Questioning The "Rice Theory": Evidence From Measurements And Experiments

The differences between the southern China and the northern China have been a hot topic for a long time,but the theory which can be used to explain the psychological differences between the southern China and the northern China is still lacking.In 2014,Talhelm et al.proposed a novel theory—the rice theory.One of the core ideas of the rice theory is that people living in rice-growing culture areas are more inclined to holistic thought,while those living in wheat-growing culture areas are more inclined to analytic thought.Since the publication of this theory,it has been questioned and criticized by many scholars,especially in the aspects of experimental methods and subject selection.Therefore,the rice theory still needs further test.This study used a variety of methods such as scales,behavioral tests,and implicit association tests to test the differences in the way of thinking between the rice-growing areas and the wheat-growing areas in China.Study 1 aimed to examine whether there was a difference in the tendency to use holistic thought between people in the rice-growing areas and people in the wheat-growing areas in China.The "Chinese Whole Thinking Mode Scale" compiled by Hou Yubo et al.was used as a tool,and college students were the main subject group.A total of 637 questionnaires were collected.The independent-sample t test results showed that there was no difference in the tendency to use holistic thought between people in the rice-growing areas and people in the wheat-growing areas in China.Study 2 aimed to explore whether people in the rice-growing areas tended to use holistic thought,while people in the wheat-growing areas tended to use analytic thought.Nisbett's classic research paradigm was adopted,which allowed the subjects to select two most closed cards in three cards,including a dog,a radish and a rabbit,and went to Shandong Province and Fujian Province to collect 150 subjects.The results of the study showed that there was no difference in the results of card classification between the people in the rice-growing areas and the people in the wheat-growing areas in China.Study 3 aimed to explore whether people in the rice-growing areas were more inclined to holistic thought in implicit social cognition,while people in the wheat-growing areas tended to use analytic thought in implicit social cognition.A further test which used the implicit association test was conducted on 150 subjects in Study 2.The results of the study showed that both people living in the rice-growing areas and people living in the wheat-growing areas tended to holistic thought.Study 4 aimed to supplement and expand Study 2.A matching task of text version was used,and 618 questionnaires was collected through Wenjuanxing.Comparing the rice-growing areas and the wheat-growing areas,the water control areas and the non-water control areas in China,the results showed that all areas in China tended to holistic thought.Finally,the analysis of the four research results lead to two conclusions:First,there was no difference in the way of thinking between the rice-growing areas and the wheat-growing areas in China;second,the Chinese tended to use the holistic thought in the way of thinking.