Weird myopia – interesting research findings

Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic

A fascinating article in New Scientist magazine by Laura Spinney, a writer based in Lausanne, Switzerland highlights a challenge for many of us in business in the US and Europe. The article compares findings from a number of researchers that highlight a problem with many of our basic assumptions about how people behave. It raises even deeper issues for those of us in the management consultancy field who rely on knowledge based on psychological research.

The article raises the issue that much of the research we have access to draws on a limited pool of subjects – predominantly western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) – and therefore skews our understanding of human cognition. The problem is we WEIRD people account for only 1 in 8 people in the world, so many of our assumptions about people, organisations and culture turn out to be eccentric on a global scale. For example, we tend to an egocentric worldview compared to the majority of the global population and WEIRD people have different concepts of fairness and rationality.

There isn’t scope to cover the subject matter in detail in a blog post, but the implications for WEIRD business people in a global economy that is witnessing a rise in economic power in countries and cultures that aren’t WEIRD means we need to be aware that far from being right and normal, in many respects we exhibit behavioural extremes and should approach new international business contacts with an appropriate level of humility and relish the prospect of learning how the majority of people in the world think, feel and behave.

(Source: How weird are you? Oddball minds of the western world, Laura Spinney, New Scientist Magazine, issue 2786, 16 November 2010)