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The Origin of Cultural Differences in Cognition: The Social Orientation Hypothesis
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A large body of research documents cognitive differences between Westerners and East Asians. Westerners tend to be more analytic and East Asians tend to be more holistic. These findings have often been explained as being due to corresponding differences in social orientation. Westerners are more independent and Easterners are more interdependent. However, comparisons of the cognitive tendencies of Westerners and East Asians do not allow us to rule out alternative explanations for the cognitive differences, such as linguistic and genetic differences, as well as cultural differences other than social orientation. In this review we summarize recent developments that provide stronger support for the social orientation hypothesis.
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“For instance, people living in societies that emphasize interdependence in social coordination (such as Japan) tend to reflect on the mental states of others more, define the self through relationships with others, and are better able to avoid underweighting contextual information, relative to people living in more independent contexts (such as the USA) 92,93 .”
From Predictors and consequences of intellectual humility (2022) · cites this paper as [93]
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“More generally, societies that emphasize interdependence rather than independence are more likely to promote relational goals, pay attention to social cues, define the self as embedded within one's social environment and display social context vigilance 92-95 .”
From Predictors and consequences of intellectual humility (2022) · cites this paper as [93]
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“…of cross-cultural research (e.g., Han and Northoff, 2008; Miyamoto et al., 2006; Nisbett et al., 2008; Nisbett et al., 2001; Norenzayan et al., 2007; Varnum et al., 2010; for an overview, see Smith, 2023) It is assumed that human cognition is in fl uenced by the sociocultural context and social…”
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“Eastern cultures typically support collectivism and emphasize interdependence, harmony, and the connection of self to others (Varnum et al., 2010).”
BackgroundExploring cultural differences in eyewitness accounts using a self-administered reporting technique
Hope, L., Kontogianni, F., Rechdan, J., Tavitian, L., Soubra, N., Brome, D. M. A. M., Gibson, V., & Anakwah, N. (2023) · Psychology Crime and Law · doi:10.1080/1068316x.2023.2279330 · Cited by 9
“Some research suggests that cultural differences in social orientation likely influences cultural approaches to cognitive style (Varnum et al., 2010).”
Muskens, M., Frankenhuis, W. E., & Borghans, L. (2024) · npj Science of Learning · doi:10.1038/s41539-024-00228-8 · Cited by 13
“Thus, people in low-SES conditions may have a greater focus on social relationships, social networks, hierarchy, and the thoughts and intentions of other people 29,32,58 .”
A comparison of self-complexity in the United States and South Korea
Brown, C. M., Shilling, A. A., & Park, S. W. (2017) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2016.1213765 · Cited by 8
“, individualism/independence and collectivism/interdependence) cause cultural differences in other psychological phenomena, like perception and cognition (e.g., Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Varnum et al., 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialKhalaf, A., Jing, Z., Ghanim, A., & Albazooni, Z. (2015) · Cited by 9
Neurocognitive underpinnings of cross-cultural differences in risky decision making
Chen, X., Ba, L., & Kwak, Y. (2020) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsaa078 · Cited by 9
“In particular, differences in perception and thinking between East Asians and Western Europeans have been well documented, which have been attributed to differences in social orientation and motivational tendencies (Varnum et al., 2010).”
BackgroundUyghur-Chinese and Han-Chinese differences on social orientation
Ren, X., Lu, K. W., & Tuerdi, M. (2014) · Culture and Brain · doi:10.1007/s40167-014-0020-x · Cited by 9
“However, the interdependent self strives for harmonious relations with others as his/her primary goal and at the same time, may or may not give up self-achievement (Markus and Kitayama 1991; Varnum et al. 2010).”
InfluentialResearch note: the development of an Arabic cross‐cultural adjustment scale
Al‐Rajhi, I., Bartlett, D., & Altman, Y. H. (2013) · Cross Cultural Management An International Journal · doi:10.1108/ccm-12-2011-0120 · Cited by 9
Narratives of effort among Chinese, Hungarian and Chinese immigrant students in Hungary
Sebestyén, N., Ivaskevics, K., & Fülöp, M. (2017) · International Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1002/ijop.12424 · Cited by 9
Stojcic, I., Wei, Q., & Ren, X. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00864 · Cited by 9
“…of studies that have reported social class being related to independent/interdependent orientations, where those belonging to middle and upper class tend to be more independent compared to working class (Inglehart and Baker, 2000; Kagitçibasi, 2007; Newson and Richerson, 2009; Varnum et al., 2010).”
BackgroundGuntuku, S. C., Talhelm, T., Sherman, G. T., Fan, A., Giorgi, S., Wei, L., & Ungar, L. (2024) · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-024-04053-7 · Cited by 11
“Cultural psychologists have theorized that differences in social style cause these differences in thought style (Varnum et al., 2010).”
Cultural Differences in Visual Attention Emerge in Infancy
Heise, M. J., Meristo, M., Ueno, M., Itakura, S., & Carlson, S. M. (2025) · Infancy · doi:10.1111/infa.12651 · Cited by 10
“…practices, formal schooling, and characteristics ofthe physical environment itselfplay a role in shaping a context‐sensitive or context‐independent orientation (Ji, Peng, and Nisbett 2000; Maurer and Walker 2014; Miyamoto, Nisbett, and Masuda 2006; Varnum et al. 2010; Ventura et al. 2008).”
Cognitive biases in the perceptions of country distance
Nebus, J. F., & Celo, S. (2020) · Journal of International Management · doi:10.1016/j.intman.2020.100774 · Cited by 8
Shimizu, Y., Senzaki, S., & Cowell, J. M. (2020) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2020.100974 · Cited by 8
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Zen Buddhism
Fung, K. P.-L., & Wong, J. P. (2017) · Mindfulness in behavioral health · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-54595-0_21 · Cited by 8
Bhutta, N. T., & Shah, S. Z. A. (2015) · Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences · Cited by 8
Park, G., Lewis, R. S., Wang, Y. C., Cho, H. J., & Goto, S. G. (2018) · Culture and Brain · doi:10.1007/s40167-018-0067-1 · Cited by 1
“Culture has the power to shape not only worldviews but also broad psychological functions like perception, attention, and cognition (Hofstede 2003; Markus and Kitayama 1991; Varnum et al. 2010).”
BackgroundIs Global Management Knowledge on the Way to Impoverishment?
Bachkirov, A. A. (2020) · Philosophy of Management · doi:10.1007/s40926-020-00153-x · Cited by 8
Spatial frequency impacts perceptual and attentional ERP components across cultures
Lin, T., Zhang, X., Fields, E. C., Sekuler, R., & Gutchess, A. H. (2022) · Brain and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105834 · Cited by 8
ORCA: A picture database of object–scene arrangements for cross-cultural and aging research
Weigl, M., Pietsch, J., Kapsali, E., Shao, Q., Zheng, Z., Li, J., Kray, J., & Mecklinger, A. (2023) · Behavior Research Methods · doi:10.3758/s13428-023-02064-x · Cited by 8
“…independent self-construal and an analytic thinking style, while East Asians (e.g., Chinese or Japanese people) who live in collectivistic societies have an interdependent self-construal and a holistic thinking style (Choi et al., 2007; Nisbett, 2003; Singelis & Sharkey, 1995; Varnum et al., 2010).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Varnum, M. E. W., Grossmann, I., Kitayama, S., & Nisbett, R. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Varnum, Michael E. W.
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-02
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9-13
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- PMC
- PMC2838233
- OpenAlex
- W2119537973
- Cited by
- 566
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 32.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG029509)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- cultural differences in cognition, social orientation, individualism-collectivism, cross-cultural cognition
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