The East vs. the West

In recent years, cross-cultural intelligence has been researched in various cultures to determine how they measure intelligence differently. Intelligence is always displayed in a cultural context (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2004). Cultural intelligence (CQ) is a relatively new theoretical concept. It has been defined by Earley and Ang (2003) as an individual’s ability to engage successfully in diverse cultural environments. Researchers are still continuing the effort to identify and define the cultural factors that influence the individual’s capacity to be successful in different environments. The objective of this paper is to explore two different cultures and compare how each of the cultures perceive intelligence, explain three cultural factors that might influence how intelligence is perceived within each culture, and explain how intelligence might be measured in each culture. The Western culture are individuals that have characteristics that make them distinctive and unique. They like to be in control of their own behavior and feel more empowered when they are in control their own actions. They are goal-oriented and success-driven (Nisbett 2004), and relationships can sometimes interfere with attaining success. Personal success and feeling positive about oneself are important for the sense of well-being. People in Western cultures, tend to view intelligence as a means for individuals to devise categories and to engage in rational debate (Nisbett, 2004). The Eastern culture are individuals that are less concerned with personal success; they are far more group driven (Nisbett 2004). Their sense of well-being is related to their being in harmony with those around them. Rules that apply to relationships are not universal, instead relationships are dictated by the context and are unique to the roles each holds in that context. Another concept of Eastern culture that has a substantial effect on its cultural formations of true intelligence and progress is self-criticism which is regarded as part of their early learning. Self-criticism is taught to Japanese children to help them learn how to solve problems and improve their relationships with others. The Eastern culture view intelligence as a way for members of a community to recognize contradiction and complexity and to play their social roles successfully. Nisbett says these differences between Eastern and Western views of intelligence are related to differences in the basic cognitive processes of people in those cultures. In most cases, Western perception of intelligence are not shared by other cultures. In a study by Yang & Sternberg (1997) found that Twainese-Chinese perceptions of intelligence emphasize understanding and relating to others also including knowing when to show and not to show one’s intelligence. Three factors were found by Chen (1994) are the basis of the Eastern culture’s perception of intelligence. The three cultural factors are nonverbal reasoning ability, verbal reasoning ability and memory.
Researchers (Choi, Nisbett, Norenzayan, Peng 2001) comment that Easterners appear to think more holistically, paying greater attention to relationship and context, relying more on experience-based knowledge than abstract logic and showing more tolerance for contradiction. Westerners are more analytic in their thinking. They tend to avoid contradictions and rely heavily on formal logic by separating objects from their context. The three cultural factors are mostly mental attributions, such as: practical problem solving, verbal ability and social competence (Sternberg et al., 1981). In the study done by Furnham & Fukumoto (2008), it found that 60 percent of the sample has taken an IQ test and they were also suspicious of the validity of the IQ test. Also 64 percent believe that the IQ test did not measure intelligence.
Howard Gardner viewed intelligence as ‘the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting’ (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). I believe that doing the standardized IQ test is the best way to measure intelligence. I also believe that the test should be customized to accommodate the cultural factors in each culture. Unfortunately, not everyone has equal opportunities to adapt to or even select their environments. There are also socioeconomic factors that should be considered in determining the results of these tests. Do these different cultures have the necessary resources for individuals to be able to learn? If one’s culture has a major influence on the perception of intelligence, how do we then test or measure one’s intelligence. These are the questions that I was left with after doing research and should be used for research studies in the future.

References
Chen, M. J. (1994). Chinese and Ausralian concepts of intelligence. Psychology and Developing Societies, 6, 101–117
Choi, Nisbett, Norenzayan, Peng (2001). Culture of Thought. Psychological Review: 108, 291–310
Early, P.C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural Intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Furnham, A., & Fukumoto, S. (2008). Japanese parents’ estimates of their own and their children's multiple intelligences: Cultural modesty and moderate differentiation. Japanese Psychological Research, 50(2), 63-76. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5884.2008.00362.x
Gardner, H., & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences. Educational Researcher, 18(8), 4-9.
Grigorenko, E. L., Meier, E., Lipka, J., Mohatt, G., Yanez, E. & Sternberg, R. J. 2004a The relationship between academic and practical intelligence: a case study of the tacit knowledge of Native American Yup’ik people in Alaska. Learning Individual Differences.
Nisbett, Richard E. (2004). The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently…and Why. New York: Free Press
Sternberg, R. J., Conway, B. E., Ketron, J. L., & Bernstein, M. (1981). People’s conceptions of intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 37–55
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