Why the West Minds and the East Behaves: An Integrative Review of the Cultural Evolution of Mind–Behavior Orientations

Abstract

One fundamental characteristic of humans is that we have both “exteriors” (i.e., behavior) and “interiors” (i.e., mental states). This distinction between the mind and behavior is critical for understanding human nature, with implications for morality, social functioning, human development, clinical practices, and everyday life. Culture influences the extent to which people prioritize mental states versus behaviors. In this review, we propose that the mind carries greater significance in Western White cultural contexts (i.e., a mind or mentalist focus/orientation) and that behavior carries greater significance in East Asian contexts (i.e., a behavior or behavioralist focus/orientation). Focusing specifically on East Asian societies, we first examine local cultural models of the mind in Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. We then consider three established constructs—self-construal, relational mobility, and cultural tightness–looseness—and their potential roles in shaping mind-behavior orientations. Synthesizing these theoretical models, we propose a novel historical–evolutionary framework to explain cultural differences in mind–behavior orientations beyond an East–West comparison. Building on the notion of the cultural evolution of theory of mind, our theoretical framework links cultural tendencies to prioritize mind or behavior with social ecologies that place varying demands on the mind for facilitating human sociality. Finally, we review empirical evidence from three fields—theory of mind, parenting, and alexithymia—to assess how evidence aligns with the propositions advanced in this review. This work not only provides preliminary evidence supporting divergent cultural emphases on mind versus behavior in Western White and East Asian societies, but also introduces a novel theoretical framework for similar phenomena across other societies.