Articles in Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) and elsewhere have argued that international business (IB) is a uniquely complex field. We offer an alternative perspective and evidence that IB is not so uniquely complex compared to organizational behavior, strategic management studies, and entrepreneurship. We argue that viewing IB as uniquely complex is likely a result of what a vast body of social psychology research has uncovered and labeled false uniqueness bias: the tendency for people to believe that they are unique compared to others. We discuss selective accessibility and focalism as underlying psychological mechanisms of this bias. We acknowledge advantages of claiming uniqueness, but argue that it is now more beneficial and realistic to highlight similarities. Doing so will allow IB to import and export theories and methods and thereby make IB borders even more permeable. In turn, increased permeability is likely to lead to further theoretical progress that will benefit IB research, practice, and its positive impact on organizations and society even further. To illustrate advantages of not exaggerating IB’s uniqueness, we use JIBS Decade Award winners as exemplars of studies that are admired and impactful precisely because of their focus on similarities rather than unique complexity.

文章在国际商业研究的（JIBS）和其他人认为，国际业务（IB）是一个独特的复杂的领域。我们提供了另一种观点和证据，证明与组织行为、战略管理研究和创业相比，IB 并不是那么复杂。我们认为，将 IB 视为独特复杂的可能是大量社会心理学研究发现并标记的虚假唯一性偏见的结果：人们倾向于相信自己与他人相比是独一无二的。我们将选择性可及性和焦点主义作为这种偏见的潜在心理机制进行讨论。我们承认声称独特性的优势，但认为现在强调相似性更有益和更现实。这样做将使IB能够导入和导出理论和方法，从而使IB边界更具渗透性。反过来，增加的渗透性可能会导致进一步的理论进步，这将进一步有利于 IB 研究、实践及其对组织和社会的积极影响。为了说明不夸大 IB 独特性的优势，我们使用 JIBS 十年奖获得者作为研究范例，这些研究之所以受到钦佩和影响，正是因为他们关注相似性而不是独特的复杂性。