Culture and Cognition

Author(s): Paul DiMaggio

Source: Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 23 (1997), pp. 263-287
Published by: Annual Reviews
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Annu.Rev.Sociol. 1997.23:263-87
? 1997 byAnnualReviewsInc. All rightsreserved
Copyright

CULTURE AND COGNITION

Paul DiMaggio

University,
Princeton,
Department
ofSociology,2-N-2GreenHall,Princeton
New Jersey
08544; e-mail:dimaggio@phoenix.princeton.edu
KEY WORDS:

schemata
socialclassification,
socialcognition,
sociologyofculture,

ABSTRACT
bearsheavilyon conandsocialcognition
psychology
Recentworkin cognitive
viewsofcultureas
cernsofsociologistsofculture.Cognitive
researchconfirms
supraandagency;andilluminates
clarifies
therolesofinstitutions
fragmented;
cultureas disparatebitsof
individualaspectsof culture.Individualsexperience
Culture
thatorganizethatinformation.
and as schematicstructures
information
and
diffuses,
activates,
and social movements
networks,
carriedby institutions,
collective
Implications
forthestudyofidentity,
selectsamongavailableschemata.
andlogicsofactionaredeveloped.
memory,
socialclassification,

INTRODUCTION
The studyof culturein everyday
liferemainsa virtuosoaffair.Interpretive
has
studiesoffergreatinsightbutfailto buildon one another.Culturaltheory
Theserichesreadythe
butnotfullyoperational.
becomehighlysophisticated
in Sorokin'sday (1957
likethestudyof social stratification
fieldfortakeoff,
enter[1927]). Butbeforethestudyoflivedculturecan becomea cumulative
their
theories
behind
thecognitive
presuppositions
prise,scholarsmustclarify
concepts
ofwhatculturedoes andwhatpeopledo withit,andthefundamental
& Swidler1994,Wuthnow
andunitsofanalysis(Jepperson
1987).
resources
andsocialcognition
provides
Recentworkincognitive
psychology
sociolbetween
cultural
recent
forbothtasks. Afterdescribing
convergence
recent
work
on
of
considers
lessons
cognition
thischapter
ogyandpsychology,
ofthese
forpresuppositions
aboutthenatureofculture;developsimplications
classifisocial
collective
work
on
memory,
lessonsforsociological
identity,
that
and
to
cation,logicsof action,andframing; points keyproblems remain
unsolved.
263
0360-0572/97/0815-0263$08.00

264

DiMAGGIO

reviewof cognitivesociologyper se (see

Ratherthanofferan exhaustive
relevantto culture(see D'Andrade
Zerubavel1997) or workin psychology
research
betweenrecentcognitive
tensions
and
affinities
1995), I emphasize
intothe
theformer
withtheaimofbringing
andworkinthesociologyofculture
rather
thantheproduction
serviceofthelatter.I focusonhowpeopleuseculture,
The
of culture,ideology,or cultureembeddedin thephysicalenvironment.
fora
butto lay a foundation
thestudyofculture,
pointis notto psychologize
structures
ofsharedcognitive
viewofculture
as working
through
theinteraction
messages,
or
culture,
media
cultural
phenomena
(material
andsupra-individual
to varying
forexample)thatactivatethosestructures
degrees.
conversation,

SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY: POINTS

OF CONVERGENCE
thepotentialof cognitivescience
A handfulof sociologistshaveappreciated
to inform
sociologicalworkon culture(Carley1989,Cicourel1973,Schwartz
haveanticipated
impor1981,White1992),and somesocial constructionists
1987
tantresultsof cognitiveresearch(Berger& Luckman1967, Garfinkel
sociologistsof culture
[1967],Zerubavel1991). For themostpart,however,
social psychologists,
haveignoredrelevantworkby cognitive
psychologists,
a mismatch
between
researchers.This omissionreflects
and public-opinion
culturalsooriented
themodalintellectual
interpretively
stylesofhumanistic,
oriented
as wellas the
psychologists,
positivistic
ciologistsandexperimentally
atdisciplinary
fusion,whichpsycholdisappointing
legacyofParsons'efforts
reducingitto sharedvalues,norms,andattitudes.
ogizedculture,

Sociology:MoreComplexViewsofCulture
In recentyears,however,
commongroundbetweensociologyof cultureand
withinsociologyhas been
psychologyhas grown. The majordevelopment
a shiftto a morecomplexunderstanding
of culture.Thirtyyearsago, most
and
sociologistsviewedcultureas a "seamlessweb" (Swidler1997),unitary
culturewas poracrossgroupsand situations.In effect,
coherent
internally
as media
incommonsuchmanifestations
trayedas a latentvariableinfluencing
in evembodied
and
the
values
to
attitude
questionnaires,
images,responses
course
of
the
to
culture
in
werepresumed acquire
eryday
practices.Individuals
to
enact
it
view
socializationand,inthepopularoversocialized
(Wrong1961),
little
reason
there
was
this
that
It
followed
from
perspective
unproblematically.
stuff"
foranykindof"cultural
usedtostudyculture,
to worryaboutconstructs
latentvariable.
oftheunderlying
couldserveas an indicator
acrossgroupsand
recentworkdepictscultureas fragmented
By contrast,
acrossitsmanifestations
inconsistent
(Martin1992). The viewof cultureas

CULTURE AND COGNITION

265

and collectivelifehas
values thatsuffuseotheraspectsof belief,intention,
structures
thatconstitute
succumbedto one of cultureas complexrule-like
1992,Swidler
1990,
Sewell
(Bourdieu
strategic
use
resourcesthatcanbe putto
1986).
culturemuchmorecomplicated.Once we acThis shiftmakesstudying
people'snormsmaydeviatefrom
knowledgethatcultureis inconsistent-that
imagesanddispreconscious
or
that
our
normal,
as
whatthemediarepresent
maydiffer-itbecomescrucialto identify
cursiveaccountsof a phenomenon
amongthem.
upontherelations
analysisandtofocusattention
unitsofcultural
ofa latentvariable(culture),and
In effect,
ourmeasuresstopbeingindicators
to culturebecomesanalogousto thatof education,income,
theirrelationship
analytically
separatephenomena,
andplaceofresidencetosocialstratification:
for
amongthema matter
therelations
construct,
relatedtoa commontheoretical
inanthropology).
(D'Andrade1995notessimilartrends
investigation
empirical
once we acknowledge
thatpeoplebehaveas if theyuse culture
Similarly,
intowhichpeoplearesocializedleave
itfollowsthatthecultures
strategically,
turnstowaysin
Thusourattention
muchopportunity
forchoiceandvariation.
cued.
maybe situationally
culturalframesor understandings
whichdiffering
psychological
and
contestable
more
elaborate
such
issues
requires
Addressing
view.
thandidtheculture-as-latent-variable
presuppositions

Psychology:MoreComplexViewsofCognition
toturntopsychology
ofculture
Suchquestionsmakeitsensibleforsociologists
whichsharedcultureentersintocogthrough
forinsightintothemechanisms
whohavetheirownresearch
nition.Yetnothing
thatpsychologists,
guarantees
essenmadepsychology
yearsago, behaviorism
agendas,can helpus. Thirty
casting
tothestudyofculture.Twenty
yearsago,psychologists
tiallyirrelevant
on theacquisitionofskillsand
focusedprimarily
offtheyokeofbehaviorism
to mostsociologistsofculture.Even a dozenyears
capacitiesoflittleinterest
forculturalsociologyofmanyoftheideas andresearch
ago, theimplications
thataremostusefultodaywerestillunclear.
traditions
usefulto sociologistsof culture?
Whathas happenedto makepsychology
the
haverejectedbehaviorism,
acceptedanddemonstrated
First,psychologists
informaprocess,andretrieve
usedtoperceive,
existenceofmentalstructures
aboutsuchstructures.
Second,just
tion,and foundwaysto makeinferences
andfragmentaculture'scomplexity
as sociologicalresearchhasdemonstrated
and
ofmemory
thecomplexity
researchhas demonstrated
tion,psychological
ofmentalstructures
bydomain.Third,
providedglimpsesof thepartitioning
mentalmodels,
recentfoci of psychologicalresearch(schemata,categories,
orinthantheformaloperations
content
andso on) aremuchricherincultural
and developmentalists
tellectualcapacitiesthatoncepreoccupied
cognitivists

266

DiMAGGIO

(Rogoff& Chavajay1995). Fourth,somepsychologists

havetakennoticeof
suchsociologicaltopicsas cross-cultural
differences
in cognition
(Shweder&
Bourne1991,Markus& Kitayama1991),elite/popular
interaction
in cultural
change(Moscovici1984),and"distributed
cognition"
(i.e. thesocialdivision
ofcognitive
labor)(Resnicketal 1991,Salomon1993).
In additiontoexpanding
thegroundsofsharedinterest
betweenthetwodishavealso softened
ciplines,suchdevelopments
twoimportant
epistemological
differences.
Whereasmostsociologistsof culturehave been steadfastly
anefforts
toportray
cultureas theaggregate
tireductionist,
resisting
ofindividual
subjectivities,
psychology
hasfocusedupontheindividual.Increasingly,
however,as I shallargue,psychological
researchbolstersandclarifies
theviewof
cultureas supra-individual,
andevenaddressessupra-individual
aspectsofcognitiondirectly
[as in workon pluralistic
ignorance
(Miller& Prentice1994)].
Second,somesociologistsofculturerejectedthesubjectivist
focusofpsychologicalresearch,
callinginsteadforresearchon external
aspectsofculture
amenabletodirectmeasurement
(Wuthnow
1987). Inrecentyears,cognitivists
havedevelopedingeniousempirical
techniques
(reviewedinD'Andrade1995)
thatpermitstrong
inferences
aboutmentalstructures,
goingfartowardclosing
theobservability
gap betweenexternal
andsubjective
aspectsofculture.
Of course,thefitbetweenthedisciplinesmustnotbe exaggerated.Most
of whatpsychologists
do is irrelevant
to sociologistsof culture,and much
oftheculturesociologists'studyis supra-individual.
Commongroundhas increasedbutwillremainlimited
ofthedisciplines
bythedifferent
subjectmatters
(Zerubavel1997),whichwillremaincomplements
rather
thansubstitutes.

COGNITIVE PRESUPPOSITIONS
OF CULTURAL SOCIOLOGY
Sociologistswho writeaboutthewaysthatcultureentersintoeverydaylife
makeassumptions
aboutcognitive
necessarily
processes.If we assumethata
sharedsymbolevokesa senseofcommonidentity
(Warner1959),thata certain
frameprovokespeopleto thinkabouta social issue in a new way (Gamson
ofspace andtimelearnedin schoolare
1992),thatlessonsaboutthestructure
generalizedto theworkplace(Willis1977),orthatsurveyscan measureclass
consciousness
(see Fantasia'scritique1995),we arethenmakingpowerful
cogto sociologists,
nitiveassumptions.Such assumptions,
whilemetatheoretical
are keenlyempiricalfromthestandpoint
of cognitivepsychology.It is crucial,then,toevaluateourassumptions
(or adjudicatedifferences
amongthem)
by microtranslating
presuppositions
(Collins1981) to thecognitiveleveland
researchon cognition.
withresultsofempirical
assessingtheirconsistency

CULTURE AND COGNITION

267

CoherencevsFragmentation
Manysociologistshave come to rejectthelatent-variable
viewof cultureas
andambiguousin favorofrepresentations
ofcultureas a
coherent,
integrated,
that
"toolkit"(Swidler1986) or"repertoire"
(Tilly1992): a collectionofstuff
workon culture
is heterogeneous
in content
andfunction.
Yetmuchempirical
stillpresumesthatcultureis organizedaroundnationalsocietiesor cohesive
insimilarways
subnational
groupings,
is highlythematized,
andis manifested
acrossmanydomains(Hofstede1980,Bourdieu1984).
centralthemes
Is culturea latentvariable-a tightnetwork
ofa fewabstract
and theirmoreconcreteentailments,
all instantiated
to variousdegreesin a
rangeof symbols,rituals,andpractices?If so, thenwe wouldexpectto find
thatgroupmemberssharea limitednumberof consistent
elements-beliefs,
attitudes,
typifications,
strategies-andthattheinclusionofanyoneelementin
thecollectivecultureimpliestheexclusionofinconsistent
elements.
Or is culturea grab-bagof odds and ends: a pasticheof mediatedrepreof techniques,
or a toolkitof strategies?If so, then
sentations,
a repertoire
we mightexpectless clustering
ofcultural
elementswithinsocialgroups,less
andweakerpressures
fortheexclusionof
stronglinkagesamongtheelements,
inconsistent
elements.
thetoolkit
Researchincognitive
overthelatentpsychology
strongly
supports
variableviewandsuggeststhatthetypicaltoolkitis verylargeindeed.Partichereis research(summarized
ularlyrelevant
by Gilbert1991) on howpeople
to statements
offactandopinion.Consistent
attribute
accuracyorplausibility
that"all peopleknowmoreculturethanthey
withSwidler's(1986) contention
that"The acceptanceofan idea is a partoftheautomatic
use,"Gilbertreports
to
ofthatidea,andtherejectionoftheidea occurssubsequent
comprehension
andmoreeffortfully
thanitsacceptance."In otherwords,ourheadsarefullof
as totruth
images,opinions,andinformation,
untagged
value,towhichwe are
inclinedto attribute
accuracyandplausibility.
tellsa similarstory,
thatinformation
Researchonmemory
(includrevealing
without
ingfalseinformation)
passesintomemory
being"tagged"as tosource
is requiredto identify
thesourceofthe
andthatactiveinference
orcredibility,
information
whenit is recalled. Such inferences
yielding
maybe incorrect,
ofsourceandcredibility
et al 1991).
misattributions
(Johnson
ofculture.First,
forstudents
This workhas severalimportant
implications
it(andno other)
itrefutes
thenotionthatpeopleacquirea culturebyimbibing
and
socialization.Instead,itdirectsthesearchforsourcesofstability
through
to schematic
in ourbeliefsandrepresentations,
organization,
consistency
first,
whichmakessomeideas or imagesmoreaccessiblethanothers;and,second,
to cues embeddedinthephysicalandsocialenvironment.

268

DiMAGGIO

Second,learningthatpeopleretain(and storewitha defaultvalueof "correct")almosteveryimageor idea withwhichtheyhave come intocontact,

renders
intelligible
otherwise
anomalousresearch
findings
aboutinconsistency
in expressionsof attitudes
acrosstime,culturalvolatility
in periodsof rapid
change(e.g. thefalloftheSovietsystem),
andthesusceptibility
ofattitudes
to
framing
effects
(Sniderman
& Piazza 1993).
Third,theresearch
explainsthecapacityofindividuals
toparticipate
inmultievenwhenthosetraditions
plecultural
traditions,
containinconsistent
elements.
Fourth,itestablishes
thecapacityofpeopleto maintain
distinctive
andinconwhichcanbe invokedinresponsetoparticular
sistentactionframes,
contextual
cues. Fifth,thisworkraisesthepossibility
thatsocializationmaybe less exthan
perientially
based,andmoredependent
uponmediaimagesandhearsay,
manyofourtheories
(forexample,Bourdieu'shabitus[1990]construct)
imply.
as thesego beyondthescopeofcognitive
Suchinferences
studies,tobe sure,
and muchrideson theprecisewaysin whichschematic
organization
imposes
orderuponstoredknowledgeand memory.Nonetheless,
recentcognitiverethe"toolkit"
as opposedtothe"latent-variable"
searchstrongly
reinforces
view
of cultureand,at theveryleast,places theburdenofproofon thosewhodepictcultureas strongly
constraining
behaviororwhowouldarguethatpeople
thatcultural
arestrongly
cultureas highlyintegrated,
theexperience
meanings
andthatcultural
matized,thatcultureis binding,
information
acquiredthrough
thanthatacquiredthrough
othermeans.
experienceis morepowerful

andAgency
Institution
oftheviewthatculture
Cognitiveresearchcan also enhanceourappreciation
this
constrains
and
enables
both
(Sewell 1992). Although positionhas become
we knowlittleaboutthe
catechismic
virtually
amongsociologistsof culture,
conditions
underwhichoneortheotheris thecase. Manysociologists
believe,
in
and
Gramsci
that
embedded
following
(1990),
culture,
language
everyday
to existingarpractices,constrains
people's capacityto imaginealternatives
Atthesametime,we knowthatpeopleactas iftheyuse cultural
rangements.
elementsstrategically
to pursuevaluedends(Bourdieu1990). Cognitiveredoes
searchcannotanswertheessentially
sociologicalquestionofwhenculture
tothesearch.
each,butitcan providedirection
is storedinmemory
as anindiscriminately
assembled
Thefinding
thatculture
andrelatively
collectionof oddsandendsimposesa farstronger
unorganized
view.Thequesburdenon actorsthandidtheearlieroversocialized
organizing
thatshe orhe possesses.
tion,then,is howtheactororganizestheinformation
or modesof
mechanisms
researchpointsto twoquitedifferent
Psychological
cognition.

CULTURE AND COGNITION

269

whichI referto as auandmostimportant,

AUTOMATICCOGNITION The first,
is "implicit,
(D'Andrade
unverbalized,
rapid,andautomatic"
tomaticcognition
upon
cognition
reliesheavilyand uncritically
1995). Thisroutine,
everyday
availableschemata-knowledge
thatrepresent
objectsor
structures
culturally
relationabouttheircharacteristics,
eventsand providedefaultassumptions
information.
underconditions
ofincomplete
ships,andentailments
ofsociologists
researchon schematais central
totheinterests
Psychological
bothmethodologically
(due to advancesin techniquesthatrevealtaken-forgrantedassumptions
to whichsubjectsmaynothaveeasy verbalaccess) and
forwhatit tellsus abouthowcultureworks.Indeed,forsome
substantively,
purposes,it maybe usefulto treattheschemaas a basic unitof analysisfor
of schemaacquisition,
thestudyof culture,and to focuson social patterns
andmodification
(Carley1991makesa relatedargument).
diffusion,
ofknowledge
andinformation-processing
Schemataarebothrepresentations
As representations,
theyentailimagesofobjectsandtherelations
mechanisms.
use thetermbroadly[some wouldsuggesttoo
amongthem. Psychologists
conbroadly(Fiske& Linville1980)]. It can referto simple,highlyabstract
activities
(buying
(D'Andrade1995)];toconcrete
cepts[forexample,container
or social
(groupstereotypes
chewinggum),or to complexsocial phenomena
1987) constitute
roles). Eventschemataor scripts(Abelson1981,Garfinkel
has also beengivento self
an important
class of schemata.Special attention
schemata(Milburn1987,Markus& Kitayama1994,Markusetal 1997),culturbothtoindividual
oftheselfthatprovidestability
allyvariablerepresentations
within
thegroup.
behavioracrosstimeandto socialinteractions
Schemataare also mechanisms
thatsimplify
cognition.Highlyschematic
is therealmofinstitutionalized
oftypification,
ofthehabitus,
culture,
cognition
at theexpenseof synoptic
of thecognitiveshortcuts
thatpromoteefficiency
accuracy(Berger& Luckman1967,Bourdieu1990,Kahnemanet al 1982).
material
dominates
other
demonstrates
that"schematic
Muchcognitive
research
inrecall
inaccuraterecall,inintruded
confidence,
material
recall,inrecognition
Schemataalso facilitate
and in resistanceto disconfirmation....
clustering
is schemaconsistent"
(Fiske& Linville
inaccurate
recallwhentheinformation
we findthemechanisms
bywhichculture
cognition
1980: 545). In schematic
shapesandbiasesthought.
thatis germaneto existing
People are morelikelyto perceiveinformation
thatexperimental
schemata VonHippeletal (1993) report
subjectsaremore
thanthosethat
relevant
termsthatareschematically
likelytoperceivecorrectly
thatis
are not. Information
embeddedin existingschemataand information
schema-dissonant
arebothmorelikelytobe noticedthaninformation
orthogoresonate
nal to existingstructures
findings
(Schneider1991). Suchlaboratory

270

DiMAGGIO

studies:forexample,thegradsociologyandcultural
withresultsinhistorical
and
of
the
ual
acceptance information
about NewWorldbyearlymodern
halting
mapmakers
(Zerubavel1992);thewaysinwhicharchaicphysicalmodelscon(Fleck
strained
medicalscientists'
interpretation
ofnewevidenceaboutsyphilis
1979); and thepenchantof malebiologistsforseeingdominancehierarchies
whentheywatchapes andelephantseals (Haraway1991).
morequickly Mostpsyembeddedinformation
People recallschematically
is
on
experiments,
whichrevealthatsubevidence
based
laboratory
chological
moreaccuambiguous
stimuli
remember
longer
lists
of
words,
or
interpret
jects
a
effectively
they
have
heard
more
and
retrieve
information
about
story
rately,
interthatrender
theinformation
topreexisting
mentalstructures
ifitis relevant
socio1991). Butagain,thereareintriguing
pretable(Sedikides& Skowronski
differences
indescriptions
cross-cultural
logicalparallelsin studiesthatreport
ofthesamenovel(Griswold1987),television
(Liebes
program
ofthecontent
& Katz 1990),or movie(Shively1992) thatreflect
collectivepreoccupations
mentalstructures"
inpsychological
parlance).
activated
("chronically
moreaccurately When
embeddedinformation
People recall schematically
Freemanetal (1987) askedmembers
ofa faculty
workshop
tolistthepeoplewho
theprevious
correctly
hadattended
attenders
meeting,
theyfoundthatlong-term
attenrecalledparticipants
who regularly
butforgottheinfrequent
attended,
Neisser
ders.Usinga verydifferent
method(analysisofWatergate
transcripts),
schema-consistent
(1981) reportedthatNixon aide JohnDean remembered
eventsmoreaccurately
thaneventsthatwereschema-inconsistent.
embeddedeventsthatdid notoccur
People mayfalselyrecallschematically
as presentat
Freemanet al's (1987) informants
regularattenders
remembered
themeetinginquestionevenwhentheyhadn'tbeenthere.Whensubjectsare
aboutcharandthengivenquestionnaires
toldtocode small-group
interactions
thepost-hocevaluations
acteristics
ofgroupmembers
yield
thereafter,
shortly
of schematically
relatedbehaviors(e.g. criticizing
muchhighercorrelations
thando thereal-time
orexpressing
codings(Shweder1982). Similar
hostility)
forrealeventsmaybe observedin at
confusionof schematicrepresentations
leastsomereports
ofsatanicchildabuse(Hacking1995)andinsomeofformer
President
Reagan'sspeeches.
is striking.TypifiThe parallelwithsociologicalaccountsof institutions
and
influence
cations(mentalstructures)
interpretation,
planning,
perception,
action(Berger& Luckman1967,DiMaggio& Powell1991). Institutionalized
andwidely
andbehaviors(i.e. thosethatarebothhighlyschematic
structures
ineveryday
action[Giddens'"strucreproduced
shared)aretakenforgranted,
as legitimate
turation"
(Meyer& Rowan1977). Indeed,an
(1984)] andtreated

CULTURE AND COGNITION

271

eminent
psychologist
(Bruner1990:58)has written
explicitly
ofthe"schematizingpowerofinstitutions."
Thusthepsychology
ofmentalstructures
provides
a microfoundation
tothesociologyofinstitutions.
Researchonsocialcognition
enhancesourunderstanding
ofhowculture
constrains
butdoesnotsupport
theories
thatdepictculture
as overwhelmingly
constraining.
Instead,consistent
withcontemporary
sociologicaltheorizing,
work
inpsychology
providesmicrofoundational
evidencefortheefficacy
ofagency.
In contrastto automaticthought,
psychologists
notea quitedifferent
formof cognition,
whichis "explicit,verbalized,slow,
and deliberate"(D'Andrade1995). Whensufficiently
motivated,
peoplecan
override
programmed
modesofthought
tothinkcritically
andreflexively.
Such overrides
are necessarily
rarebecausedeliberation
is so inefficient
in
itsrejectionoftheshortcuts
thatautomatic
cognition
offers.Consequently,
the
keyquestionis whypeopleareeverdeliberative.
haveidentified
Psychologists
threefacilitating
conditionsin studiesthatintriguingly
parallelworkin the
sociologyofculture.
DELIBERATIVE COGNITION

AttentionPsychological
researchsuggeststhatpeopleshiftintodeliberative
modesofthought
relatively
is attracted
easilywhentheirattention
toa problem.
Forexample,experimenters
cancreatefalserecollections
ofa videotapeorstory
"witnesses"bypresenting
or asking
amonglaboratory
inaccurate
information
leadingquestions(Loftuset al 1989). But whenthetaskis changedto ask
aboutthesourceof particular
subjectsto thinkcarefully
bitsof information,
theexperimental
effectis diminished
or eliminated
et al 1993). In
(Johnson
studiesofattitude-behavior
experimental
selfconsistency,
merelyincreasing
awarenessbyplacinga mirror
inthefaceofthesubjectas heorshecompletes
an
attitude
increasestheattitude-behavior
correlation
questionnaire
significantly
(Abelson 1981:722). Such resultsparalleltheinsightsof studentsof social
who have studiedagenda-building
movements,
and who have also notedthe
as an organizingdeviceof refraining
effectiveness
issues in ways thatcall
attention
toproblems
salienttomovement
participants
(Snow& Benford1992).
Motivation People mayalso shiftfromautomaticto deliberative
cognition
whentheyare strongly
motivated
to do so by dissatisfaction
withthestatus
issue. For example,although
quo or by themoralsalienceof a particular
racistschemataare accessibleto mostwhiteAmericans,
whitescan override
suchschemata
tosomeextent
awareness
andreflexivity
through
(Devine1989).
Marx's theoryof class consciousness-whichcontendsthatphysically
proximateworkers
will overcomefalsebeliefsthrough
interfacingimmiseration
actionandreflection-isa classicsociologicalcounterpart
(and see Bourdieu
1974).

272

DiMAGGIO

tomoredeliberative
modesofprocessing
Schemafailure Finally,
peopleshift
whenexistingschematafailto accountadequatelyfornewstimuli.Research
of intergroup
relationssuggeststhatpeoplein taskgroups
on thepsychology
evalucodeothers
onthebasisofstereotypes
butshift
tomoredeliberate
initially
inconsistent
evidence(Schneider1991:536,
ationswhenfacedwithverystrong
difsocial psychology
Bergeret al 1980). Moscovici,whoseDurkheimian
accountsofmentalstructures
fersin manyrespectsfromotherpsychological
& Innes1990),arguesthatcollectivities
(Farr& Moscovici1984,Augoustinos
confronted
socialchangeconstruct
newsocialrepresentations
withdisjunctive
schemata,and oftenconstructed
(oftenanchoredin analogiesto pre-existing
inthesocialsciencesandmassmedia)inordertointerdeliberatively
byexperts
areparalleledinGarfinkel's
(1967) breaching
pretnewstimuli.Sucharguments
and
whichforcibly
overrode
automatic
processing,
experiments,
andpainfully
in Swidler'scontention
culturalformsare
thatideologiesandotherconsistent
moreinfluential
times(1986, Jepperson
& Swidler1994 on
duringunsettled
constitutive
vs. strategic
culture).
to activedebates
Psychologists
may notethatI have paid scantattention
aboutthe natureof mentalstructures
and have drawntoo sharpa contrast
anddeliberative
however,
processing.Researchon culture,
betweenautomatic
fromwhatresearchon cognition
has resolved.The notion
can alreadybenefit
in fuzzyoutline,
ofphenomena
of schemais a fairapproximation
identifiable
if notsharprelief,by experimental
methods;researchon schemataadvances
ofculture,
andresearchon
especiallyinstitutions;
sociologicalunderstandings
vs deliberative
whatto
mayhelpsociologistsdetermine
automatic
processing
do withthewidelybelievedbuttheoretically
inertnotionthatbothinstitution
and agencyarecentralto sociallife.

Cultureas Supra-Individual
exists,suigeneris,
atthecollectivelevel.
Itis nonewstosociologists
thatculture
in people'sheads-is
(The positiontakenhere-thatcultureis also manifest
research
canhelpus
morecontroversial.)
Nonetheless,
psychological
probably
character
thatsocioloappreciateseveralaspectsofculture'ssupra-individual
gistsofculturesometimes
neglect.
research
PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE A livelybranchof social-psychological
derivesfromRobertK. Merton'snotionof"pluralistic
ignorance"
(1957): the
ofcollectiveopinto sharedrepresentations
idea thatpeopleactwithreference
directs
us to distinguish
inaccurate.Such research
ion thatare empirically
as
in
is
betweentwosenses whichculture supra-individual: an aggregateof
ofindividuoras sharedrepresentations
individuals'beliefsorrepresentations,
deviates
that
the
latter
evidence
indicates
als' beliefs.Substantial
substantially

CULTURE AND COGNITION

273

consequencesandthatthisprocess
behavioral
withsignificant
fromtheformer
autonomy
ofsocialnorms(Miller& Prentice
a basisfortherelative
represents
1993).
1996,Noelle-Neumann
The existenceof group-level
beliefs)is also
ofindividual
partlyindependent
cultures(sharedunderstanding
of groupsto adoptpublicpositionsmoreextreme
suggestedby thetendency
oftheirmembers,
especiallywhenactingwithreference
thanthepreferences
is notpolarization
perse, buttheculto a contrasting
group.Whatis striking
ofcollectiveopinion)on
ofpolarizedstances(representations
turalavailability
(Tajfel1981).
whichmembers
ofeachgroupcan converge
INTERGROUP CONTRAST AND POLARIZATION

Not all schemataare culturalto the same degree.

universal
cognitive
processes(forexample,basicobject
Some schematareflect
Manyschemata,
whereasothersmaybe quiteidiosyncratic.
categorization),
to sociologistsof culture,enhowever,and theschemataof greatestinterest
of individualexperience.For
act widelyheldscriptsthatappearindependent
example,theresearch,citedabove,thatfoundcoherencein ratingsof small
onlyafterthefact,led theauthor(Shweder1982) to
groupbehavioremerging
is really
speculatethatmuchofwhatpassesas clinicalresearchon personality
ofpersonhood
(andsee Meyer1986).
aboutculturalconstructions
SCHEMATA AS CULTURE

Despitethischapter'sfothatrelatively
we mustnotforget
ofculture,
cus on subjectiverepresentations
ofpersonsinthebroaderenvironcoherent
culturalformsexistindependently
of modernsocietiesis
ment.Indeed,one of themorenotablecharacteristics
inproducers
theexistenceofa culturaldivisionoflaborin whichintellectual
createanddiffuse
images,andidea systems(Douglas 1986,
myths,
tentionally
coherent
representaFarr& Moscovici1984,Swidler1997). Otherrelatively
invokedin public
or storiesrepeatedly
as narratives
tionsexistless formally
discourse(Dobbin1994,White1992).
COHERENT CULTURES AS EXTERNAL TO PERSONS

Some would arguethatwhatevercoherenceexists

availablesources,i.e. thatculturalcoherenceis
flowsfromsuchexternally
externalto theperson. As we have seen,however,such a position
entirely
to thetoolkitone steptoofar.
pushesthehealthyshiftfromthelatent-variable
theinInstead,theresearchreviewedheresuggeststhatcultureworksthrough
distributed
acrosspersons
teraction
ofthreeforms.First,we haveinformation,
is patterned,
butnothighlydifferentiating,
(Carley1991). Such distribution
and
mannerin whichbitsofcultureareaccumulated
due to theindiscriminant
espestoredin memory(Gilbert1991). Second,we havementalstructures,
whichshape
of complexsocial phenomena,
ciallyschematicrepresentations
AN INITIAL SYNTHESIS

274

DiMAGGIO

to theinremember,
andrespondemotionally
thewaywe attendto,interpret,
we encounter
formation
andpossess.Suchschemataaremoreclearlysocially
patterned
thanarememory
traces.Finally,we havecultureas symbolsystems
oftheconstructed
thecontent
oftalk,elements
external
totheperson,including
environment,
mediamessages,andmeaningsembeddedin observableactivity
patterns.
norin thesymnorin theschemata,
Cultureinheresnotin theinformation,
amongthem.As we haveseen,schemata
bolicuniverse,
butintheinteractions
throughout
Butpeopleacquiremanyschemata
structure
ouruseofinformation.
and in implicatheirlives,and someoftheseareinconsistent
bothin content
tionsforbehavior.How is itthatpeopleinvokeoneamongthemanyschemata
availabletothemin a givensituation?
To simplify
greatlyin orderto focusupontheaspectof theprocessmost
selectionis guidedbyculturalcues availrelevantto thesociologyofculture,
available in theenvironment.
Althougha fewschematamaybe chronically
orframe
stimulus
byan external
able,moreoftentheyareprimedoractivated
(Sedikides& Skowronski1991, Barsalou 1992, Gamson1992:6-8, Schudin socialsurveys-e.g.thefinding
thatwhitesare
son 1989). Framingeffects
ifthequestion
ofAfrican-Americans
morelikelytoacceptnegative
stereotypes
action(Sniderman
& Piazza
to affirmative
is precededby a neutralreference
1993:102-104)-are familiarexamples. But schematacan also be activated
mediause,or observation
ofthephysicalenvironment.
through
conversation,
theschematathat
theinteraction
betweentwodistributions-of
Understanding
thatact
constitute
people's culturaltoolkits,and of externalculturalprimers
selectionpressures
as framesto evoke(and,in evoking,exerting
upon)these
schemata-is a centralchallengeforsociologistsofculture.

APPLICATIONS
This sectionreviewsworkon cognitiveaspectsof thesociologyof culture
collective
in lightof theperspective
developedhere. The topicsare identity,
socialclassification,
logicsofaction,andframing.
memory,

Identity
has becomeone ofthemostactiveresearchfieldsin thesociologyof
Identity
kindsofcollective
betweentwoquitedifferent
culture.Itis usefultodistinguish
ontheonehand,andcollectiveaspectsof
ofcollectives,
theidentities
identity:
ofindividuals
on theother.
theidentities
IDENTITIES OF COLLECTIVES At the supra-individual
level,collectiveidenResearchat thislevelportrays
of a collectivity.
tityis a sharedrepresentation
as highlyconstructed
collectiveidentities
explicit
(Anderson1983), through

CULTUREANDCOGNITION

275

andflags(Cerulo1994).
messagesandmoresubtleelementssuchas anthems
contested,
as groupsvie to producesocial
Collectiveidentities
arechronically
totheiridealormaterial
favorable
representations
capableofevokingschemata
interests
(Moscovici1984,Zerubavel1994,Friedland& Hecht1996).
and sociology,views
Anotherline of research,activein bothpsychology
thatvarycross-culturally
and
identities
andselvesas collectiverepresentations
inthecultural
Markuset al (1996) reviewresearchon differences
historically.
inEastAsianandWestern
societies.Meyer& Jepperson
construction
ofidentity
indifferent
polities)is a
(1996) contendthatthemodernself(anditsvariations
endowedwithagencyinrelationto thecollectivity.
constructed
identity
on collecCOLLECTIVE ELEMENTS IN INDIVIDUAL IDENTITIES Muchresearch
is actuallyaboutthemorecomplexissueofthewaysinwhichsocial
tiveidentity
selves.Social identity
theory
identities
enterintotheconstitution
ofindividual
viewsindividual
identities
as comprising
identity-sets
basedonparprioritized
androle-based
1986). Self-categorization
ticularistic
groupaffiliations
(Stryker
as invokedby conditions
thatmake
collectiveidentities
theoriesalso portray
identities
especiallysalient(Tajfel& Turner1986). In thisview,
particular
to
reflect
elaborated
schematainproportion
individual
identities
group-identity
in
as context-dependent
andrecencyofactivation.
Viewingidentities
strength
withobservations
withwhichidentities
ofthevolatility
thiswayis consistent
conflict.
maygainandlose salienceduringperiodsofintergroup

CollectiveMemory
the
Collectivememoryis the outcomeof processesaffecting,
respectively,
haveaccess,theschemataby whichpeople
information
to whichindividuals
thepast,and theexternalsymbolsor messagesthatprimethese
understand
researchon collectivememory
portrays
schemata.Like collectiveidentities,
in bothsupra-individual
andindividual
terms.
thephenomenon
orsuppress
Severalscholarshavestudiedinstitutional
processesthatmaintain
thereputation
determining
information
as partofpublicculture,
suchas factors
andpopularity
ofparticular
personsor artworks(Fine 1996,Griswold1986,
focusesupontheschematic
level,
however,
Lang& Lang 1988). Muchresearch,
ofa societyinterpret
to definethewaysin whichmembers
studying
struggles
abouttheirpast,eithertracking
changein theways
widelysharedinformation
overtime(Schudson1992,
in whicha personor publicfigureis understood
visionsof a collective
overalternative
Schwartz1991) or analyzingconflict
past(Maier1988,Zerubavel1994).
betweenindividualand colLittleresearchhas focusedon theinteraction
lectivememories.An exceptionis theworkofSchuman& Scott(1989), who
thatthehistoricaleventsthat
use surveymethodsto explorethepossibility

276

DiMAGGIO

their
mostvividlystructure
remember
generations
menandwomenofdifferent
ofcontemporary
socialissues.
understanding

Social Classification
anduse ofcategory
socialconstruction
The studyofsocialclassification-the
inthelastdecade.Someworkhasanalyzedprocesses
schemes-hasburgeoned
clasofa strongly
theemergence
inhistorical
time,describing
ofclassification
highculture(DiMaggio 1982),ortheuse ofsocialcategorization
sifiedartistic
ofsocialpolicies(Starr1992). Ofparticuintheformation
andimplementation
is Mohr's(1994) analysisof"discourseroles,"whichusesstructural
larinterest
of social problems
theimplicitclassification
equivalenceanalysisto identify
andpovertyofsocial-service
andclientgroupsembeddedin self-descriptions
New YorkCity.
relieforganizations
in earlytwentieth-century
inshorter
timespans.
has focuseduponsocialdifferentiation
Otherresearch
Zelizer(1989) describestheprocessbywhichwomenfindwaysto differentiate evenmoney,theuniversalmediumof exchange,in orderto imbueit with
social meaning.Lamont(1992) analyzesthebasesuponwhichmenofdiffertheir
thatreinforce
entregionaland nationaloriginsmakesocial distinctions
workwithinscientific
senseofsocialhonor.Gieryn(1997) describesboundary
classification
respondwhenthestrong
examining
howscientists
communities,
is threatened.
science/nonscience
froma cognitive
Zerubavel,one of fewsociologiststo studyclassification
worldappears
a continuous
pointsoutthatthedriveto partition
perspective,
may
thoughthenatureofthecategoriesconstructed
to be a humanuniversal,
amonggroups(Zerubavel1991,1997,Douglas1966). Rosch
varysignificantly
on thetopic,prothinking
psychological
(1978), whoseworkhas dominated
when
is mostefficient
support)thatcognition
poses (withmuchexperimental
by thinking
together
we chunkmanyseparatefeatures(bitsof information)
constructs
witha prototype
(completementalimage)ofan object.Prototypical
levelofabstraction:
i.e. whereanincreaseinspeciemergeatthemostefficient
Thus we have
ficityprovidesthegreatestmarginalincreasein information.
or "divan,"and for"bird"butnot
for"chair"butnot"furniture"
prototypes
form
thelevelatwhichobjectprototypes
for"animal"or"sparrow."
Although
a
ofa prototype
reflects
thespecificcontent
universal,
appearsto be relatively
in a givenlocation(D'Andrade1995).
andavailability
mixoftypicality
to relatively
Roschappliedhermodelofprototypes
simpleconcepts.Selfmodel(Hogg& McGarty1990),
drawson theprototype
theory
categorization
in such
arerepresented
butitremainsto be seen ifcomplexsocial constructs
to roleanalysismaybe useful,in light
terms.If so, application
unambiguous
as a
of a prototype
of an intriguing
parallelbetweenRosch'scharacterization

CULTURE AND COGNITION

277

ofsocialroleas
andNadel's (1957) classicdefinition
coreofessentialfeatures
ofoptionalfeatures.
anda penumbra
ofa coreofentailments
consisting

LogicsofAction
"logicsofaction"to referto an interManyauthorshaveusedtheexpression
actionin a given
thatinfluence
setofrepresentations
orconstraints
dependent
for"idealtype"
ofcourse,thetermis usedas a synonym
domain.Sometimes,
constraints
toreferto situational
approaches,
(Orru1991) or,in rational-actor
thatinduceparallelbehaviorsamongplayerswithsimilarresourcesgivenparticularrulesofthegame(Block 1990,Offe1985).
inrecentworkinpolitical
morecultural,
senseoflogicshasemerged
A richer,
betweenmentalstructures
a viewthatembedsthemintheinteraction
economy,
in practicalreason(Bourdieu1990),on theone hand,andinstituinstantiated
on theother.Friedland& Alford(1991:248-49) provide
tionalrequirements
logics"
"institutional
describing
expositionand definition,
themostthorough
an
thatconstitute
as sets "of materialpracticesand symbolicconstructions"
andare"availabletoorganizations
principles"
order's"organizing
institutional
to elaborate."Accordingto Friedland& Alford,theselogics
and individuals
and
defined
structured,
politically
are"symbolically
organizationally
grounded,
andmaterially
constrained."
technically
Similarimageryis apparentin Boltanski& Thevenot'snotionof modes
linkeddiscoursesembodyingspecific
of justification
(1991), institutionally
of similar
towardactionand evaluation.Empiricaldevelopment
orientations
of control"in
ideas can be foundin Fligstein's(1990) workon "conceptions
andin Stark's(1990) analysisofshopfloorpoliticsin a
governance,
corporate
socialistfactory.
Hungarian
ofinstitutions,
each ofwhichentailsa disSuch workrequiresa taxonomy
are capitalism,the
tinctivelogic. (For Friedland& Alford,theinstitutions
family,
religion,andscience,each ofwhichhas itsownaxstate,democracy,
ial principleand linkedroutinesand rituals.)Conflicteruptsfromtheclash
a
of institutional
logics,as whena wifeviewsherhouseholdlaborthrough
whereasherhusbandimposesa family
logicofexplicitexchange,
marketplace
logicofselflessserviceuponthesituation.
The notionoflogicsis immensely
appealing.First,itproposesthatexternal
to generateroutine
withinternal
mentalstructures
ritualsand stimuliinteract
withtheview thatcultureis fragmented
behavior. Second,it is consistent
thenotionof
inconsistent
elements,withoutsurrendering
amongpotentially
of clustersof ritualsand schemata
limitedcoherence,whichthematization
aroundinstitutions
provides. Third,it providesa vocabularyfordiscussing
betweeninconsistent
as confrontation
culturalconflict
logicsofaction.

278

DiMAGGIO

andcalls attention
exploratory
At thesametime,theworkremainsfrankly
whichneither
of cultureand cognition,
understanding
to gaps in ourcurrent
norsociologycanaddress.Thesearethetopicsofthenextsection.
psychology

KEY PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY

OF CULTURE AND COGNITION
as an effort
to thematize
logicscan be reinterpreted
The notionofinstitutional
this
In ordertoexploittheinsights
schemataandlinkthemto socialstructure.
students
ofcultureneedthreethingsthatwe nowlack:-an
offers,
perspective
structures,
tomorecomplexcultural
ofhowschemataaggregate
understanding
requiresa clear
ofcultural
change,which,inturn,
or"logics";anunderstanding
logics;and
ofthewayinwhichactorsswitchamonginstitutional
understanding
processesof
a theoryof analogy,whichis necessaryif we are to understand
bothrequire.
andswitching
thatthematization
schematic
generalization

Aggregation
ModelsofSchematic
is to develop
ofcultureandcognition
forstudents
priority
Perhapsthehighest
bywhichI meanthewaysinwhichdiverseschemata
modelsofthematization,
likethought
constructs
interesting
tomoregeneralandsociologically
aggregate
andideologies.Thereareseveralcandidates
styles,stories,logics,paradigms,
forsuchmodels.
ATOMISTICDECOUPLING

ispopisthateveryday
thought
Thenullhypothesis

looselycoupledschematawithlittleornohigherulatedbyrandomly
invoked,
is simplyimposedposthoc bycultural
If so, thematization
levelarchitecture.
routines.
Although
andineveryday
specialistsorembeddedintheenvironment
andwould
withmostworkinthesociologyofculture,
thisviewis inconsistent
ormacroresearch
onschemata
toexplaineither
experimental
seemill-equipped
absolutely.
culturalchange,itcannotnowbe disconfirmed
At theoppositeextremeis theview of cross-cultural
of nestedschemata,arrayed
thatculturecomprisesa hierarchy
psychologists
fromabstractto concrete,withthelatterentailedby theformer.For example, Markus& Kitayama(1994) viewa widerangeof cognitivedifferences
in
differences
fromfundamental
betweenJapaneseandAmericansas flowing
inevidenceof significant
self-schemata.
Althoughtheyprovidecompelling
one neednotassumeas muchcoherenceas theydo.
differences,
tergroup
NESTED HIERARCHY

and
evidencethatinformation
DOMAIN-SPECIFICITYThereis considerable

areasofmemlifedomainsis storedindistinct
todifferent
schematapertaining
domains
within
(Hirschfeld
with
schematic
specific
occurring
integration
ory,

CULTURE AND COGNITION

279

& Gelman1994). In thisview,clustersofschemataarecoherent

onlywithin
limitedboundaries;takentogether,
thedomainsare "morelikethecollected
denizensofa tidepool thana singleoctopus"(D'Andrade1995:249).
Thisviewhas considerable
experimental
support,
thoughthereis littleconsensusas to thesize or character
of thedomains. It is tempting
to equate
"domain"withtheinstitutional
realmsidentified
byFriedland& Alford(1991)
or Boltanski& Thevenot(1990), and to positthatculturally
specific"logics
ofaction"arethusembeddedin schematic
organization,
butthereis atpresent
littleifanyempiricalwarrant
fordoingso.
IDENTITYCENTRALITY Someevidencesuggests
thataffectively
hotschemata

aremoresalientandhavemoreextensive
entailments
thando emotionally
neutralstructures.
Workon identity
(Wiley& Alexander1987,Hogg & McGarty
1990) suggeststhepossibility
that"theself"maybe an emotionally
supersaturatedclusterofschematatending
towardconsistency
andstability
overtime.
Schematathatareembeddedintheself-schemata,
then,aremorecloselyarticulatedwithotherschematathanthosethatarenotincorporated
intotheself.
ROLE CENTRALITY By analogy,one can viewrolesas situationally
evoked,
emotionally
activated,
partialidentities
thatprovideintegrated
chunksofschematicorganization
andpermit
ofdifferent
compartmentalization
cultural
contents.
This perspective
is appealingbecauseit identifies
a mechanism
(i.e. roleacschematic
tivation)
connecting
to contextual
triggering
variation,
andbecause
itis consistent
withevidencefordomain-specificity
ofschematic
organization.
becauserolesareembeddedin distinctive
Moreover,
thisview
rolerelations,
pointstowardan integration
of culturaland network
analysiswithina single
framework
(McCall 1987).
Whichof thesemodelsof schematicthematization
bestdescribestheprocessesbywhichpeopleintegrate
schematais atpresentanybody's
guess. Significant
matters-the
extent
towhichideologyenters
intoconsciousexperience,
thepatterning
of culturalstylesor orientations,
and thestability
of cognition
acrosscontext-rideon itsresolution.

CulturalChange

A secondpriority
forsociologistsof cultureis to createtheoriesof cultural
changethatintegrate
ideasfrom
research
onculture
andcognition
withmacrosoAt leastfourdifferent
ciologicalperspectives.
changeprocessesarecrucialto
understand.
THEORYOF ENVIRONMENTAL
TRIGGERING I have arguedthatcultureenters

intoeverydaylifethrough
theinteraction
of environmental
cues and mental
I havefurther
structures.
theoriesin
suggested,
bycombining
logic-of-action

280

DiMAGGIO

thatculturalundertheoriesin psychology,
sociologyand domain-specificity
bydomain,so thatwhenpersonsorgroupsswitch
maybe fragmented
standings
anddispreferences,
attitudes,
theirperspectives,
fromone domaintoanother,
changesmay
cultural
positionsmaychangeradically.Itfollowsthatlarge-scale
frameswitchesbymany
more-or-less
simultaneous
be causedby large-scale,
actors.
interdependent
of how and whypeoAt themicrolevel,we need a betterunderstanding
ple switchamongframes,logics,or domains(White1995; froma rational
workon this
& Frey1993). The paradigmatic
Lindenberg
choiceperspective,
the
has documented
comesfromlanguage,whereresearchon code-switching
or topic)
partner,
conversation
changesin context,
circumstances
(ordinarily
thattrigger
changeinlanguageordialect(Gumperz1982). Atthemacrolevel,
of
changetopatterns
thechallengeis to createmodelsthatlinkenvironmental
switching
(White1995).
DIFFUSION,AND EXTINCTION PsycholoTHEORYOF SCHEMAACQUISITION,
lighton theacquisitionof schematabyindividuals
gistshavecastsubstantial
1994). Sociolo(Nelson& Gruendel1981,Hirschfeld
duringdevelopment
to factorsleadingto changein the
gistsof cultureshouldturntheirattention
or schematain
of culturalrepresentations
and levelof activation
distribution
cohortsacquireparticular
thepopulation.Suchchangemayoccurifdifferent
of environmental
schemataat varying
rates;or if changesin thedistribution
of particular
schematathat
or deactivation
cues lead to enhancedactivation
havealreadybeenacquired.
Diffusionmodelsof thesortthathave been used to studytheeffectsof
orbeliefsmaybe useful.
mediaexposureon theadoptionofnewtechnologies
whereresonanceexistsbetweenthenew
Diffusionshouldbe mosteffective
schematic
(Sperber1985).
organization
culturalelementandexisting
Work in the historicalsociologyof cultureprovidessome guidance.
ofideologicalchange,whichpointstotheimWuthnow's
(1989) macro-theory
lifechancesofnewbeliefs,maybeusefully
effects
on
the
of
ecological
portance
a
tomoremicrolevels.Tilly(1992) hasdevelopedandimplemented
transposed
movement
reperchangeovertimeincontentious
valuableapproachtostudying
change
toires. Buchmann& Eisner(1996) presentevidenceof accelerating
of selvesduringthesecondhalfof thetwentieth
in thepublicpresentation
century.
aspectsofmajorcollective
cognitive
A particular
challengeis tounderstand
thatmight
ofpersonsrapidlyadoptorientations
eventsin whichlargenumbers
ofthema shorttimebefore.Some
alientothemajority
haveappearedculturally
after
thefalloftheSovietUnion,
ofcapitalism
theemergence
religiousrevivals,
cases ofthiskind.
aredemanding
andsomespiralsofethnicantagonism

CULTURE AND COGNITION

281

It is important
tounderstand
notonly
howcultureconstrains,
buthowpersonsandgroupscan transcend
thebiasing
effectsof cultureon thought.Workon thisproblembypsychologists
(noted
earlier)mustbe supplemented
by researchon thetypesof social interaction
thatlead largenumbersof peopleto questionand,ultimately,
to revisetheir
schematic
ofsocialphenomena.
representations
THEORY OF DELIBERATIVE OVERRIDING

Analogyand Generalization
Relatedtothestudyofchange,butso important
thatitwarrants
a sectionofits
own,is theproblemofanalogyandgeneralization.
Sociologicaltheoriesthat
portray
personsas activelyincorporating
cultureintocognitiveorganization
invariably
relyon somenotionlikethehabitus,whichBourdieu(1990) refers
to as a "systemof durabletransposable
dispositions."The keyquestionfor
all of thesetheoriesis: Underwhatconditions
are dispositions
or schemata
fromone domainto another?
abstracted
andtransposed
Almostall culturalchangeentailsthetransfer
of some bodyof ideas or
imagesfromone content
areato another
on thebasisof similarity
judgments.
to
characterize
the
of
a
or
culture
a
Indeed,anyattempt
group peopleinabstract
forgranted
thatactors
at thematization-takes
terms-i.e.,anyanalyticeffort
havethecapacityto drawanalogiesbetweenclassesofobjects,actors,events,
oractions,andthereby
tounderstand
themin similarways.
Thinkofcultureas a network
ofinterrelated
withanalogiesas the
schemata,
"ties"thatcreatepathsalongwhichgeneralization
andinnovation
occur.How
arenew"ties"created?The literature
providesat leastthreealternatives.
In themoststraightforward
models,twoschemata orrelatedstructures
lendthemselves
toanalogy(andthustogeneralization
acrossdomains)insofaras theyshareparticular
features(Lakoff& Johnson
betweenthem. Thus Swinburne'sline,
1980) thatcreatea correspondence
"whenthehoundsof springare on winter'straces,"is meaningful
because
of thecorrespondence
betweentemporaland spatialpursuitand betweenthe
destructive
ofhoundson haresandofspringon winter.Twoproblems
effects
withthisviewarethatthecorrespondence
thaninnate;
itselfis constructed
rather
and thatanalogicalpowerwouldnotseemto varywiththeextentof overlap
betweentenorandvehicle.
FEATURE CORRESPONDENCE

This viewtakesas its starting

pointtheexistenceof
someformofcontent-related
domain-specificity.
Analogiesconnectnotsimtheir
& Sternberg
plyschematabutwholedomains(Tourganeau
1982),deriving
ofentailedcomparisons
The mostpowpowerfromthenetwork
theytrigger.
erfulanalogiesconnectdomainsthatarestructurally
homologous.Putanother
acrossdomainsis a function
notof theextentto which
way,generalizability
STRUCTURE-MAPPING

282

DiMAGGIO

theyshareparticular
features
in common,butoftheextentto whichrelations
amongfeatures
arestructurally
similar(Gentner1983).
Someresearch
suggests
thataffectively
hotschemata
aremorelikelytobe generalized
acrossdomainsthanaffectively
neutral
schemata. For example,analogiesare likelyto be drawnbetweensituations
that
elicitstrong
emotionalreactionsofa similarkind(Abelson1981:725).
EMOTIONAL RESONANCE

POLYSEMY AND SEMANTIC CONTAGION A finalpossibility

is thatpolysemous
expressions-those
withdistinct
meanings
thatresonate
withmultiple
schemata
or domains-facilitate
analogicaltransfer.
Bakhtin'swork(1986) on textual
inthisregard,
is suggestive
as is White's(1992) workon stories
multivocality
and rhetorics.Ross (1992) portrays
meaningas emerging
fromtherelations
of wordsto one anotherin speechand to activitiesin real time. Because
theseconstantly
change,meaningsarerarelyfixed,butinsteadadapt,diverge,
and spreadacrossdomainsthrough
is
semanticcontagion.This perspective
attractive
becauseitacknowledges
endemicchangeinlanguageand
particularly
insocialinteraction.
othersymbolsystems
andbecauseitembedsgeneralization

SYMBOLS, NETWORKS,AND COGNITION

areonlyone-and notnecessarily
thelargest-part
Cognitive
aspectsofculture
ofthesociologyofculture'sdomain.Butitis a partthatwe cannotavoidifwe
in howcultureentersintopeople'slives,foranyexplanation
are interested
of
culture'simpacton practicerestson assumptions
abouttheroleof culturein
offifwe makesuchmodelsexplicit
cognition.I havearguedthatwe arebetter
thanifwe smugglethemin through
thebackdoorandthatworkin cognitive
psychologyand social cognition,althoughanimatedby different
questions,
can use topursueourownagendas.
offers
toolsthatwe sociologists
onculture
dethechallengeis tointegrate
themicroperspectives
Ultimately,
overlonger
scribedherewithanalysesofcultural
changeinlargercollectivities
schemata
andrethatprivileges
stretches
oftime.I havearguedfora perspective
tomechanisms
as unitsofanalysis,andattends
latedconstructs
bywhichphysactivatetheseschemata.
ical,social,andculturalenvironments
differentially
Thisargument
has beggedthequestionofwhichaspectsoftheenvironment
of
aremostworthy
ofstudy.Without
theunquestionable
denying
importance
withsubjective
cultural
researchon howmediaandactivity
structures
interact
I shallconcludebycallingbriefattention
onthe
tonewresearch
representations,
ofcognitive
tosocialstructures
andsymbolic
relationship
phenomena
portrayed
as socialnetworks.
ofsocialstruchavefocusedon cognitive
Some researchers
representations
is especiallyrelevant
ture.[Fiske& Linville(1980) claimthatschematheory

CULTURE AND COGNITION

283

to therepresentation
of socialphenomena;
andsee Howard(1994).] The idea
thatsocial structures
existsimultaneously
through
mentalrepresentations
and
in concretesocial relationswas centralto Nadel's (1957) role theory.Both
theorists
& Goodwin1994,Orr1995,White1992)andresearchers
(Emirbayer
theimplications
(Krackhardt
1987) areexploring
ofthisview.
Networks
arecrucialenvironments
fortheactivation
ofschemata,
logics,and
frames.In a studyof theParisCommune,Gould(1995) arguesthatpolitical
protestnetworks
did notcreatenewcollectiveidentities,
butratheractivated
thatcommunards
identities
alreadypossessed.Bernstein
(1975) demonstrates
theimpactofnetwork
on individuals'tendency
structures
toemploycognitive
abstraction.
Erickson(1996), studying
besecurity
guards,findsa correlation
tweenthecomplexity
of social networks
and thediversity
of conversational
interests.Vaughan(1986) describeshow people questioning
marriagealter
ofsocialrelations
inordertocreatenew,independent
customary
patterns
identitiesas prologueto separation.Such studiespointto a new,morecomplex
of therelationship
betweencultureand social structure
built
understanding
of microand macro,and of cognitiveand material,
uponcarefulintegration
perspectives.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanksare due to thestudents

in myPrinceton
graduateseminaron culture
and cognitionforinsightful
discussionsof muchof theworkreviewedhere;
tomypsychology
Dale Miller,andDeborahPrencolleaguesMarciaJohnson,
to come to speedyterms
tice,who providedvaluableguidancein myefforts
incognitive
andsocialpsychology;
withculture-relevant
literature
andto Bob
Dale Miller,EviatarZerubavel,
andJohnMohrfor
Wuthnow,
RogerFriedland,
topresent
andworkshops
atPrinceton,
thesethoughts
atmeetings
opportunities
SantaBarbara,andtheASA meetings.ForvaluablereadingsofearRutgers,
I am indebted
lierdrafts,
to RogerFriedland,
MicheleLamont,Diane Mackie,
CalvinMorrill,AbigailSmith,AnnSwidler,andEviatarZerubavel.
VisittheAnnualReviewshomepage at
http://www.annurev.org.

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