vienna, wcsa, november 20121 yuri alexandrov institute of psychology, russian academy of sciences,...

SYSTEMIC METHODOLOGY FOR INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL MENTAL

AND INSTITUTIONAL MODELS

Vienna, WCSA, November 2012 1

Yuri AlexandrovInstitute of Psychology,

Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

Svetlana KirdinaInstitute of Economics,

Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

Outline Introduction

Social Mental Models: Main Types

Institutional Models (Matrices): Main Types

Systemic Methodology as a Basis for Multi-Disciplinary Synthesis

Complementarity of Social Mental Models and Institutional Mental Models

Conclusion


Introduction Comparative studies results of two

research project in different scientific disciplines will be presented: 1) in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience (supervised by Yuri Alexandrov); 2) in Economics and Sociology (supervised by Svetlana Kirdina).

Systemic methodology will be used as a bases to explain and synthesize the results of two independent research projects.


Psychological Research Project: Social Mental Models

The notion that every nation has its own collective mental characteristics and social mental models, that are distinguish them from the other nations, is “as old, as nations themselves” (Hofstede, McCray, 2010, p.10). Is it possible to aggregate these variations?


How Many Types of Social Mental Models are There?

Anthropologists, and then psychologists and neuropsychologists suggest that it is possible to aggregate variations of individual social attitudes and mental features in two types of social mental models (Holden, 1978; Tower et al., 1997; Nisbett and others,2001; Kühnen et al. , 2001; Nisbett, Masuda, 2003; Alexandrov, Alexandrova, 2009; Henrich et al., 2010; Buchtel, Norenzayan, 2008, 2009; Grossmann, Varnum, 2011 etc).



Two Main Types of Social Mental Models

Characteristics“Non-western”

type of mentality“Western” type

of mentality

“Dimension” of the world

Continuity Discontinuity

Perception of the world

Holistic and interrelatedness

Analyticity and fragmentarity

Type of decision making

Intuitive type Rational type

Dominating among the

population of countries

Eastern countries and Russia

Western offshoots and Europe

Social Mental Models: Description

• As seen from the table, the social mental models reflect particular perceptions of the social reality that is characteristic for the individual belonging to the given culture, from the point of view of its “dimension” and unity and corresponding to this perception the way of solving problems (decision making).


Sociological Research Project: Institutional Models

• Institutions are formal and informal rules of social behaviour in different spheres of the society.

• Stable sets of institutions could be considered as institutional models, or so called “institutional matrices” (on Institutional Matrices Theory see: Kirdina, 2000; 2004; 2007; 2011 etc)


HUMAN SOCIETY is seen as a multiple inter-related social system, within the main “sociological co-ordinates” being economy, politics and ideology. These value spheres are strongly interrelated

morphologically as parts or sides or components of a whole.


Economy

Politics Ideology

Structure of economic, political and ideological institutions defines as an institutional matrix

Historical observations and empirical research as well as mathematical modelling provide a ground for our hypothesis about

two particular interacting types of institutional matrices:

X- and Y-matrices

* Redistributive economy with the Center * Market (exchange) economy

mediating the movement of goods and services

* Centralized political order (top-down model) * Federative political order (bottom-up

model)

* Communitarian ideology (We over Me) * Individualistic Ideology (I over We)


XY

Redistributive economy

Com

munit

ari

an

ideolo

gy

Unitary-

centralize

d

political o

rder

Feder

ativ

e p

olit

ical

ord

er

Individ

ualistic

Ideolo

gy

Market economy

Combinations of X- and Y-matrices

Russia, China, India, Europe and Western

most Asian, Middle Eastern, Offshoots: the USA,

Latin American, and Canada, Australia, some other countries and New Zealand


Y

XY

X

Institutions of X- and Y-matrices in the Economy and their Functions Functions of institutions X-institutions Y-institutions

1. Regulating access to goods (property rights

system)

Supreme conditional ownership

Private ownership

2. Transfer of goods Redistribution (accumulation-coordination-distribution)

Exchange (buying-selling)

3. Interactions between economic agents

Cooperation Competition

4. Labor system Employed (unlimited term) labor

Hired (short and medium term) labor

5. Feed-back loops (effectiveness indexes)

Cost limitation (Х-efficiency)

Profit maximization (Y-efficiency)

12AFIT, Houston, Texas, April 2012

Institutions of X- and Y-matrices in Politics and their Functions

Functions of institutions X-institutions Y-institutions

1.Territorial administrative organization of the state

Administrative system (unitarity)

Federative structure (federation)

2. Governance system (decision making)

Vertical hierarchical authority with Centre on

the top

Self-government and subsidiarity

3.Type of interaction in the order of decision making

General assembly and the rule of unanimity

Multi-party system and the rule of democratic

majority

4. Access to governing positions

Appointment Election

5. Feed-back loops Appeals to higher levels of hierarchical authority

Legal suits


Institutions of X- and Y-matrices in Ideology and their Functions

Functions of institutions X-institutions of communitarian ideology

Y-institutions of subsidiary ideology

1. Core principle of social action

Collectivism Individualism

2. Normative understanding of social structure

Egalitarianism Stratification

3. Prevailing social values Order Freedom

4. Labor attitudes Well-being-oriented Pecuniary-oriented

5. Principles of common thinking

Generalization-Integralism/Holism

Specialization-Atomization/Mereism


Why X- or Y-matrix Institutions Prevail?

The material and technological environment is a key determinant for the prevalence of either X- or Y- matrices. The environment can be a communal, indivisible

system, under which the removal of some elements can lead to the disintegration of the entire system, OR

The environment can be non-communal, that is, with opportunities for technological division and separate using.

In a communal environment the X-matrix institutions are dominant and the Y-matrix institutions are complementary. In a non-communal environment it is the opposite.


Coincidence of Nation-states Classifications in the

Psychological and Sociological Research Projects

If “non-western” social mental model prevails in nation-states, the institutional X-matrix prevails accordingly.

If “western” social mental model prevails in nation-states, the institutional Y-matrix prevails accordingly.


Complementarity of Models

Social mental models of both types (“non-western” and “western”) are presented in each country population, but one of them permanent prevails.

Institutional models (matrices) of both types (X-matrix and Y-matrix) coexist in each country, but one of them historically prevails.


Systemic Methodology as a Basis for Multi-Disciplinary Synthesis

Systemic approach has been used in each above mentioned independently carried out research project:

• Theory of functional systems and concept of systemogenesis (Anokhin, P.K., 1963. Systemogenesis as a General Regulator of Brain Development, Progress in Brain Research, Vol. 9, The Developing Brain, Amsterdam, Elsevier) in the psychological research project .

• System paradigm in economic theory (Kornai J., 1998. The System Paradigm. W.D. Institute Working Papers 278 : William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan) and systemic approach for the analysis of complex social phenomena (Zaslavskaya T.I., works of 1970-1980th , in Russian) in the economic and sociological research project.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_functional_systems

Mechanisms of Reproduction for Social Mental and institutional

Models • The prevailing social attitudes (mentality), on the one

hand, and the structure of institutions, on the other hand, are related to their rootedness in the social consciousness and social practice. This, in turn, is due to the mechanisms of mental and institutional structures folding (Alexandrov Yu., Kirdina S, 2012. Mentality, Institutions and “Effect of Increasing Returns”. Psychology and Economics, vol. 4, № 2).

• The similarity of the reproduction mechanisms of mental models and institutions is related to the fact that they reflect the common ways of self-organization of living systems. Setting connections in the human brain between neurons, as well as institutions in the social system, are a sort of “instructions”, which define the rules of activity and ensure the development both mental models and institutional structures.


Environment as a Key Factor for Both Social Mental Models and

Institutional Matrices

Active interactions of population with the environment are resulted in the creation and fixing of prevailing mental and institutional structures, which use as a means of goals’ achieving for different types of societies. Type of environment (communal or non-communal) could be considered as a key factor of differentiation.



Material environment

Material environment

Institutions

Mentality

Stable Combination of Social Mental Models and Institutional

Matrices Historical research shows that the prevalence of

one or the other type of social mental models as well as institutional matrices has a steady character. Even if, by virtue of external pressures or under influence of distorted internal reasons, attempts are made to replace one dominant social mental model or institutional matrix with the other subordinanted one, such a situation of outright reversal is, as a rule, short-lived (in historical time). Attempts at systematic institutional and mental change in Eastern Europe under influence of the USSR or in the countries of Latin America under pressure of the USA were vivid examples.Vienna, WCSA, November 2012 22

Proportion of GDP produced by countries with a prevailing X- and Y-matrix, 1820-2008 (Maddison Data Base, sample of 34 nations~75% of World GDP) X-matrix countries: China, India, Japan, Brazil and former USSR countries.Y-matrix countries: Western Europe including Austria, Belgium, Denmark,

Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom and Western Offshoots including Australia, New

Zealand, Canada and United States.

1820 1850 1910 19700%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

X-GDPY-GDP

Per

cen

tage

in g

lob

al G

DP

20101890

Beijing, China, October 2012 23

Recent References Александров Ю.И. Введение в системную психофизиологию //Психология XXI

века / Под ред. В.Н.Дружинина. М.: Пер Се, 2004. Александров Ю.И., Александрова Н.Л. Комплементарность культур//От

события к бытию. Грани творчества Г.В.Иванченко. Сб.научных статей и воспоминаний.М., Изд.дом Государственного университета Высшей школы экономики. 2010.

Александров Ю.И., Александрова Н.Л. Субъективный опыт, культура и социальные представления. Москва: Издательство «Института психологии РАН», 2009.

Александров Ю.И., Кирдина С.Г. Типы ментальности и институциональные матрицы: мультидисциплинарный подход. // СОЦИС, 2012. № 7.

Институциональных матриц теория. / Социологический словарь. / Отв. редакторы Г.В. Осипов, Л.Н. Москвичев. М: ИНФРА-М, 2010.

Кирдина С.Г. Институциональные матрицы и развитие России. М: ТЕИС. 2000; 2-е изд. Новосибирск: ИЭиОПП СО РАН, 2001.

Матрица институциональная в социологии /Социологическая энциклопедия, М: Мысль, 2003, т. 1.

Alexandrov Yu., Kirdina S. Mentality, Institutions and “Effect of Increasing Returns”. // Психология и экономика (Psychology and Economics). 2011. Т.4, № 2.

Kirdina S. Prospects of Liberalization for S&T Policies in Russia: Institutional Analysis // Sociology of Science and Technology, 2010, vol. 1, № 2.


Conclusion

Using a systemic approach we built the classifications of countries by the dominated types of mentality defined on the basis of psychological research, and types of institutional matrices, that defined on the basis of economic and sociological research. There are concurring classifications.

Global challenges ask for finding an optimal balance of predominant and alternative (or complementary) types of institutions and types of mentality as well for today’s nation-states.


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vienna, wcsa, november 20121 yuri alexandrov institute of psychology, russian academy of sciences,...

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