Perceptual organization and attribution preferences: a glimpse of the Middle Eastern bicultural mind

Abstract

Evidence exists that Westerners rely on similarities to organize their perceptual experiences (descriptive style) and on dispositions to explain human behavior, whereas Far East Asians rely on functional relationships (relational style) and situational details. The present research challenged this dichotomy by investigating perceptual organization and causal attribution in bicultural women of Middle Eastern descent. In Experiment 1, participants were given three items from which to pick two that would go together (e.g., shampoo, conditioner, hair). In Experiment 2, participants were asked to explain desirable and undesirable outcomes (i.e., grades). In both studies, cultural orientation was assessed. When participants were given three items from which to pick two that would go together, they emulated the Westerners’ descriptive approach to perception, selecting choices based on similarities (e.g., shampoo and conditioner) rather than on functional relationships (e.g., shampoo and hair). When participants explained desirable outcomes, they preferred internal causes, whereas when they explained undesirable outcomes, they preferred external causes, thereby expressing the self-serving bias often attributed to people from the West. Yet, they also exhibited a hybrid cultural orientation, which included both collectivistic and individualistic inclinations. Although these findings support a polycultural viewpoint, according to which people can manage coherent lives informed by multiple legacies, they also indicate that cultural mindsets do not evenly influence information processing.