The geography of thought

A guest post from Catherine Caldwell-Harris, aka the Traveling Psychologist (her own blog is here):

While watching the final minutes of last week's gripping women's marathon in Beijing, China's Zhu Xiaolin drank from her water bottle and then passed it behind her to the other Chinese runner in the pack, Zhou Chunxiu. "Collectivism," my husband remarked with a knowing glance at me.

That word has often appeared in our household since a four-month sabbatical to Taiwan and China this last spring made us think more deeply about cross-cultural differences in collectivism and individualism. People in collectivist societies value group harmony, frequently subordinate individual goals to group goals, and feel the pain of family members' defeats (and joy at successes) as their own. Individualist societies value individual uniqueness and achievement, self-directedness, autonomy and the right not to be burdened by excessive obligations to others, especially non-family. Cross-cultural researchers debate how collectivism and individualism manifest differently around the world: are these the endpoints of a continuum of separate dimensions; is the line that separates in-group from out-group more flexible in some cultures; does it stop at nuclear family for Europeans, extended family for Latin American and Mediterranean peoples, and extend to national identity for the Chinese? A point of consensus is that the U.S. is the most individualist country, and China the most collectivist. And now on our TV screens we see these two very different societies interacting.

From an American (or individualist) perspective, the scene of the water-bottle passing was striking. Why waste precious energy handing a bottle back over one's shoulder? A marathon is not a team sport. Glory goes to the winner. Yes, she's Chinese also, but can't she just get her own bottle during the run by the water station? Or maybe a marathon is a team sport for some runners. Haven't we heard that Kenyan runners strategize and help each other, at least at the beginning of a marathon? Do Americans do this? Readers, do I remember correctly that the Brits also shared water bottles earlier in the race?

A book about China-U.S. differences that will appeal to readers who want to move beyond vague statements about group harmony is Richard Nisbett's Geography of Thought. Anyone remember, from Intro Psych, the "Fundamental Attribution Error"? This occurs when people attribute the cause of behavior to someone's personality, ignoring (or minimizing) the role of situation and context. Nisbett summarizes a wealth of research from the last two decades indicating that this error isn't a universal of human nature, but varies across cultures.

In one striking study, psychologists analyzed American vs. Chinese newspaper reports of school/post-office shootings. Chinese reporters emphasized situational factors: "gunman had been recently fired," "post office supervisor was his enemy," "influenced by example of recent mass slaying in Texas." American reporters focused on attitudes and traits: "repeatedly threatened violence," "had a short fuse," "was a martial arts enthusiast," "mentally unstable." (Morris and Peng, p. 113). The authors asked college students to read accounts of these shootings and give their opinion on whether the shooting could have been adverted if, for example, the fired postal worked had retained his job, or if the shooter had more friends living close by. Chinese and American students responded very differently. The Chinese students said they thought the might not have occurred under these different circumstances, while the American students maintained the murders would still have occurred. To return to sports, winning is described differently by sports writers in Asian countries who offer a broad look at the contributions of coaches, family and mentors, while U.S. news accounts focus more on the unique abilities of the winners (see, for example, this analysis of Olympic reports and this comparison of China vs. U.S. sports reporting).

Blogs and the popular press started to report on these and other East-West differences in mind and behavior, and some self-help websites remind readers to keep in mind reasoning biases that may stem from an individualist orientation. This resonates with some of the advice of our own Miss Conduct, with her entertaining posts on "The Annals of It's Not About You" and her reminders of the absurdity of feeling that an overweight person is being fat "at" you.

Enjoy the Olympics and the stunning Chinese athletes, and keep passing the water bottle.