Integrative Cognitive Style in Middle Eastern and Western Groups

Abstract

Integrative cognitive style among Middle Eastern immigrants to Canada and native-born Euro-Canadians was assessed by looking at their performance on a multidimensional classification task and an object sorting task. Results showed high levels of integrative thinking in Middle Eastern immigrants compared with Euro-Canadians. The contrasting differentiative cognitive style was avoided by the Middle Eastern group, whereas a higher level of differentiation was observed in the Euro-Canadian groups. These results are congruent with previous studies showing higher levels of integrative style in Middle Eastern groups than in Euro-Canadian groups. A secondary finding revealed higher levels of integrative thinking among Middle Easterners with comparatively low levels of Western education. In sum, findings show preferences for integrative thinking in Middle Eastern groups, and through new measures of cognitive style, qualitative aspects of integrative thinking, which have traditionally been viewed indirectly as the opposite of differentiative thinking, are revealed.