Abstract Questions vs. Vignettes: Exploring Response Biases in Cross-Cultural Management Studies Involving PRC, Taiwanese and U.S. Respondents

This study examines whether PRC, Taiwanese and U.S. employees' responses to abstract questions were significant predictors of their responses to conceptually equivalent vignettes, and whether the patterns of Sino-U.S. differences revealed through abstract questions deviate from those revealed through vignettes. Data were collected from 344 employees in the three countries who reported their own behavioral tendencies by responding to abstract questions as well as vignettes. Responses to the abstract questions by employees of the three countries did not consistently predict their responses to the vignettes. The patterns of Sino-U.S. differences revealed through the abstract questions deviated substantially from those revealed through the vignettes.