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The relationship between five cultural values and neuropsychological test performances in an ethnically diverse group in the UK

  • Original Research Article
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Culture and Brain

Abstract

Cultural perspectives of neuropsychology proposes that test instruments reflect cultural values held by different societies. However, there is a lack of studies that tests such assumptions, making this relationship unclear. This is a first study to examine whether different cultural values would uniquely predict the performances of neuropsychological tests. Cultural values were defined using Hofstede’s framework of cultural values, and we included neuropsychological measures commonly found in clinical practice. Two hundred and four healthy participants of diverse ethnic backgrounds were included in the study. Five neuropsychological measures were used covering working memory, attention, verbal fluency, verbal memory, and processing speeds. The Cultural Values Scale measured five dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural values. Hierarchical regressions revealed that higher long-term-orientation predicted the better performance on Digit Span Backwards and phonetic fluency. This suggests that values of perseverance or future planning may manifests on tests of working memory and executive functions. Whereas higher uncertainty avoidance predicted lower performance on Digit Span Backwards. Lower tolerance toward ambiguity during testing procedures could have resulted in anxiety, thus affect working memory processes. These results suggest that long-term-orientation and uncertainty avoidance could be associated with processes within executive functions, especially if these are subjected to verbal assessments. Future studies should confirm these findings with other neuropsychological measures and recruit a wider range of clinical and non-clinical populations. Limitations of the study are discussed.

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Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lloyd’s Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Yi Wen Tan

  2. Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Robin J. Green

  3. Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Shaun Kok Yew Goh

Authors
  1. Yi Wen Tan
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  2. Robin J. Green
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  3. Shaun Kok Yew Goh
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Correspondence to Yi Wen Tan.

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Appendix

Appendix

 

Digit span forwards

TMT-A

TMT-B

β

R2

p

β

R2

p

β

R2

p

Stage 1

 

.03

.03

 

.02

.10

 

.01

.11

Age

− .05

 

.04

.35

 

.01

.50

 

.07

EFL

.37

 

.26

.01

 

1.00

− 3.23

 

.40

Gender

− .05

 

.89

− .62

 

.76

.86

 

.82

Residency status

.25

 

.45

− 2.34

 

.24

− 6.10

 

.12

Stage 2

 

.06

.06

 

.01

.22

 

.02

.15

Age

− .03

 

.17

.41

 

.01

.44

 

.14

EFL

.38

 

.26

− .54

 

.79

− 5.14

 

.20

Gender

− .47

 

.19

− .67

 

.76

3.61

 

.40

Residency status

.02

 

.96

− 2.50

 

.22

− 5.32

 

.18

Power

− .06

 

.11

− .29

 

.17

− .26

 

.52

UN

− .02

 

.56

.13

 

.57

.80

 

.09

CO

.04

 

.10

− .03

 

.83

.08

 

.76

Mas

.07

 

.04

.04

 

.84

− .57

 

.13

LTO

.08

 

.05

.25

 

.32

− .22

 

.66

 

RAVLT-trials

RAVLT-delay

WAIS-coding

β

R2

p

β

R2

p

β

R2

p

Stage 1

 

.01

.78

 

.02

.25

 

.04

.04

Age

.04

 

.67

.03

 

.25

− .60

 

.01

EFL

− .46

 

.71

− .50

 

.20

− 7.24

 

.02

Gender

− 1.37

 

.28

.06

 

.88

− 1.47

 

.63

Residency status

− .19

 

.88

− .09

 

.81

2.67

 

.38

Stage 2

 

.07

.09

 

.05

.21

 

.08

.04

Age

.13

 

.17

.04

 

.15

− .51

 

.03

EFL

− .02

 

.99

− .38

 

.35

− 6.03

 

.06

Gender

− 1.67

 

.23

.22

 

.61

− 2.36

 

.49

Residency status

− .39

 

.76

− .03

 

.94

2.55

 

.42

Power

− .11

 

.41

− .04

 

.32

.37

 

.25

UN

− .46

 

.00

− .07

 

.16

− .91

 

.01

CO

.11

 

.21

.01

 

.59

.00

 

1.00

Mas

− .02

 

.84

− .02

 

.52

.02

 

.95

LTO

.28

 

.08

− .01

 

.79

.37

 

.33

  1. Presents non-significant results of the hierarchical regression for six tests, with demographic variables and cultural variables as covariates. Residency status is coded as UK nationals = 1, Non-UK nationals = 0
  2. RAVLT Rey auditory verbal learning test; TMT trail making test; PD power distance; UA uncertainty avoidance; CO collectivism; Mas masculinity; LTO long term orientation; EFL English as a first language

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Tan, Y.W., Green, R.J. & Goh, S.K.Y. The relationship between five cultural values and neuropsychological test performances in an ethnically diverse group in the UK. Cult. Brain 10, 140–154 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40167-021-00105-w

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