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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.09772 |
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| _version_ | 1866911315980713984 |
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| author | Luther, James Brown, Donald |
| author_facet | Luther, James Brown, Donald |
| contents | Culture is a core component of human-to-human interaction and plays a vital role in how we perceive and interact with others. Advancements in the effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) in generating human-sounding text have greatly increased the amount of human-to-computer interaction. As this field grows, the cultural alignment of these human-like agents becomes an important field of study. Our work uses Hofstede's VSM13 international surveys to understand the cultural alignment of the following models: DeepSeek-V3, V3.1, GPT-4, GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, and GPT-5. We use a combination of prompt language and cultural prompting, a strategy that uses a system prompt to shift a model's alignment to reflect a specific country, to align these LLMs with the United States and China. Our results show that DeepSeek-V3, V3.1, and OpenAI's GPT-5 exhibit a close alignment with the survey responses of the United States and do not achieve a strong or soft alignment with China, even when using cultural prompts or changing the prompt language. We also find that GPT-4 exhibits an alignment closer to China when prompted in English, but cultural prompting is effective in shifting this alignment closer to the United States. Other low-cost models, GPT-4o and GPT-4.1, respond to the prompt language used (i.e., English or Simplified Chinese) and cultural prompting strategies to create acceptable alignments with both the United States and China. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_09772 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | DeepSeek's WEIRD Behavior: The cultural alignment of Large Language Models and the effects of prompt language and cultural prompting Luther, James Brown, Donald Computation and Language Culture is a core component of human-to-human interaction and plays a vital role in how we perceive and interact with others. Advancements in the effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) in generating human-sounding text have greatly increased the amount of human-to-computer interaction. As this field grows, the cultural alignment of these human-like agents becomes an important field of study. Our work uses Hofstede's VSM13 international surveys to understand the cultural alignment of the following models: DeepSeek-V3, V3.1, GPT-4, GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, and GPT-5. We use a combination of prompt language and cultural prompting, a strategy that uses a system prompt to shift a model's alignment to reflect a specific country, to align these LLMs with the United States and China. Our results show that DeepSeek-V3, V3.1, and OpenAI's GPT-5 exhibit a close alignment with the survey responses of the United States and do not achieve a strong or soft alignment with China, even when using cultural prompts or changing the prompt language. We also find that GPT-4 exhibits an alignment closer to China when prompted in English, but cultural prompting is effective in shifting this alignment closer to the United States. Other low-cost models, GPT-4o and GPT-4.1, respond to the prompt language used (i.e., English or Simplified Chinese) and cultural prompting strategies to create acceptable alignments with both the United States and China. |
| title | DeepSeek's WEIRD Behavior: The cultural alignment of Large Language Models and the effects of prompt language and cultural prompting |
| topic | Computation and Language |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.09772 |