Cultural sharedness of social cognition: Experimental and social-psychological studies based on communication analyses

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Empirical studies employing diverse approaches revealed that social cognition is underpinned not only by intra-individual processes but also by collectively shared processes and representations. We first attempted to build a theoretical framework concerning how stereotype-relevant information and causal explanations are transmitted and constructed into collectively shared knowledge. On the basis of this framework, empirical investigations were conducted concerning dyadic conversations and transmission of information among multiple individuals. Also, a cross-linguistic/cultural comparison between Japanese and Western languages revealed differences and commonalities in representations of attributes of individuals.Another set of studies examined the perception of intentionality in individuals' and groups' behavior. The results indicated that an act is perceived as intentional to the extent to which the group is viewed as a coherent social entity. It was also found that the judgment of responsibility is related to the intentionality judgment. Furthermore, we explored the structure of essentialist cognition and its cultural sharedness.The perception of intentionality was also approached though developmental studies. Experiments using the false-belief paradigm revealed that the ability to make inferences on others' intention based on verbal cues is achieved at fairly early ages.Other studies examined the role of social identity and the perception of transparency in meta-cognition. Finally, a series of cross-cultural studies was conducted concerning the comprehension of others' emotional states.