Study: Americans Don't Understand Others

[Guest Captain Compassion]

Study: Americans Don't Understand Others

Corey Binns

Special to LiveScience

LiveScience.com

1 hour, 56 minutes ago

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070718/sc_livescience/studyamericansdontunderstandothers

 

Rugged American individualism could hinder our ability to understand

other peoples' point of view, a new study suggests.

 

And in contrast, the researchers found that Chinese are more skilled

at understanding other people's perspectives, possibly because they

live in a more "collectivist" society.

 

"This cultural difference affects the way we communicate," said study

co-author and cognitive psychologist Boaz Keysar of the University of

Chicago.

 

Simple study

 

The study, though oversimplified compared to real life, was

instructive. Keysar and his colleagues arranged two blocks on a table

so participants could see both. However, a piece of cardboard

obstructed the view of one block so a "director," sitting across from

the participant, could only see one block.

 

When the director asked 20 American participants (none of Asian

descent) to move a block, most were confused as to which block to move

and did not take into account the director's perspective. Even though

they could have deduced that, from the director's seat, only one block

was on the table.

 

Most of the 20 Chinese participants, however, were not confused by the

hidden block and knew exactly which block the director was referring

to. While following directions was relatively simple for the Chinese,

it took Americans twice as long to move a block.

 

"That strong, egocentric communication of Westerners was nonexistent

when we looked at Chinese," Keysar said. "The Chinese were very much

able to put themselves in the shoes of another when they were

communicating."

 

The results are detailed in the July issue of the journal

Psychological Science.

 

Collectivist societies, such as the Chinese, place more value on the

needs of the group and less on the autonomy of the individual. In

these societies, understanding other peoples' experiences is a more

critical social skill than it is among typically more individualist

Americans.

 

Gross oversimplification

 

"Of course, these are very gross oversimplifications," said Keysar.

"Even in America, you can find collectivist societies. For example,

working class people tend to be much more collective."

 

Culture appears to direct our eyes to read others' emotions, too.

 

Psychologists at Hokkaido University in Japan have found that Japanese

gaze at the shape of a person's eyes, while Americans focus on the

mouth. When people from the two cultures interact, these crisscrossed

sightlines can lead to miscommunication.

 

"We all know people from different cultures are different. This is not

new. But what research is now showing is how they're different and

what are the implications," Keysar told LiveScience. "If we are aware

of how we think differently, this can go a long way toward not

allowing these differences to get in the way of reaching mutual

understanding."

 

--

There may come a time when the CO2 police will wander the earth telling

the poor and the dispossed how many dung chips they can put on their

cook fires. -- Captain Compassion.

 

Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not

on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away

with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone

are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices

me wherever I am or whatever I do. -- EPICTETUS

 

Joseph R. Darancette

daranc@NOSPAMcharter.net