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

This article focuses on cultural differences in the relative emphasis placed on mental states ("mind focus") versus observable actions ("behavior focus") across Western White (WW) and East Asian (EA) societies. It reviews how EA religious and philosophical traditions—Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism—along with cultural constructs such as self-construal, relational mobility, and cultural tightness–looseness, shape these mind–behavior orientations. The authors propose a novel historical–evolutionary theoretical framework grounded in the cultural evolution of explicit theory of mind (ToM), suggesting that social ecological factors like societal homogeneity and norm strength influence whether cultures prioritize mental states or behaviors. Empirical evidence from theory of mind development, parenting practices, and alexithymia research generally supports the view that WW cultures emphasize mentalistic processes, whereas EA cultures emphasize behavioral manifestations, with implications for social functioning, moral judgment, and clinical practice.