obtained evidence that the seven components driven from the lay theories reflect the Koreans’ understanding of modesty (Study 2). Based on our finding in Study 2 that self-deprecation, commonly featured in the previous work on East Asian modesty, does not correspond to the lay theory of modesty among Koreans, we experimentally tested the effects of a modesty behavior congruent with the lay theories (vs. a self-deprecating behavior) on social connectedness and state self-esteem. We found that, as compared to the self-deprecating behavior, the modesty behavior promoted perceptions of social connectedness and state self-esteem. We also found that the modesty behavior led to perceptions of social connectedness, which in turn led to higher levels of sate self-esteem. We discuss implications of these findings for research on modesty in social and cultural psychology.