Delineating Culture

How are notions of hierarchy and equality structured cognitively, how do they link to the self-concept, and how do they develop? Building on the base of work on horizontal/vertical cultural distinctions (Shavitt, Lalwani, Zhang, & Torelli, 2006), this commentary discusses possible answers to these questions, focusing specifically on beliefs (e.g., egalitarianism versus group-based dominance) and self views (e.g., active versus passive), which may allow for a deeper examination of the horizontal/vertical dimensions. Integrating insights with those from anthropology and sociology, this commentary calls for more work on silence and time, as well as research that examines the antecedents of status and the dynamics underlying “boundary-shifting”.