Thinking-Pattern-East-and-West中西方思维方式

ThinkingPatternEastandWest报告人：段建威小构成员：夏正亮、李慧、李明明ThinkingPatternEastandWest

Inthe13thcentury,MarcoPolowasamongthefirstonestohintatthefactthatthepeoplefromtheEastbehaveandthinkdifferentlythantheEuropeans.

TheBritishwriterRudyardKiplingthoughtthattheEasternandWesternmindcouldnotbereconciled.

InTheBalladofEastandWesthewrote:“Oh,EastisEast,andWestisWest,andneverthetwoshallmeet,

TillEarthandSkystandpresentlyatGod’sgreatJudgmentSeat”

Attitudesandperceptionofreality

AsianmindWesternmind

introverted

collectivist

curvedextravertedindividualstraightforwardWhenyouhaveadiversegroupofpeoplefromdifferentcultures,yougetnotjustdifferentbeliefsabouttheworld,butdifferentwaysofperceivingitandreasoningaboutit,eachwithitsownstrengthsandweaknesses.

HowAsiansandWesternersThinkDifferently...andWhy?

HOWCulturaldifferencesinthewaythemindworksandprocessesinformationmaybemoreimportantthanmostpeoplethinkorimagine.

geographyinfluencedthehistoryofhuman

civilizationiswellestablished,buttheideathatitmayalsochangethewaywethinkislessknown

WHYSomestudies

StevenHeineattheUniversityofBritishColumbiaperformedsimilartransculturalstudies.HerecruitedCanadianandChinesestudentsandhegavethemabogus“creativity”taskafterwhichthestudentsweretoldtheyhaddonewellinsomepartsofthetaskandpoorlyinothers.Whenasimilartestwasadministered,Canadianstudentworkedharderontheitemstheyweretoldtheyhadexcelled,whiletheChinesestudentsinsistedmoreontheareastheythoughttheydidpoorlyinthefirstattempt.

The“focusedvs.holistic”approachofthesestudentswasdescribedbyHeineasfollows:“ifyoushowanEasternerandaWesterneraphotographandyoutracktheireyemovements,younoticesomethingcurious.Bothsubjectsfixonsomefocalpointinthepictureforaboutasecond.Afterthat,thingschange.TheWesternercontinuestogazeatthatspot,onthatcentraltreeintheforestofpossibleplacestolook,whiletheEasterneyeis

allovertheplace,scanninghither-thither,tryingtotakeinthewholeforest”

Differencesininformation

processingbetweenEastandWest

Westernersaremorelikelytobeinterestedinanobjectwithinawhole,whileAsianswouldfocusmoreonthebackgroundthatsurroundstheobject.

Westernersusuallypolarizetheirbeliefsinresponsetocontradiction,whileAsianstendtomoderatethem.

Whenpredictinghumanbehaviorinresponsetogivensituations,Westernerstendtofocusonpersonalitycharacteristics,whileAsiansaremorelikelytocitesituationalfactors.

1.RudyardKipling’s.TheBalladofEastandWest.CollectedEssays.Mercury:London.1961.p.189.

2.JungCG.PsychologyandReligion:WestandEast.CollectedWorksofCGJung.1958.p.560.3.NisbettR.TheGeographyofThought:HowAsiansandWesternersThinkDifferently-andWhy.London:NicholasBrealey.2023.

4.HeineS.