Linking culture to behavior: Focusing on more proximate cognitive mechanisms

In this commentary, we reiterate and build upon Early and Masokowski's call for cultural researchers to investigate underlying cognitive structures through which culture influences behavior, looking beyond the models of value-orientation that have dominated previous research. We assess evidence that tapping specific, knowledge structures — as opposed to focusing on value dimensions — has more successfully provided proof of mediating and moderating cultural effects on behavior. Finally, we explore conceptual challenges to this approach of seeking proximal knowledge structures — namely, tapping knowledge that is culturally implicit as well as explicit, further exploring conceptions of agentic groups, and examining other types of agency.