RESEARCH ARTICLES Large-Scale Psychological founded with rice-a possibility that prior re- search did not control for. Differences Within China Explained by The Rice Theory The rice theory is an extension of subsistence style Rice Versus Wheat Agriculture theory,which argues that some forms of subsist- ence(such as farming)require more functional interdependence than other forms(such as herding). T.Talhelm,1*X.Zhang,2.3 S.Oishi,1 C.Shimin,4 D.Duan,2 X.Lan,5 S.Kitayamas At the same time,ecology narrows the types of subsistence that are possible.For example,paddy Cross-cultural psychologists have mostly contrasted East Asia with the West.However, rice requires a significant amount of water.Over this study shows that there are major psychological differences within China.We time,societies that have to cooperate intensely propose that a history of farming rice makes cultures more interdependent,whereas become more interdependent,whereas societies farming wheat makes cultures more independent,and these agricultural legacies that do not have to depend on each other as much continue to affect people in the modern world.We tested 1162 Han Chinese participants become more individualistic. in six sites and found that rice-growing southern China is more interdependent and In the past,most subsistence research has holistic-thinking than the wheat-growing north.To control for confounds like climate, compared herders and farmers,arguing that the we tested people from neighboring counties along the rice-wheat border and found independence and mobility of herding make differences that were just as large.We also find that modernization and pathogen herding cultures individualistic and that the sta- prevalence theories do not fit the data. bility and high labor demands of farming make farming cultures collectivistic(1).We argue that subsistence theory is incomplete because it lumps ver the past 20 years,psychologists have more insular and collectivistic (6).Studies all farming together.Two of the most common cataloged a long list of differences be-have found that historical pathogen prevalence subsistence crops-rice and wheat-are very dif- tween East and West (/-3).Western cul- correlates with collectivism and lower open- ferent,and we argue that they lead to different ture is more individualistic and analytic-thinking, ness to experience (6).However,pathogens are cultures. whereas East Asian culture is more interdepen- strongly correlated with heat(8).Because rice The two biggest differences between farming 5 dent and holistic-thinking.Analytic thought uses grows in hot areas,pathogens may be con- rice and wheat are irrigation and labor.Because abstract categories and formal reasoning,such as 可 logical laws of noncontradiction-if A is true, then'not A"is false.Holistic thought is more intui- tive and sometimes even embraces contradiction- both A and“"notA”can be true. Even though psychology has cataloged a Farmland Deyoted to Rice Paddy long list of East-West differences,it still lacks an accepted explanation of what causes these differences.Building on subsistence style theo- ry (/4),we offer the rice theory of culture and compare it with the modernization hypothesis (5)and the more recent pathogen prevalence theory (6). The modernization hypothesis argues that, as societies become wealthier.more educated. and capitalistic,they become more individu- alistic and analytical.World Values Surveys (7)and studies on indigenous Mayans'transi- tion to a market economy (5)have given some support to the modemization hypothesis.But this theory has difficulty explaining why Japan, Korea,and Hong Kong are persistently col- lectivistic despite per-capita gross domestic Example of rice-wheat products(GDPs)higher than that of the Euro- border at county level pean Union. The pathogen prevalence theory argues that a high prevalence of communicable dis- eases in some countries made it more dangerous 50%Rice to deal with strangers,making those cultures 50%Rice Departmentof Psychology,University of Virginia,Charlottes- Rice-wheat border provinces ville,VA 22904,USA.Department of Psychology,Beijing are highlighted in yellow. Normal University,Beijing,China.State Key Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience and Leaming,Beijing Normal University,Beijing 100875,China."Department of Psychology,South China Normal University,Guangzhou,China.Department of Psy- Fig.1.Percent of cultivated land devoted to rice paddies in 1996.Three major herding provinces chology,University of Michigan,Ann Arbor,MI 48109,USA are not shaded:Tibet,Xinjiang,and Inner Mongolia.Along the rice-wheat border (highlighted),people *Corresponding author.E-mail:tat8dc@virginia.edu from the rice counties thought more holistically than their neighbors in wheat counties. www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 344 9 MAY 2014 603Large-Scale Psychological Differences Within China Explained by Rice Versus Wheat Agriculture T. Talhelm,1 * X. Zhang,2,3 S. Oishi,1 C. Shimin,4 D. Duan,2 X. Lan,5 S. Kitayama5 Cross-cultural psychologists have mostly contrasted East Asia with the West. However, this study shows that there are major psychological differences within China. We propose that a history of farming rice makes cultures more interdependent, whereas farming wheat makes cultures more independent, and these agricultural legacies continue to affect people in the modern world. We tested 1162 Han Chinese participants in six sites and found that rice-growing southern China is more interdependent and holistic-thinking than the wheat-growing north. To control for confounds like climate, we tested people from neighboring counties along the rice-wheat border and found differences that were just as large. We also find that modernization and pathogen prevalence theories do not fit the data. Over the past 20 years, psychologists have cataloged a long list of differences be￾tween East and West (1–3). Western cul￾ture is more individualistic and analytic-thinking, whereas East Asian culture is more interdepen￾dent and holistic-thinking. Analytic thought uses abstract categories and formal reasoning, such as logical laws of noncontradiction—if A is true, then “not A” is false. Holistic thought is more intui￾tive and sometimes even embraces contradiction— both A and “not A” can be true. Even though psychology has cataloged a long list of East-West differences, it still lacks an accepted explanation of what causes these differences. Building on subsistence style theo￾ry (1, 4), we offer the rice theory of culture and compare it with the modernization hypothesis (5) and the more recent pathogen prevalence theory (6). The modernization hypothesis argues that, as societies become wealthier, more educated, and capitalistic, they become more individu￾alistic and analytical. World Values Surveys (7) and studies on indigenous Mayans’ transi￾tion to a market economy (5) have given some support to the modernization hypothesis. But this theory has difficulty explaining why Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong are persistently col￾lectivistic despite per-capita gross domestic products (GDPs) higher than that of the Euro￾pean Union. The pathogen prevalence theory argues that a high prevalence of communicable dis￾eases in some countries made it more dangerous to deal with strangers, making those cultures more insular and collectivistic (6). Studies have found that historical pathogen prevalence correlates with collectivism and lower open￾ness to experience (6). However, pathogens are strongly correlated with heat (8). Because rice grows in hot areas, pathogens may be con￾founded with rice—a possibility that prior re￾search did not control for. The Rice Theory The rice theory is an extension of subsistence style theory, which argues that some forms of subsist￾ence (such as farming) require more functional interdependence than other forms (such as herding). At the same time, ecology narrows the types of subsistence that are possible. For example, paddy rice requires a significant amount of water. Over time, societies that have to cooperate intensely become more interdependent, whereas societies that do not have to depend on each other as much become more individualistic. In the past, most subsistence research has compared herders and farmers, arguing that the independence and mobility of herding make herding cultures individualistic and that the sta￾bility and high labor demands of farming make farming cultures collectivistic (1). We argue that subsistence theory is incomplete because it lumps all farming together. Two of the most common subsistence crops—rice and wheat—are very dif￾ferent, and we argue that they lead to different cultures. The two biggest differences between farming rice and wheat are irrigation and labor. Because 1 Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottes￾ville, VA 22904, USA. 2 Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. 3 State Key Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. 4 Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China. 5 Department of Psy￾chology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. *Corresponding author. E-mail: tat8dc@virginia.edu Fig. 1. Percent of cultivated land devoted to rice paddies in 1996. Three major herding provinces are not shaded: Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia. Along the rice-wheat border (highlighted), people from the rice counties thought more holistically than their neighbors in wheat counties. www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 344 9 MAY 2014 603 RESEARCH ARTICLES on November 24, 2015 www.sciencemag.org Downloaded from