Social Representations of Events and People in World History Across 12 Cultures

TLDR

The study assessed social representations of world history by asking participants in six Asian and six Western samples to list key events and influential figures over the past millennium, revealing cross‑cultural consensus. Findings show that across twelve cultures, world‑history representations are dominated by recent political and wartime events—especially the World Wars and Hitler—are Eurocentric, underrepresent economics and science, emphasize influential individuals over events, and reflect power dynamics, with cross‑cultural consensus indicating that East–West hybridity may be underestimated.

Abstract

Social representations of world history were assessed using the open-ended questions, “What are the most important events in world history?” and “Who are the most influential persons in world history in the last 1,000 years?”Data from six Asian and six Western samples showed cross-cultural consensus. Historical representations were (a) focused on the recent past, (b) centered around politics and war, and (c) dominated by the events of the World Wars and (d) the individual Hitler, who was universally perceived as negative. (e) Representations were more Eurocentric than ethnocentric.(f) The importance of economics and science was underrepresented.(g) Most cultures nominated people (more than events) idiosyncratic to their own culture. These data reflect power relations in the world and provide resources and constraints for the conduct of international relations. The degree of cross-cultural consensus suggests that hybridity across Eastern and Western cultures in the representation of knowledge may be underestimated.