Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 2015, Vol. 46(3) 355–370 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0022022114563932 jccp.sagepub.com Article When a New Tool Is Introduced in Different Cultural Contexts: Individualism–Collectivism and Social Network on Facebook Jinkyung Na 1 , Michal Kosinski 2 , and David J. Stillwell 2 Abstract What will happen if a new tool is introduced to different cultures? What if the tool can potentially bridge those cultures? Will it be used in the same way across cultures and contribute to a decrease in cultural differences? Or will it be used in culturally appropriate ways and eventually integrated into preexisting cultural practices? To answer these questions, we predicted and examined cultural differences in the use of Facebook focusing on social networks. In support of the prediction, the present work found that users in individualistic cultures had more ego-centric networks (i.e., members of networks were connected via the self) than users in collectivistic cultures. The results were consistent across a two-culture comparison and a multicultural analysis across 49 nations. Additional findings suggest that (a) living in individualistic/collectivistic cultures are closely linked to these differences in social networks and (b) the individualism– collectivism may have stronger influences than ecological factors that gave rise to it. Keywords Facebook, Social Networks, Individualism/Collectivism, Pathogen Prevalence, Cutlural differences Throughout the human history, numerous tools and technologies have been introduced and spread. Some of them have dramatically changed the world and, hence, our psychology. For example, the development of agriculture and domestication led to the rise of sedentary human civilization. In recent years, the advent of the Internet has had a huge impact on the way we think, feel, and behave. Interestingly, as the world is getting smaller and flatter, a tool developed in one culture can quickly travel around the world and influence people in other cultures. This raises an intriguing question, namely, how people in different cultures react to a new tool. On one hand, a new tool may have its own unique features and functions. Consequently, people may use the tool in pretty much the same way regardless of their cultural backgrounds. On the other hand, however, the usage of a tool is closely associated with our perception of it (Gibson, 1979), and cultural backgrounds have significant effects on how we perceive the world (Nisbett & Masuda, 2003) as 1 University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, USA 2 University of Cambridge, UK Corresponding Author: Jinkyung Na, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, GR41, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080-3021, USA. Email: jinkyung.na@utdallas.edu 563932JCC XX X 10.1177/0022022114563932Journal of Cross-Cultural PsychologyNa et al. research-article 2014 at UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DALLAS on March 3, 2015 jcc.sagepub.com Downloaded from