Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

PSYCHOLOGY

What the mind is

Nature Human Behaviour volume 5, pages 1269–1270 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

What is the mind? Scientists may not agree on an answer, but new research shows that people across diverse cultures do. This shared conception of the human mind appears to be a cognitive structure that organizes numerous mental capacities along a small number of dimensions: bodily sensation, cognition and, in some cultural settings, emotion.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Gray, H. M., Gray, K. & Wegner, D. M. Science 315, 619–619 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Weisman, K., Dweck, C. S. & Markman, E. M. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 11374–11379 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Weisman, K. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01184-8 (2021).

  4. Shepard, R. N. Psychometrika 27, 219 (1962).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Srivastava, S., Guglielmo, S. & Beer, J. S. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 98, 520–534 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Malle, B. F. How many dimensions of mind perception really are there? In Proc. 41st Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (eds. Goel, E. K. et al.) 2268–2274 (Cognitive Science Society, 2019).

  7. Tomasello, M. & Vaish, A. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 64, 231–255 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Goodwin, G. P. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 24, 38–44 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Leach, C. W., Bilali, R. & Pagliaro, S. in APA Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 2: Group Processes (eds. Mikulincer, M. et al.) 123–149 (American Psychological Association, 2015).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Bertram F. Malle

Authors
  1. Bertram F. Malle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bertram F. Malle.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Malle, B.F. What the mind is. Nat Hum Behav 5, 1269–1270 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01183-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01183-9

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing