Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:02:42.521Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The many geographical layers of culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2022

Friedrich M. Götz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T1Z4, Canadafriedrich.goetz@ubc.ca; https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/friedrich-gotz/
Tobias Ebert
Affiliation:
Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, University of Mannheim, 68159 Mannheim, Germanytobias.ebert@uni-mannheim.de; https://www.mzes.uni-mannheim.de/d7/en/profiles/tobias-ebert
Peter J. Rentfrow
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK. pjr39@cam.ac.uk; https://www.psd.psychol.cam.ac.uk

Abstract

Uchiyama et al. present a dual inheritance framework for conceptualizing how behavioural genetics and cultural evolution interact and affect heritability. We posit that to achieve a holistic and nuanced representation of the cultural environment and evolution against which genetic effects should be evaluated, it is imperative to consider the multiple geographic cultural layers impacting individuals and genetic heritability.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Chua, R. Y. J., Huang, K. G., & Jin, M. (2019). Mapping cultural tightness and its links to innovation, urbanization, and happiness across 31 provinces in China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(14), 67206725. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1815723116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, A. B. (2009). Many forms of culture. American Psychologist, 64(3), 194204. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ebert, T., Gebauer, J. E., Brenner, T., Bleidorn, W., Gosling, S. D., Potter, J., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2021). Are regional differences in psychological characteristics and their correlates robust? Applying spatial-analysis techniques to examine regional variation in personality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 174569162199832. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691621998326.Google ScholarPubMed
Fritsch, M., Obschonka, M., & Wyrwich, M. (2019). Historical roots of entrepreneurship-facilitating culture and innovation activity: An analysis for German regions. Regional Studies, 53(9), 12961307. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1580357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Götz, F. M., Ebert, T., Gosling, S. D., Obschonka, M., Potter, J., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2021). Local housing market dynamics predict rapid shifts in cultural openness: A 9-year study across 199 cities. American Psychologist, 76(6), 947961.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Götz, F. M., Ebert, T., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2018). Regional cultures and the psychological geography of Switzerland: Person–environment–fit in personality predicts subjective wellbeing. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 116. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00517.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grossmann, I., & Varnum, M. E. W. (2015). Social structure, infectious diseases, disasters, secularism, and cultural change in America. Psychological Science, 26(3), 311324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614563765.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harrington, J. R., & Gelfand, M. J. (2014). Tightness-looseness across the 50 United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(22), 79907995. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317937111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inglehart, R., & Baker, W. E. (2000). Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review, 65(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, J. C., Gelfand, M., De, S., & Fox, A. (2019). The loosening of American culture over 200 years is associated with a creativity–order trade-off. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(3), 244250. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0516-z.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jokela, M., Bleidorn, W., Lamb, M. E., Gosling, S. D., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2015). Geographically varying associations between personality and life satisfaction in the London metropolitan area. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(3), 725730. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1415800112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, N. (2017). Psychology and the geography of innovation. Economic Geography, 93(2), 106130. https://doi.org/10.1080/00130095.2016.1249845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muthukrishna, M., Bell, A. V., Henrich, J., Curtin, C. M., Gedranovich, A., McInerney, J., & Thue, B. (2020). Beyond Western, educated, industrial, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) psychology: Measuring and mapping scales of cultural and psychological distance. Psychological Science, 31(6), 678701. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620916782.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Obschonka, M. (2017). The quest for the entrepreneurial culture: Psychological big data in entrepreneurship research. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 18, 6974. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.07.014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obschonka, M., Schmitt-Rodermund, E., Silbereisen, R. K., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2013). The regional distribution and correlates of an entrepreneurship-prone personality profile in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom: A socioecological perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(1), 104122. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Obschonka, M., Stuetzer, M., Gosling, S. D., Rentfrow, P. J., Lamb, M. E., Potter, J., & Audretsch, D. B. (2015). Entrepreneurial regions: Do macro-psychological cultural characteristics of regions help solve the “Knowledge paradox” of economics? PLoS ONE, 10(6), e0129332. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ofosu, E. K., Chambers, M. K., Chen, J. M., & Hehman, E. (2019). Same-sex marriage legalization associated with reduced implicit and explicit antigay bias. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(18), 88468851. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1806000116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2010). Does it matter where we live? The urban psychology of character strengths. American Psychologist, 65(6), 535547. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rentfrow, P. J. (2020). Geographical psychology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 32, 165170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.09.009.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rentfrow, P. J., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008). A theory of the emergence, persistence, and expression of geographic variation in psychological characteristics. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 339369. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00084.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rentfrow, P. J., & Jokela, M. (2016). Geographical psychology: The spatial organization of psychological phenomena. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(6), 393398. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721416658446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rentfrow, P. J., Jokela, M., & Lamb, M. E. (2015). Regional personality differences in Great Britain. PLoS ONE, 10(3), e0122245. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Talhelm, T., Zhang, X., Oishi, S., Shimin, C., Duan, D., Lan, X., & Kitayama, S. (2014). Large-scale psychological differences within China explained by rice versus wheat agriculture. Science, 344(6184), 603608. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1246850.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (1999). Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(2), 279292. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.2.279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar