Damn! Beaten by history again

Someone seems to have already performed my psychology experiment. Yes, apparently way back in 1974, Dr. Kastenbaum hypothesized that fear of death and fertility are directly related phenomena. In fact, after experimentation, he concluded that procreation was “one among several desirable forms of self-continuation.” I’m glad that history is there to back up my ideas, but it’s kind of lame that my experiment wasn’t original.

My new idea works more with cultural psychology. Richard Nisbett, a social psychologist, has found that the basic thinking style between Westerners and Easterners differs. Among other things, Westerners tend to be “independent” and autonomous, stressing their individuality, whereas Easterners tend to be more “interdependent” on each other, stressing their sense of being part of a collective. However, I think that this interdependency disappears in the realm of competition, such as a classroom. Moreover, I believe that there will be no statistically significant difference between the independence or interdependence of Westerners and Easterners. I guess we’ll find out.