<p>While I can't, and won't make any comment on the accusations of racism (I think the comments below your question answer that quite well), the Western/Analytic vs. Eastern/Holistic dichotomy is pretty well established and supported by studies in cognitive and social psychological literatures.</p>
<p>This may be a little different to what you had in mind, as your question is more about social notions like 'valuing independence' versus 'coexisting in harmony', which are harder to empirically demonstrate (I'm not a social psychologist).  What I'm referring to here is more like 'logic, rules, and working details out step by step' versus 'taking everything into account, and seeing the bigger picture'.</p>
<p>However, the idea is a bit more complicated than what I'm able to explain in a few sentences.  <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&amp;uid=2001-17194-001" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Nisbett et al's (2001) review</a> (free preprint copy <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Enisbett/images/cultureThought.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>) is the Rolls-Royce of reviews when it comes to this, and that paper will address most of the questions you might have (note the racial diversity of the authors).
You can also find more work by the same authors <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Enisbett/selected.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<p>(just the one)</p>
<p>Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., &amp; Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: holistic versus analytic cognition. Psychological review, 108(2), 291.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-31T12:49:02.643Z
2014-01-31T12:49:02.643Z
2020-06-17T09:55:31.633Z
Eoin
<p>In a lecture, a prof claimed that in Western societies, people tend to value independence and uniqueness, whereas Eastern cultures tend to value helping each other and living harmoniously. In a nutshell, people in Eastern cultures think of the community more than themselves, whereas in Western cultures people tend to think about what makes themselves unique.</p>

<p>Are there any studies that relate to these claims?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-31T11:04:02.023Z
Which lecture? Could you please clarify/provide a link to your sources so we have a better idea of where you are coming from?
Steven Jeuris
<social-psychology><personality><cross-cultural-psychology>
Is there evidence that "people in Eastern societies are more in touch with their communities while Western societies value uniqueness more"?
Celeritas
# Is there evidence that "people in Eastern societies are more in touch with their communities while Western societies value uniqueness more"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-01-31)

In a lecture, a prof claimed that in Western societies, people tend to value independence and uniqueness, whereas Eastern cultures tend to value helping each other and living harmoniously. In a nutshell, people in Eastern cultures think of the community more than themselves, whereas in Western cultures people tend to think about what makes themselves unique.

Are there any studies that relate to these claims?

**Tags:** social-psychology, personality, cross-cultural-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Which lecture? Could you please clarify/provide a link to your sources so we have a better idea of where you are coming from?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-01-31. Score: 3

While I can't, and won't make any comment on the accusations of racism (I think the comments below your question answer that quite well), the Western/Analytic vs. Eastern/Holistic dichotomy is pretty well established and supported by studies in cognitive and social psychological literatures.

This may be a little different to what you had in mind, as your question is more about social notions like 'valuing independence' versus 'coexisting in harmony', which are harder to empirically demonstrate (I'm not a social psychologist). What I'm referring to here is more like 'logic, rules, and working details out step by step' versus 'taking everything into account, and seeing the bigger picture'.

However, the idea is a bit more complicated than what I'm able to explain in a few sentences. [Nisbett et al's (2001) review](http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=2001-17194-001) (free preprint copy [here](http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Enisbett/images/cultureThought.pdf)) is the Rolls-Royce of reviews when it comes to this, and that paper will address most of the questions you might have (note the racial diversity of the authors).
You can also find more work by the same authors [here](http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Enisbett/selected.html).

## References

(just the one)

Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: holistic versus analytic cognition. Psychological review, 108(2), 291.


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