Abstract
The majority of cognitive bias research has been conducted in Western cultures. We examined cross-cultural differences in cognitive biases, comparing Westerners’ and East Asians’ performance and acculturation following migration to the opposite culture. Two local (UK, Hong Kong) and four migrant (short-term and long-term migrants to each culture) samples completed culturally validated tasks measuring attentional and interpretation bias. Hong Kong residents were more positively biased than people living in the UK on several measures, consistent with the lower prevalence of psychological disorders in East Asia. Migrants to the UK had reduced positive biases on some tasks, while migrants to Hong Kong were more positive, compared to their respective home counterparts, consistent with acculturation in attention and interpretation biases. These data illustrate the importance of cultural validation of findings and, if replicated, would have implications for the mental health and well-being of migrants.
Highlights
Cognitive biases occur when one type of information is consistently favored for further processing over other types of information [1], [2]
The majority of cognitive bias research has been conducted in Western cultures and none that we know of has directly compared the profile of biases across different cultures as they manifest in the general population or considered the effects of migration upon biased cognitive function
In an increasingly globalized world migration might play an important role in normalizing any cultural differences and we examined whether migration alters bias
Summary
Cognitive biases occur when one type of information is consistently favored for further processing over other types of information [1], [2]. We report a preliminary investigation of cultural differences in bias and acculturation of biases by testing for a difference in bias between healthy East Asian and Western samples. Establishing the broad profile of biases in a healthy sample provides an essential platform from which to subsequently investigate associated effects As such biases related to psychopathology and well-being served as an important motivator for the present investigation, but were not the topic of our investigation. The current study used two testing sites to compare local East Asian (Hong Kong) and Western (UK) samples on measures of attention and interpretation bias to see whether a difference exists. Are there cultural differences between East Asians and Westerners in their pattern of biased cognition, either for attention or interpretation?. B. is there evidence of acculturation of cognitive biases, either in East Asian or Western migrants?
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