Similarities and differences in concepts of mental life among adults and children in five cultures

How do concepts of mental life vary across cultures? Weisman et al. show that a distinction between cognition and bodily sensation is present across five diverse cultures, but the status of social and emotional mental states is variable. How do concepts of mental life vary across cultures? By asking simple questions about humans, animals and other entities - for example, 'Do beetles get hungry? Remember things? Feel love?' - we reconstructed concepts of mental life from the bottom up among adults (N = 711) and children (ages 6-12 years, N = 693) in the USA, Ghana, Thailand, China and Vanuatu. This revealed a cross-cultural and developmental continuity: in all sites, among both adults and children, cognitive abilities travelled separately from bodily sensations, suggesting that a mind-body distinction is common across diverse cultures and present by middle childhood. Yet there were substantial cultural and developmental differences in the status of social-emotional abilities - as part of the body, part of the mind or a third category unto themselves. Such differences may have far-reaching social consequences, whereas the similarities identify aspects of human understanding that may be universal.

Automated summary

Concepts of mental life vary across cultures, with distinctions between cognition and bodily sensation present in different societies. However, there are significant cultural and developmental differences in the perception of social-emotional abilities, which may have far-reaching social consequences. The similarities in mind-body distinctions across diverse cultures suggest aspects of human understanding that may be universal.