Chapter 11 - A Situated Cognition Perspective on Culture: Effects of Priming Cultural Syndromes on Cognition and Motivation

Abstract

Correlational evidence supports the claims made by individualism and collectivism models of culture. However, without experimental evidence, the process by which culture matters remains hidden. This chapter aims to illuminate at least part of this hidden process, focusing on how individualism and collectivism as cultural syndromes likely influence cognitive content, procedures, and motivations. Correlational evidence that operationalizes culture in terms of individualism and collectivism captures some important aspects of cross-cultural difference. The focus is mostly on content differences, with less emphasis on process and motivation. To address gaps in causal reasoning that this correlational evidence cannot address, a situated cognition approach to culture is outlined and evidence for this model is presented. By articulating what turns on culturally characteristic motivations and studying the extent that these motivations map on to individualism and collectivism or other cultural syndrome models, research on the interface between culture and motivational processes provides a new frontier on cultural psychology.