Exploring Mindset Agency Theory

Abstract

This paper develops a socio-cognitive theory of the normative personality of a plural agency like for instance an organisation or a political system. The personality is represented through formative cognitive traits that arise from the Sagiv-Schwartz cultural values study. To establish the traits the principles of Maruyama’s meta-theory of mindscapes are examined and related to Mindset Agency Theory. A Maruyama “mindscape” can be understood as a construct from which coherent sets of behavioural mind-sets can emerge. A specific set of goals, demands and behaviours would be typical for a social-cognitive system that is ruled by a single mindscape. However, pure mindscapes are extremes, and will likely be rarely observed to rule a single agency. In any self-referential, self-regulating, self-organising and pro-active social system different modes of thought (or paradigms) are prevalent and can be related to different mindscapes. As highlighted by Bandura, such interaction between prevalent forces can be modelled with cybernetic approaches, which can explain the internal dynamics of a system. This research creates a generic model that has the potential to distinguish between different types of personalities within the same framework and can illustrate the sources of the internal cultural dynamics of a system.