A RESEARCH NOTE ON TACIT ONTOLOGIES: AN APPLICATION OF NISBETT’S GEOGRAPHY OF THOUGHT PREMISE AS DISCERNED BY HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM STUDENTS

Dr. Richard Nisbett’s seminal publication appropriately titled The Geography of Thought has generated considerable scientific interest relative to the social as well as cognitive processes that underlie information processing and assimilation. The encapsulation of Nisbett’s body of research is best summarized as how people process information directly impacts what they think. Furthermore, the application of social psychology research pertaining to ontological impact upon argument and reasoning analysis is lacking in the hospitality literature. Testing Nisbett’s premise using hospitality and tourism students in China, Korea, Colombia, and the United States discovered a presence of geographical differences in information processing (decoding) of argument and reasoning statements although within group variances in information analysis was also detected. The implication is that a deeper understanding of how cognitive, sociocultural, individual, situational factors influence decision making is needed in hospitality and tourism.