Social ecology of complex thinking

Abstract

Does socio-ecological context influence individual thought complexity? The phenomenological gap between culture-level ecological variables and individual complexity is large, and yet socio-ecological theory suggests the larger cultural context could systematically influence individual thought complexity. The present 3 studies evaluate this relationship by using culture-level ecological stressors to predict individual integrative complexity of political speeches (Studies 1 and 2) or a survey of socioecological stressor recognition to predict the complexity of open-ended opinion statements from laypersons (Study 3). Specifically, Study 1 evaluated political speeches across 9 nations from 1990 to 2023, and Study 2 evaluated political speeches across 50 U.S. states from 2000 to 2023. Increased culture-level resource scarcity was associated with lower individual-level complexity in both Studies 1 and 2, but increased economic inequality/diversity was associated with lower complexity only across nations in Study 1. Using a nationwide survey of American participants, Study 3 showed that increased awareness of socioecological stressors decreased complexity. Analysis of complexity subtypes suggest these effects are likely due to both cognitive strain (all three studies) and strategic defense of beliefs (Study 3). This multi-method, multi-national set of findings suggests that socio-ecological theories can be better applied to understand the ecological origins of complex thought.