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

Kara Weisman (), Cristine H. Legare, Rachel E. Smith, Vivian A. Dzokoto, Felicity Aulino, Emily Ng, John C. Dulin, Nicole Ross-Zehnder, Joshua D. Brahinsky and Tanya Marie Luhrmann
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Kara Weisman: Stanford University
Cristine H. Legare: The University of Texas at Austin
Rachel E. Smith: University of Cambridge
Vivian A. Dzokoto: Virginia Commonwealth University
Felicity Aulino: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Emily Ng: University of Amsterdam
John C. Dulin: Utah Valley University
Nicole Ross-Zehnder: Stanford University
Joshua D. Brahinsky: Stanford University
Tanya Marie Luhrmann: Stanford University

Nature Human Behaviour, 2021, vol. 5, issue 10, 1358-1368

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01184-8

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