Bridging Cultural Sociology and Cognitive Psychology in Three Contemporary Research Programmes

Authors

Michèle Lamont
Laura Adler
Bo Yun Park, Jepson School of Leadership, University of RichmondFollow
Xin Xiang

DOI

10.1038/s41562-017-0242-y

Abstract

Three prominent research programmes in cognitive psychology would benefit from a stronger engagement with the cultural context of cognition: studies of poverty focused on scarcity and cognitive bandwidth, studies of dual-process morality and studies of biases using the implicit association test. We address some limitations of these programmes and suggest research strategies for moving beyond an exclusive focus on cognition. Research on poverty using the cognitive bandwidth approach would benefit from considering the cultural schemas that influence how people perceive and prioritize needs. Dual-process morality researchers could explain variation by analysing cultural repertoires that structure moral choices. Research using the implicit association test can better explain implicit attitudes by addressing the variability in cultural schemas that undergird biases. We identify how these research programmes can deepen the causal understanding of human attitudes and behaviours by address- ing the interaction between internal cognition and supra-individual cultural repertoires.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-20-2017

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2017, Macmillan Publishers Limited.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0242-y

The definitive version is available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0242-y

Recommended Citation

Lamont, M., Adler, L., Park, B. et al. Bridging cultural sociology and cognitive psychology in three contemporary research programmes. Nature Human Behaviour 1, 866–872 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0242-y