Large-Scale-Psychological-Differences-Within-China

DOI:10.1126/science.1246850,603(2014);344Scienceetal.T.TalhelmRiceVersusWheatAgricultureLarge-ScalePsychologicalDifferencesWithinChinaExplainedbyThiscopyisforyourpersonal,non-commercialuseonly.clickinghere.colleagues,clients,orcustomersby,youcanorderhigh-qualitycopiesforyourIfyouwishtodistributethisarticletoothers here.followingtheguidelinescanbeobtainedbyPermissiontorepublishorrepurposearticlesorportionsofarticles ):May13,2014(thisinformationiscurrentasofThefollowingresourcesrelatedtothisarticleareavailableonlineat:includinghigh-resolutionfigures,canbefoundintheonlineUpdatedinformationandservices,:SupportingOnlineMaterial:canberelatedtothisarticleAlistofselectedadditionalarticlesontheScienceWebsites:cites27articlesThisarticle:citedbyThisarticlehasbeen:ThisarticleappearsinthefollowingregisteredtrademarkofAAAS.isaScience2014bytheAmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience;allrightsreserved.ThetitleCopyrightAmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience,1200NewYorkAvenueNW,Washington,DC20005.(printISSN0036-8075;onlineISSN1095-9203)ispublishedweekly,exceptthelastweekinDecember,bytheScienceonMay13,2014*X.Zhang,2,3S.Oishi,1C.Shimin,4D.Duan,2X.Lan,5S.Kitayama5Cross-culturalpsychologistshavemostlycontrastedEastAsiawiththeWest.However,thisstudyshowsthattherearemajorpsychologicaldifferenceswithinChina.Weproposethatahistoryoffarmingricemakesculturesmoreinterdependent,whereasfarmingwheatmakesculturesmoreindependent,andtheseagriculturallegaciescontinuetoaffectpeopleinthemodernworld.Wetested1162HanChineseparticipantsinsixsitesandfoundthatrice-growingsouthernChinaismoreinterdependentandholistic-thinkingthanthewheat-growingnorth.Tocontrolforconfoundslikeclimate,wetestedpeoplefromneighboringcountiesalongtherice-wheatborderandfounddifferencesthatwerejustaslarge.Wealsofindthatmodernizationandpathogenprevalencetheoriesdonotfitthedata.Overthepast20years,psychologistshavecatalogedalonglistofdifferencesbe-tweenEastandWest(1–3).Westerncul-tureismoreindividualisticandanalytic-thinking,whereasEastAsiancultureismoreinterdepen-dentandholistic-thinking.Analyticthoughtusesabstractcategoriesandformalreasoning,suchaslogicallawsofnoncontradiction—ifAistrue,then“notA”isfalse.Holisticthoughtismoreintui-tiveandsometimesevenembracescontradiction—bothAand“notA”canbetrue.EventhoughpsychologyhascatalogedalonglistofEast-Westdifferences,itstilllacksanacceptedexplanationofwhatcausesthesedifferences.Buildingonsubsistencestyletheo-ry(1,4),weofferthericetheoryofcultureandcompareitwiththemodernizationhypothesis(5)andthemorerecentpathogenprevalencetheory(6).Themodernizationhypothesisarguesthat,associetiesbecomewealthier,moreeducated,andcapitalistic,theybecomemoreindividu-alisticandanalytical.WorldValuesSurveys(7)andstudiesonindigenousMayans’transi-tiontoamarketeconomy(5)havegivensomesupporttothemodernizationhypothesis.ButthistheoryhasdifficultyexplainingwhyJapan,Korea,andHongKongarepersistentlycol-lectivisticdespiteper-capitagrossdomesticproducts(GDPs)higherthanthatoftheEuro-peanUnion.Thepathogenprevalencetheoryarguesthatahighprevalenceofcommunicabledis-easesinsomecountriesmadeitmoredangeroustodealwithstrangers,makingthoseculturesmoreinsularandcollectivistic(6).Studieshavefoundthathistoricalpathogenprevalencecorrelateswithcollectivismandloweropen-nesstoexperience(6).However,pathogensarestronglycorrelatedwithheat(8).Becausericegrowsinhotareas,pathogensmaybecon-foundedwithrice—apossibilitythatpriorre-searchdidnotcontrolfor.TheRiceTheoryThericetheoryisanextensionofsubsistencestyletheory,whicharguesthatsomeformsofsubsist-ence(suchasfarming)requiremorefunctionalinterdependencethanotherforms(suchasherding).Atthesametime,ecologynarrowsthetypesofsubsistencethatarepossible.Forexample,paddyricerequiresasignificantamountofwater.Overtime,societiesthathavetocooperateintenselybecomemoreinterdependent,whereassocietiesthatdonothavetodependoneachotherasmuchbecomemoreindividualistic.Inthepast,mostsubsistenceresearchhascomparedherdersandfarmers,arguingthattheindependenceandmobilityofherdingmakeherdingculturesindividualisticandthatthesta-bilityandhighlabordemandsoffarmingma