Similarities and Differences in Meaning in Six Cultures

Abstract

The present study explores use of multidimensional scaling to cross-cultural investigation involving six cultures and two categories varying in abstractness: animals and emotions. Cross-cultural agreement in the scaling solutions was quite high but highest for the Emotions category. Additionally, the solutions of both categories across cultures revealed details that reflected culture-specific meaning. Thus, the results demonstrate the utility of multidimensional scaling analysis for the cross-cultural investigation of meaning.