title: Holistic reasoning on the other side of the world: validation of the analysis-holism scale in Mexicans.
abstract: The universality of cognitive processes has been called into question. Research suggests that individuals from Eastern cultures (e.g., China, Korea) when compared to individuals from Western cultures (e.g., the United States) prefer to reason holistically. This line of research has not been extended to cultural groups far removed from cultures traditionally surveyed in cross-cultural research such as Hispanics. We conducted two studies to understand: 1) the generalizability of the construct of holistic reasoning in Mexicans, and 2) the preferred reasoning style of Mexicans when compared to U.S. Americans. Results support the generalization of the factor structure of holistic reasoning as originally hypothesized by Choi, Koo, and Choi (2007). The results of Study 2 suggest that Mexicans scored higher than U.S. Americans on certain aspects of holistic reasoning.
authors.affiliation: Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53202, USA. Jlechuga@mcw.edu
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lechuga
authors.forename: Beatriz Maldonado
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Azenett A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Garza-Caballero
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Villarreal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D008800:Mexico; D011340:Problem Solving; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013850:Thinking; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult