Abstract

We presented a scenario in which a protagonist saw an object in Location A but later heard a message saying it was in Location B. Participants judged where the protagonist believed the object was. In one condition, participants had additional information that the message was true. Those from an individualistic subculture tended to judge that the protagonist believed the message when they (the participants) knew it was true but disbelieved the message when they had no additional information. In contrast, participants from a collectivist subculture tended to judge that the protagonist believed the message in both circumstances. The results suggest that culture is related with subtle aspects of understanding the mind and especially how people evaluate messages.