Social Opacity: Comparing Maya and National Mexican People in Chiapas, Mexico with a US Sample

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the social opacity doctrines of Maya and National Mexican people living in Chiapas, Mexico with people living in the U.S. Social opacity refers to the degree to which persons believe that others’ thoughts, feelings and inner states can or should be known to persons other than themselves. Social opacity was assessed through a scenario-based questionnaire. The scenarios assessed participants’ endorsement of opacity doctrines relating to the inner qualities of people, intentions and positive politeness. Maya participants were found to be less likely to endorse scenarios concerning attribution of intention to a target actor than participants in the U.S and non-indigenous Mexican participants. Overall, all cultural groups responded more similarly than not to scenarios centering on the themes of inner qualities and positive politeness.