Culture, self, and preference structure: Transitivity and context independence are violated more by interdependent people

We hypothesized that the extent to which one's preference structure is well established depends on one's cultural orientation. In Study 1, we found that Koreans' preference judgments were more likely to violate the rules of transitivity and context independence, which are the hallmarks of coherent preference structure, than were preference judgments of Americans. Study 2 established a direct link between one's self-concept and context dependency and violation of transitivity. Specifically, context dependency and violation of transitivity were more pronounced in preference judgment among interdependent people than independent people, but only for generic items. The pattern was reversed in preference judgment for brands. Implications and future research are discussed.