The Geography Of Thought Nisbett

In his book The Geography of Thought, Richard Nisbett examines how the cognitive processes of eastern and western cultures organize knowledge to make sense of the world. By east the author usually means Far East Asian cultures such as Japan, China, and Korea. By west he means most of Europe and America. This is an important topic as cultural diversity continues to become a critical part of business and life around the world. Nisbett states that Westerners are more object-based thinkers, while Eastern thinking is based more on context and relationships. The book helps us understand how and why Westerners and Easterners have developed these different ways of thinking based on social, cultural, religious, geographical and other factors.
It also shows how these cultures are in the process of being integrated together.
Nisbett classifies Asian cultures as the countries of the Far East such as Korea, Japan, China, and countries that have been influenced by Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist teachings. I would agree with this classification because he is pretty much referring to the main East Asian countries with ancient Chinese origins. These countries also have similar characteristics on Hofstede's cultural dimensions, with high power distance, masculinity, and long-term orientation but low individual values and uncertainty avoidance. These countries are all similar in their thought processes as they are all collectivist societies.
Throughout the years, Westerners and Easterners have differed in their thinking processes, which have affected the way they behave and expressed themselves. These differing thought processes developed over time from ancient Western (Greek) philosophy's influence on Western society, and ancient Eastern (Chinese) philosophy's influence on Eastern society. Westerners are more likely to use formal logic when trying to make sense of things, meaning if there are two contradictory statements, one must be right and one must be wrong. Western thinking is also more linear, whereas Asians tend to think of things in circular, cyclical patterns. To Asians, what goes up must come down, and if there is a recurring pattern of events, the opposite event will happen very shortly, hence the circular way of thinking. For Asians, when there are contradictory statements they try to understand the context and relationship between both arguments, like the yin and the yang, and come to a resolution. Asians therefore are more accepting of contradictions. Asians are more context-based, holistic thinkers, meaning they are more likely to see the whole picture and how pieces of the picture relate to one another. Westerners are more object-based, individualistic thinkers, focusing on the individual parts of a whole. Even in language, Western language has more of a focus on nouns, while East Asian languages have a reduced vocabulary in which to express individualism and focus more on verbs/relationships. A good example is the exercise where participants were asked to pick two of three items that were related: a monkey, a banana, and a lion. The Western participants chose the lion and monkey, as they are both animals. The Eastern participants chose the monkey and the banana, as the banana is eaten by the monkey. Westerners tend to develop abstract theories to describe and categorize things, which emphasize logic and linear causality. Argument, debate, and using logic to challenge evidence are viewed as good things and encouraged to help build knowledge and understanding. In Eastern society, people are more sensitive to social relations so arguments and confrontation in general are avoided. There is a strong sense of in-group and the harmony must be maintained within this group at all times.
The emphasis on collectivism and holism in East Asia and the emphasis on individualism and objects in the West have caused people from the respective cultures to interpret things and respond to situations differently. Westerners are more likely to notice objects in an environment and their individual attributes and make-up, whereas East Asians are more likely to look at the relationship among objects in an environment. During memory tests, Chinese participants were more likely to remember words when placed within a social context. In storytelling tests, the Chinese were more likely to talk about casts of characters while Americans were more likely to place themselves at the center of the story. In problem-solving scenarios, the Americans were more comfortable working independently, while the Asians were more likely to succeed when working in a group. During acts of terror/crime, Americans are more likely to blame the person committing the crime blaming individual attributes of that person, while East Asians are more likely to attribute the reason for a particular behavior/action to contextual/situational factors.
Nisbett's arguments make valid points and explain certain cultural differences, however, we believe that he has over-generalized groups of people and tries to make things too simplistic. His findings are based mostly off of experimental studies that he then tries to translate and apply to a real-leaf situations. He also over-generalizes people based on these findings and tries to lump them into groups based on how they react to these experimental studies. Also, ancient Greek and Chinese philosophies may have had an impact on the historical evolution of cognitive thinking, but the teachings can't be the basis to lump people into separate groups by ignoring their complex and invisible identities just because our world and cultures are becoming more and more integrated. For example, while it may be true that Asians are less likely to have confrontational debates in work meetings compared to Americans, it is also true that many Westerners are just as reluctant if not more reluctant to participate in such debates. This has more to do with societal attitudes and individual personality traits of that person towards hierarchy than it does ancient philosophical traditions. I believe that while ancient philosophies have influenced why Eastern and Western societies think and behave differently, ultimately our cultures and cognitive thought will blend into one universal way of thinking as our cultures continue to integrate. The cultural differences and ways of thinking between the Eastern and Western worlds could present obstacles when entering into business in Asian countries. The biggest obstacle deals with the collectivist versus individualistic views. Maintaining harmony within a group in Asian cultures may be the biggest priority. So when entering into business in a country like China or Korea, it is critical to build relationships first and worry about business after a solid foundation of in-group is achieved. Sensitivity to group dynamic and hierarchal structure must be taken into account for anything you do. Personality conflicts within an Asian workplace could be devastating to the overall bottom line, as illustrated in the Ellen Moore case discussed in class, and relationships must be nurtured much more so then in Western workplaces. The best thing managers can do to prepare for these obstacles is to identify the right type of people to send on international business initiatives. These people would preferably be the "going native" or "dual citizen" expatriate types and must also receive proper cultural and sensitivity training before entering the foreign country. Potential leadership/management individuals must also be keen to massage group dynamic, respect the vertical collectivism authority ranking structure of Asian business culture, be able to squash any sort of personal conflict, and be able to maintain harmony within the in-group. They must also have a certain personality type where they are not confrontational or quick to lose their temper. Having said that, I will reiterate that these cultural issues should not be as much of an issue over time as Eastern and Western cultures continue to fuse and integrate. Westerners are adopting Asian holistic views to thinking, while Asians continue to adopt more abstract, Western ways of thinking as our cultures, and people continue to blend. Cultural awareness and understanding is becoming more and more important as businesses around the world are continue to globalize.
Being grounded on the thought processes and behaviors of other cultures is what may cause potential business endeavors to either succeed or fail. This is why it is important for all of us to have an understanding of why certain people may act or think a certain way, because cultural misunderstanding can be devastating not only to business but also to the way of life in general. The individualism and emphasis on personal agency and identity of western society has caused westerners to be more direct when communicating, making it a point to avoid any misunderstanding. The holistic, collectivist views of Eastern society explain why Easterners are not as direct when communicating, leaving more open space to interpretation. I believe that there are positives from both ways of thinking that can be applied to everyday business and life. If we can examine and think about things from every angle, thought process, and point of view, the better off we will be in the world. Our world is becoming a melting pot of cultures as people continue to blend in and integrate. A good example is our university, George Mason. Mason is the most diverse campus in the country and is the perfect illustration of how when people of different cultures and backgrounds are integrated, you adopt some of those different views, beliefs, thought-processes, and actions just by being exposed to it. Ultimately, I believe a universal way of cognitive thinking will develop not only from Eastern and Western thought processes, but also from other cultures around the
world.