Culture, visual perspective, and the effect of material success on perceived life quality
Abstract
Is a life characterized by material success one that will be seen favorably by others? In two studies, we explored the effect of a target person's material success on perceptions of the target's life quality. Participants viewed a survey ostensibly completed by another person-which experimentally varied the target's material success in the form of income-before globally rating the target's life. Study 1 provided a cross-cultural comparison, finding that Singaporeans, but not Americans, rated a target high in material success as having a life of greater quality than a target low in material success. Study 2 investigated the moderating effect of visual perspective among Singaporeans, hypothesizing that adopting another's perspective emphasizes the shared belief that material success is an indicator of life quality. Consistent with this reasoning, participants who adopted a third-person visual perspective rated a target high in material success as having a life of greater quality than a target low in material success, but those who adopted a first-person visual perspective did not rate targets differently based on material success.