Cross-cultural differences in biased cognition - Pilot task data

This data collection consists of pilot data measuring task equivalence for measures of attention and interpretation bias. Congruent Mandarin and English emotional Stroop, attention probe (both measuring attention bias) and similarity ratings task and scrambled sentence task (both measuring interpretation bias) were developed using back-translation and decentering procedures. Tasks were then completed by 47 bilingual Mandarin-English speakers. Presented are data detailing personal characteristics, task scores and bias scores.<p>The way in which we process information in the world around us has a significant effect on our health and well being. For example, some people are more prone than others to notice potential dangers, to remember bad things from the past and assume the worst, when the meaning of an event or comment is uncertain. These tendencies are called negative cognitive biases and can lead to low mood and poor quality of life. They also make people vulnerable to mental illnesses.

In contrast, those with positive cognitive biases tend to function well and remain healthy. To date most of this work has been conducted on white, western populations and we do not know whether similar cognitive biases exist in Eastern cultures. This project will examine cognitive biases in Eastern (Hong Kong nationals ) and Western (UK nationals) people to see whether there are any differences between the two. It will also examine what happens to cognitive biases when someone migrates to a different culture. This will tell us whether influences from the society and culture around us have any effect on our cognitive biases. Finally the project will consider how much our own cognitive biases are inherited from our parents.

Together these results will tell us whether the known good and bad effects of cognitive biases apply to non Western cultural groups as well, and how much cognitive biases are decided by our genes or our environment.</p>