Reframing the Cultural Differences between the East and the West

This study proposes that the fundamental cultural differences between the East and the West lie in a holistic-analytic worldview, and this new perspective can explain the cultural differences better than collectivism-individualism. To test the claim, this study developed a measurement for holism and its derivative, cognitive relativity. Then, it examined the degree of holism, cognitive relativity, and independent and interdependent self-construals with Korean and American college students. Results showed that (a) Koreans had a stronger holistic worldview than Americans, (b) Koreans maintained a higher degree of cognitive relativity than Americans, (c) Koreans and Americans did not differ in either independent or interdependent self-construals, and (d) the impact of holism was still strong after controlling for the effects of self-construals.