The way people feel and act in front of a mirror depends on the culture they grew up in. In research led by Steven J. Heine, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, American subjects generally reported much higher self-esteem when they couldn't see their reflection, unlike Japanese subjects. And Canadians, but not the Japanese, were more likely to cheat on a test in the absence of a mirror. The researchers think mirrors trigger people in individualistic cultures to see themselves from the perspective of others, but in East Asian societies, in which the group takes precedence over the individual, this mind-set is internalized.