Social and cultural influences among Mexican border entrepreneurs.

Social and cultural conditions (including U.S. border and inland influence, role models within the family, and educational background) which affect locus of control and achievement motivation among Mexican entrepreneurs were explored among 64 selected entrepreneurs in two Mexican towns, one on the Mexico-U.S. border, the other located inland. Analyses showed that the border subsample scored higher on External locus of control; however, in both subsamples the father was an important element in the locus of control variable and the entrepreneur status. No statistically significant mean difference was noted for achievement motivation. Practical applications and limitations are discussed.

Cross-cultural similarities and differences in North Americans' geographic location judgments.

We examined some potential causes of bias in geographic location estimates by comparing location estimates of North American cities made by Canadian, U.S., and Mexican university students. All three groups placed most Mexican cities near the equator, which implies that all three groups were influenced by shared beliefs about the locations of geographical regions relative to global reference points. However, the groups divided North America into different regions and differed in the relative accuracy of the estimates within them, which implies that there was an influence of culture-specific knowledge. The data support a category-based system of plausible reasoning, in which biases in judgments are multiply determined, and underscore the utility of the estimation paradigm as a tool in cross-cultural cognitive research.