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document
West vs. West like East vs. West ? A comparison between Italian and US American context sensitivity and Fear of Isolation . Easterners tend to process information more holistically than Westerners . Kim and Markman ( J Exp Soc Psychol 42 ( 3 ) :350-364 , 2006 ) suggest that these differences are rooted in higher chronic levels of Fear of Isolation ( FOI ) for those cultures that process information more holistically . The goal of this study was to determine if these differences and their suggested cause could be found with two different Western cultures . Testing Italian ( IT ) and US American ( US ) adults , we found that IT participants processed information more holistically and had a higher chronic level of FOI than US participants ; furthermore , the manipulation of FOI affected context sensitivity more for IT than for US participants . The results demonstrate that IT participants were more similar to previous research with Eastern populations than with Western populations ( Kim and Markman in J Exp Soc Psychol 42 ( 3 ) :350-364 , 2006 ) and indicate a within-Western culture difference for reasoning styles and support the hypothesis that this difference is due to different chronic levels of FOI .
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Outcome_Physical
chronic
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Outcome_Other
differences
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Outcome_Physical
information more holistically and had a higher chronic level of FOI
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Outcome_Mental
FOI affected context sensitivity
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Outcome_Physical
this difference is due to different chronic levels of FOI .
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Participant_Condition
Italian and US American context sensitivity and Fear of Isolation
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Participant_Condition
different Western cultures
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Participant_Condition
Testing Italian ( IT ) and US American ( US )
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Participant_Age
adults
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Participant_Condition
US participants