Expanding Our Kind: A Pan-Cultural Study of the Animistic Principle of Ontological Parity

Conducted in four societies-Taiwan, India, Mainland China, and the United States-this pan-cultural study extended and replicated a previous finding, with Iranian samples, of the possibility and benefits of expanding our "kind" via priming. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is explained...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Humanistic psychologist 2022-09, Vol.50 (3), p.476-496
Main Authors: Sundararajan, Louise, Wu, Michael Shengtao, Ho, Wen-Tso, Sun, Jun Cai, Leung, Chin Pang, Rich, Grant J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anger
Animism
Cultural studies
Emotions
Fear
Female
Human
Human Computer Interaction
Interpersonal Relationships
Intimacy
Male
Mind
Morality
Negative Emotions
Parity
Priming
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Summary:Conducted in four societies-Taiwan, India, Mainland China, and the United States-this pan-cultural study extended and replicated a previous finding, with Iranian samples, of the possibility and benefits of expanding our "kind" via priming. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is explained through the principle of ontological parity. Derived from animism as articulated in Chinese folk beliefs, ontological parity refers to perceived sameness in being, a quality that is believed to be expandable. This formulation broadens the conceptual scope of intimacy thereby allow for novel hypothesis testing. It was predicted and found that experimentally expanding ontological parity to nonhuman and nonliving elements of nature was associated with increase in relational solitude, and decrease in negative emotions, especially anger and fear. Far-reaching implications of this investigation, ranging from the possibility of intimacy in solitude to morality and the human machine interface, are discussed.
ISSN:0887-3267
1547-3333
DOI:10.1037/hum0000220