of ability and competence, thrives on its century-long theoretical and psycho-
metric tradition of IQ testing. It stresses mental functioning that mostly in-
volves logical-mathematical and verbal skills. Despite expanded delineations
of intelligence in recent decades (Gardner, 1983; Sternberg, 1985; Vernon,
1969), intelligence is undoubtedly understood as a property of the mind,
which enables humans to learn things other species are incapable of learning
(Pinker, 1997).
Yet, different cultures have views that diverge from this Western concept.
For example, African conceptions of intelligence focus on wisdom, trustwor-
thiness, and social attentiveness (Dasen, 1984; Serpell, 1993; Super 1983;
Wober, 1974). Japanese conceptions elaborate on different kinds of social
competence such as one’s ability to sympathize with others (Azuma &
Kashiwagi, 1987). Similarly, Chinese notions of intelligence also emphasize,
in addition to general cognitive ability, effort, a sense of humility, and moral
self-striving (Li, 2002a; Yang & Sternberg, 1997). Within the United States,
ethnic groups also have different views of intelligence; for example, Latinos
regard social-competence as part of intelligence more than their Anglo coun-
terparts whereas Cambodians stress hard work and observance of school
rules (Okagaki & Sternberg, 1993).
Different cultural meanings and beliefs about intelligence can influence
the role intelligence plays in learning. Thus, intelligence in the West is often
believed to be the cause of learning and academic achievement. Those who
possess a higher level of intelligence, however measured, are generally be-
lieved more capable of learning and achieving (Covington, 1992; Nicholls,
1984; Varenne & McDermott, 1998). Recent research indeed documents the
positive impact of Westerners’ belief in their ability on their persistence, as
well as performance of academic tasks (Heine et al., 2001).
In general, research is scarce on how various views of intelligence from di-
verse cultures and ethnic groups may influence individuals’ learning. Neverthe-
less, there is some research indicating that Western style educational systems in
Africa (e.g., Zambia) do not accommodate the learning of local children who
hold different views of intelligence (Serpell, 1993). Also compared to their
Western counterparts, Japanese students who believe in increasing their ability
through effort (i.e., incremental theory of intelligence, Dweck, 1999) have been
shown to persist longer after failure (Heine et al., 2001). Similarly, Chinese
adults and children are more inclined to view ability as something that they
achieve through personal effort and social factors rather than something that
causes achievement per se (Li, 2001, 2003b, 2003c).
Achievement and Its Motivation
Much cross-cultural research focuses on children’s school achievement, par-
ticularly on comparing Asian and Western children. It has been widely docu-
mented that Asian children achieve highly, most notably in math and science
388 LI AND FISCHER