Holism in a European Cultural Context: Differences in Cognitive Style between Central and East Europeans and Westerners

Abstract

Central and East Europeans have a great deal in common, both historically and culturally, with West Europeans and North Americans, but tend to be more interdependent. Interdependence has been shown to be linked to holistic cognition. East Asians are more interdependent than Americans and are more holistic. If interdependence causes holism, we would expect Central and East Europeans to be more holistic than West Europeans and North Americans. In two studies we found evidence that Central and East Europeans are indeed more holistic than Westerners on three tasks, one of which examined categorization and two of which measured patterns of visual attention. Th ese studies support the argument that cross-cultural diff erences in cognition are due to society level diff erences in independence/interdependence. Culture fundamentally infl uences the way we view the world. Over the past two decades psychologists have found that many of their discoveries about human cognition were not universally applicable, but rather a description of a way of perceiving and thinking about the world specifi c to Western societies. One of the major dimensions of cultural diff erence, and one of the most studied, is social orientation. People in Western societies tend to be more independent, focusing on personal goals and achievement, and valuing self-effi cacy.

The Origin of Cultural Differences in Cognition

“…Russians are more interdependent than Americans (Grossmann, 2009; Matsumoto, Takeuchi, Andayani, Kouznetsova, & Krupp, 1998) and are more holistic in terms of categorization, attribution, visual attention, and reasoning about change (Grossmann, 2009). Similarly, Croats are more interdependent than Americans (Šverko, 1995) and show more holistic patterns of cognition in terms of categorization and visual attention (Varnum, Grossmann, Katunar, Nisbett, & Kitayama, 2008). Recent evidence suggests that similar differences exist within Europe.…”

Study Protocol on Cognitive Performance in Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Netherlands: The Normacog Brief Battery

“…Previous research suggests that cultural differences exist in cognitive functioning between countries from Eastern and Western Europe (Varnum et al, 2008). Therefore, the authors anticipate that such differences will also be found in the current research project.…”

“…Independent societies tend to be more analytic while interdependent societies are more holistic (Nisbett and Miyamoto, 2005). This indicates that Eastern Europeans have a more holistic cognitive style compared to Western Europeans, who are more analytical (Varnum et al, 2008). Considering the aforementioned results, this study aims to further analyze whether intercultural differences in cognitive functioning exist not only between the countries from Eastern and Western Europe but also within Eastern European countries.…”

Facebook Birthday Postings from a Language Ecology Perspective in Russian, German, American English, and French

“…Foard and Kemler (1984) introduce analytical-holistic modus or continuum to confirm that some countries are not purely analytical or holistic but mixed or transitional. The following countries can be placed from analytic to holistic on a continuum: The USA -Western Europe -Eastern and Central Europe (including Russia) -South East Asia (Varnum et al, 2008).…”

“…Henrich et al (2010) conclude that a mature individual uses both cognitive systems (rationalism and intuition); however, a given culture uses more often one system at the expense of another when faced with some kind of decision-making problem. Holistics cultures are connected with collectivism while analytic cultures with individualism (Varnum et al, 2008;Uskul et al, 2008).…”