'Brother, can you spare some time, or a dime?': time and money obligations in the United States and China

Abstract

This study investigates the role that culture plays in the effect of intimacy, relationship type, and resources on obligations. Participants (n = 144 U.S. undergraduates and n = 122 Chinese undergraduate and graduate students) were asked about their obligations to another person. Chinese, as compared to Americans, reported greater obligation and greater likelihood to expend money to help another. Americans reported greater intimacy with others and greater likelihood of expending time talking. Chinese are willing to 'spare a dime' (i.e., help with money), whereas Americans are willing to 'spare some time' (i.e., help with time). Americans exhibited a greater degree of transitivity, as assessed by the extent to which obligations to a person known directly are transferred to the person known indirectly. © The Author(s) 2012.