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The emergent nature of culturally meaningful categorization and language use: a Japanese-Italian comparison of age categories

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The emergent nature of culturally meaningful categorization and language use: a Japanese-Italian comparison of age categories. / Karasawa, Minoru; Maass, Anne; Rakić, Tamara et al.
In: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 45, No. 3, 04.2014, p. 431-451.

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Karasawa M, Maass A, Rakić T, Kato A. The emergent nature of culturally meaningful categorization and language use: a Japanese-Italian comparison of age categories. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2014 Apr;45(3):431-451. Epub 2013 Oct 30. doi: 10.1177/0022022113509882

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Karasawa, Minoru ; Maass, Anne ; Rakić, Tamara et al. / The emergent nature of culturally meaningful categorization and language use : a Japanese-Italian comparison of age categories. In: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2014 ; Vol. 45, No. 3. pp. 431-451.

Bibtex

@article{22f5eb42747e46b59bc1b6607a415bb3,
title = "The emergent nature of culturally meaningful categorization and language use: a Japanese-Italian comparison of age categories",
abstract = "Although the phenomenon of social categorization is universal, we argue that different cultures promote different types of categorization and that this is associated with differential language practice. We predicted that, among Japanese (but not among Italian) participants, even a small age difference would be sufficient to trigger spontaneous categorization of other people. We hypothesized that the categorization process would be reflected on a particular pattern of memory bias (i.e., within-category assimilation and between-category contrast). We further tested the hypothesis that specific language styles (i.e., polite vs. intimate) would accompany the age-based categorization effect. In Study 1, we applied the “Who said what?” paradigm, finding the expected pattern of differential memory bias only among Japanese, but not Italians. There was also an indication of selective language use corresponding to the age-based categorization. Study 2 replicated the age-based categorization among Japanese participants and provided visible evidence that the sensitivity in choosing appropriate language styles co-occur with memory bias. We discuss implications of these findings for understanding the complex interplay between culture, language, and social cognition.",
keywords = "social categorization, memory bias, language",
author = "Minoru Karasawa and Anne Maass and Tamara Raki{\'c} and Ai Kato",
year = "2014",
month = apr,
doi = "10.1177/0022022113509882",
language = "English",
volume = "45",
pages = "431--451",
journal = "Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology",
issn = "0022-0221",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The emergent nature of culturally meaningful categorization and language use

T2 - a Japanese-Italian comparison of age categories

AU - Karasawa, Minoru

AU - Maass, Anne

AU - Rakić, Tamara

AU - Kato, Ai

PY - 2014/4

Y1 - 2014/4

N2 - Although the phenomenon of social categorization is universal, we argue that different cultures promote different types of categorization and that this is associated with differential language practice. We predicted that, among Japanese (but not among Italian) participants, even a small age difference would be sufficient to trigger spontaneous categorization of other people. We hypothesized that the categorization process would be reflected on a particular pattern of memory bias (i.e., within-category assimilation and between-category contrast). We further tested the hypothesis that specific language styles (i.e., polite vs. intimate) would accompany the age-based categorization effect. In Study 1, we applied the “Who said what?” paradigm, finding the expected pattern of differential memory bias only among Japanese, but not Italians. There was also an indication of selective language use corresponding to the age-based categorization. Study 2 replicated the age-based categorization among Japanese participants and provided visible evidence that the sensitivity in choosing appropriate language styles co-occur with memory bias. We discuss implications of these findings for understanding the complex interplay between culture, language, and social cognition.

AB - Although the phenomenon of social categorization is universal, we argue that different cultures promote different types of categorization and that this is associated with differential language practice. We predicted that, among Japanese (but not among Italian) participants, even a small age difference would be sufficient to trigger spontaneous categorization of other people. We hypothesized that the categorization process would be reflected on a particular pattern of memory bias (i.e., within-category assimilation and between-category contrast). We further tested the hypothesis that specific language styles (i.e., polite vs. intimate) would accompany the age-based categorization effect. In Study 1, we applied the “Who said what?” paradigm, finding the expected pattern of differential memory bias only among Japanese, but not Italians. There was also an indication of selective language use corresponding to the age-based categorization. Study 2 replicated the age-based categorization among Japanese participants and provided visible evidence that the sensitivity in choosing appropriate language styles co-occur with memory bias. We discuss implications of these findings for understanding the complex interplay between culture, language, and social cognition.

KW - social categorization

KW - memory bias

KW - language

U2 - 10.1177/0022022113509882

DO - 10.1177/0022022113509882

M3 - Journal article

VL - 45

SP - 431

EP - 451

JO - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

JF - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

SN - 0022-0221

IS - 3

ER -