Cultural influence on metacognition: comparison across three societies

We tested the hypothesis that metacognition—the ability to evaluate one’s own cognitive processes and mental states—is modulated by cultural values. We used retrospective confidence ratings to objectively measure metacognition in a mental rotation task in three culturally different regions: the Middle East (Saudi Arabia), Western Europe (Portugal) and the Far East (China). Our data support the theory that metacognition is social in nature, at least to some extent, and is influenced by culture. Differences in metacognition between societies can be accounted for by cultural values pertaining to individualism and uncertainty avoidance. Lower individualism and greater uncertainty avoidance tend to be associated with higher metacognitive abilities. Sex-based differences typically observed in mental rotation do not emerge at the metacognitive level, with both males and females in all three societies efficiently detecting those responses when they are more likely to make a mistake. Metacognitive bias—the tendency to be over- or underconfident in one’s own decisions—might be modulated by cultural differences in the masculinity cultural dimension. However, this bias seems to be independent of metacognitive sensitivity and detecting decisions with a heightened likelihood of an error.