Americans Can’t See Others Viewpoints!
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An interesting research study by scientists at the University of Chicago seems to indicate that Americans have a mental health problem as far as seeing things from other cultures points of view goes. In comparison the Chinese apparently can step into another person’s shoes at the drop of a penny.
This inference was based on an interesting test taken by 20 American volunteers and 20 Chinese volunteers. Other cultures may have been tested as well. In the test a ‘director’ was placed in front of a table with two concrete blocks on it and a cardboard divider separating them. The divider was placed so it effectively hid on concrete block from the view of the director. The volunteer was placed so he or she could see both concrete blocks on either side of the divider. The director would then direct the volunteer to move the concrete block.
It was found that most of the Americans didn’t know to which concrete block the director was referring to and often didn’t understand which direction the director wanted the block moved. The Chinese volunteers were all able to move the block the director wanted to be moved and the direction he or she wanted it moved. The Americans’ mental health problem involved not being able to infer that the director could only see one concrete block when telling them to move it. In addition to understanding how the director’s placement affected his or her ‘left’ and ‘right’ compared to that of the Americans.
This is an interesting study and may have much larger implications in the role of the U.S. in other countries around the world. Or the researchers may have picked a group of 20 American duds with test anxiety. Perhaps for a better understanding of this possible mental health problem we should gather a much larger selection of individuals for a ‘point of view’ study.
Tags:egocentrism, Mental Disorders Mental Health