How many cultures predicted 2017

Therefore, neither the capacity for culture, nor even the process of cultural evolution across generations i. Tomasello, , is widely regarded to be unique to humans Dean et al. Several previous theories have been proposed for why humans have an apparently unique capacity for cultural ratcheting.

The most prominent view concerns particular learning mechanisms also proposed to be human unique. Conversely, non-human animals henceforth animals do not seem to exhibit the same proclivities to anything like the same degree. While there is evidence for action imitation in some species e. This has prompted theorists to propose that capacities for imitation and social learning may have represented critical cognitive developments in human evolution, allowing for cumulative culture Lewis and Laland, ; Tomasello, Converging lines of evidence from computer models, and tournaments in which alternative strategies compete in simulated mixed populations Rendell et al.

There are however a number of reasons to question the notion that particular social learning mechanisms may account for human cumulative culture. Firstly, there is now mounting evidence of imitative abilities in other species e. In addition, although cumulative culture necessarily involves social transmission as a mechanism for trait heritability, it is important to note that social learning alone cannot account for the increases in trait functionality that exemplify the process.

The development of new technologies and behaviours also depends on innovation Enquist et al. While copying error or accidental discovery, as well as intentional invention, can be sources of innovations Caldwell et al. These considerations imply that cumulative culture may be explained not only by the mechanisms available to learners, but also the contexts in which these are employed, since it is the selective and strategic use of copying that accounts for its adaptiveness; high fidelity copying may be necessary for cumulative culture to emerge, but it is not sufficient.

Indeed, models show that populations of flexible learners that can switch between social and individual learning at critical points outperform populations composed of only social learners, or only individual learners Ehn and Laland, ; Enquist et al. However, in spite of the fact that such strategies clearly have some potential to explain the selective retention of beneficial traits in learner populations, they nonetheless fail to provide an adequate explanation for the fact that cumulative culture appears to be restricted to humans.

This is because a wide range of animals have also been shown to exhibit SLS. This includes social insects Smolla et al. Planetary SLS, like laws of planetary motion, capture regularities within the observable behaviour of the entities of interest, but the rules are only in the minds of those doing the describing.

Heyes , b has thus argued that it is these explicitly metacognitive SLS that account for the elaborate outcomes of human cumulative culture. The proposal that explicit metacognitive processes may set human social learning apart from that of other animals is compelling, and persuasive theoretical arguments in its favour can be found in Shea et al.

In the current review we consider the evidence in support of this explanation which we refer to here as the Explicitly Metacognitive Cumulative Culture hypothesis, the EMCC , over and above competing alternatives. Recent literature Heyes, a elaborates further on this argument to claim that these metacognitive strategies are themselves products of cultural evolution, as well as processes supporting it. Evaluating this extension of the theory is beyond the scope of this current review however, and as such we do not discuss this argument further.

Metacognition and the EMCC as discussed here also encompass capacities for theory of mind, or mentalising. Indeed, some arguments proposing the utility of explicit metacognitive social learning strategies encompass mentalising as much as introspection e. We begin below by examining a key assumption of the EMCC hypothesis, which is that explicit metacognitive processes are restricted to humans.

The literature contains numerous claims of metacognitive ability in animals, across a broad range of species e. However, the EMCC rests on the assumption that the experimental paradigms used in these studies are assessing qualitatively different phenomena from the type of metacognition required for cumulative culture, which is assumed to be unique to humans.

In this section we examine theories and evidence underlying the assumption that alternative methodologies in metacognition research may be evaluating fundamentally different cognitive processes, and that certain types of metacognition may indeed be manifested only in humans. As noted above, a critical point in the EMCC is that only humans have conscious access to their social learning decision-making rules, whereas social learning in other animals is driven by automatic processes of which the agents themselves are unaware.

It is this difference that is proposed to account for the unusual prevalence of cumulative culture in humans, compared with other species. It is important to note that the EMCC does not imply that all human cognition involves conscious access, or indeed that all examples of social learning in humans are based on explicit processes.

Rather, the hypothesis draws on theories of human cognition which propose the existence of two systems, or two processing types. We present an overview of this body of literature below.

Theories of dual processes for various aspects of cognition have been relatively widespread since the s e. Wason and Evans, These theories state that there are two different modes of higher cognitive processing; one which is generally automatic, fast acting, non-conscious and based on associative mechanisms, and one which is conscious, slower to act and rule-based see Evans and Stanovich , for a summary of attributes typically associated with each of the processing types.

These two alternatives are generally referred to as either Systems Systems 1 and 2 , or Process Types Type 1 and 2 , to capture the automatic 1 and rule-based 2 cases, respectively. Although the idea of different Process Types offers a less theoretically loaded framework, which is potentially more consistent with a wider range of empirical evidence e.

Accordingly, it is the Systems label that has been used in the literature relating dual process theories to human cultural evolution Shea et al. In the current review we use both terms. In relation to the issue of human distinctiveness, some accounts hold that System 1 is phylogenetically ancient, and therefore shared with other animals, whereas System 2 is more recently evolved and likely to be unique to humans.

Dual processing theories have been used as a framework for the interpretation of a diverse range of psychological phenomena, from decision making Evans, , learning Dienes and Perner, and social cognition Smith and DeCoster, Evidence for dual processing comes from dual-task studies, and tasks which apply strict time pressures.

This is because System 2 processes are argued to be taxing on executive functions and working memory capacity, as well as generally taking longer. Dual tasks are designed to put an additional load on finite cognitive capacities. If two tasks require the same cognitive mechanisms this creates a bottleneck in processing, resulting in delayed response or impaired performance in one or both tasks Pashler, This means a dual task can detect what level of processing is being used to complete a task; if task performance is unimpeded by a concurrent working memory or executive function load it is likely to be an automatic or System 1 process, whereas if working memory load significantly reduces speed or accuracy of responding it is likely to be System 2.

Participants under a working memory load have been found to make more incorrect responses based on salient information rather than logical reasoning when completing conjunction fallacy problems, or logic puzzles such as the Wason Selection Task De Neys, The application of a strict time pressure may also prevent the use of System 2, as it would not allow the longer processing time needed.

There is also some neurological evidence for dual processing systems: distinct brain activations for using logic based System 2 and belief based System 1 solutions to problems have been found using fMRI Goel and Dolan, Additionally, NIRS analysis found that areas implicated in incongruent reasoning trials were not activated when the same tasks were performed under additional cognitive load Tsujii and Watanabe, Mcclure et al.

This activation was found in a similar neurological region as areas associated with metacognition and executive functions. Dual processing theories are by no means universally accepted; see Keren and Schul or Osman for some objections. However, critical accounts have generally focused on lack of precise definitions, or evidence of overlap between the proposed dichotomy of characteristics between System 1 and System 2, concluding that the two systems cannot be considered distinct and isolable.

However, Evans and Stanovich have argued that this is merely a poor interpretation of the literature, and that most of the features commonly described as differentiating Type 1 and 2 are just correlates typical of the processing types, and that these should not be expected to operate in a categorical, mutually-exclusive fashion.

However, in order to fully understand and evaluate these accounts, it is important to also consider metacognitive processes more generally, and then to turn to the question of how these relate to the dual process framework detailed above. Flavell split this into four separate components: knowledge of your own cognitive abilities and of learning processes , experiences current feelings of certainty or doubt , goals objectives you have in order to achieve your current cognitive task and actions behaviours employed to achieve these objectives.

The term metacognition therefore encompasses a wide variety of phenomena. Accordingly, it has been used to describe a broad spectrum of findings identified in a wide range of contexts, from detecting tiny changes in perceptual stimuli Deroy et al. In a large proportion of experimental research, metacognition has typically been operationalised as judgements of confidence in performance of an activity just completed Judgements of Confidence; JOC , or ratings of prospective performance in an activity about to be completed Feeling of Knowing; FOK Nelson and Narens, Any paradigm involving direct report of degree of confidence, doubt or uncertainty, necessarily requires awareness of these states, and therefore would be classified as implicating explicit metacognition.

However other, more indirect, methods have also been used as means of evaluating metacognition, particularly within animal studies. Such designs have been used to support claims of metacognitive ability in nonhuman primates e. Call and Carpenter, However, these experiments remain contentious as demonstrations of true metacognitive ability, as adaptive performance could be explained by responses being driven by first-order states of anxiety elicited by the uncertainty of the situation, rather than second-order reflection on the state of uncertainty itself Carruthers and Ritchie, This is explained most thoroughly by Carruthers , who has argued that first-order beliefs, along with other basic mechanisms such as signal detection theory, are just as capable of explaining the findings.

The account can be summarised thus: the participant is presented with two choices that carry equal valence the animal is equally motivated to both choose and not choose either option. As soon as a third option the opt-out or uncertain option is presented this option automatically becomes the most attractive, especially given its reinforcement history of being associated with a small reward.

As this explanation is simpler, in terms of the cognition required by the animal participants, Carruthers argues convincingly that this is a more parsimonious explanation than those ascribing metacognitive capacities to animals.

These accounts make it clear that although metacognitive introspection could in principle explain the results of the studies in question, the plausibility of such interpretations is seriously challenged by the availability of simpler explanations. Shea et al. There are unavoidable challenges involved in establishing whether implicit and explicit metacognitive responses depend on different cognitive processes, especially if our ultimate motivation is to determine whether one is a distinctive feature of human cognition.

Adult humans are necessarily capable of both, and we can only use non-verbal measures with animals due to the language requirements of direct assessments of explicit metacognition. However, patterns of emergence during human development potentially provide another source of evidence that could shed light on the relationship between implicit and explicit metacognitive behaviour, and whether implicit adaptive responding can occur in the absence of explicit competence.

Behavioural tests of metacognitive competence have also included assessment of spontaneous information-seeking prior to committing to a response. These paradigms also potentially provide an insight into implicit reactions to the state of ignorance, without necessarily implicating metacognitive awareness of that state.

These studies will not be described in detail here, as reports of implicit metacognitive measures are not directly relevant to the current review. However, please see Bernard et al. In spite of the early development of such behavioural responses to uncertainty analogous to the evidence from animals , evidence of explicit metacognitive understanding only appears to emerge later.

Although verbal reports can be readily obtained from preschool aged children, studies requiring them to verbalise their own state of knowledge nonetheless indicate that they have difficulty doing this and that when they do they show a pervasive bias towards overestimation of their own knowledge and performance e.

Rohwer et al. The earliest examples of accurate performance based on explicit measures of metacognition come from children of around four to five years old.

For example, Rohwer et al. Cultice et al. The adaptive responses to uncertainty identified in children younger than four years old including those aged one and two, e. Goupil et al. However, this kind of competence appears to precede the ability to provide explicit, accurate evaluations of states of knowledge, which apparently only develops some years later. This would therefore seem to corroborate accounts which propose that successful performance on the alternative task types is underpinned by different processes, and that the animal studies therefore do not provide evidence of explicit metacognition.

As an explanation for distinctively human cumulative culture, the EMCC rests on two fundamental assumptions. The first of these is the corresponding distinctiveness of explicit metacognition as examined in the preceding section. The second of these is that the resulting reflective awareness of states of knowledge, ignorance and uncertainty identified as the defining feature of explicit metacognition offers significant benefits with regard to the optimisation of social information use, in ways that could explain the ratchet-like advances which distinguish human culture from the traditions of other species.

Having considered the first of these premises in the preceding sections, we now turn to the second. What basis is there, either evidential or logical, for believing that explicit metacognition might enable cumulative culture? What are the potential routes by which this might occur? We hope that by clarifying the potential links between explicit metacognition and cumulative culture we can identify areas where evidence is lacking, with a view to informing future research efforts investigating the EMCC.

Explicit metacognition could potentially enable cumulative culture in a number of different ways. Below, we categorise the potential benefits as arising from receiver behaviour, or sender behaviour. It should be noted at this point that the existing accounts of the EMCC focus, respectively, on optimisation of sender behaviour due to understanding of own knowledge state Shea et al. In much the same way that metacognitive awareness is assumed to facilitate academic performance Dunlosky and Metcalfe, it is possible that it could similarly enable cumulative culture for reasons that are not inherently linked to how an agent understands or interacts with others.

This awareness might also be crucial when acquiring a new skill or knowledge is likely to require a protracted period of effortful practice before mastery is achieved.

Essentially, we would predict that such awareness would result in social information being used in a much more optimal fashion than would otherwise be possible, encouraging highly strategic social information seeking, as well as direction of effort towards innovation when social information sources are judged to be inadequate. However, some authors have alluded more tangentially to the importance of self-focussed strategic effort in social learning. Rather, there is learning by observation that an act is possible….

Then, over time, she can bring that first approximation into greater accord with the demonstrated act. Galef also suggests that such learning may be particularly important for cumulative culture. As noted above, this would be a route by which explicit metacognition might be critical to generating cumulative culture without the effects being restricted to social learning specifically.

In the accounts of both Shea et al. It is perhaps not surprising that, in attempting to explain a phenomenon which itself certainly does depend on social learning, authors have focused on explanations which would specifically facilitate that type of learning over and above others.

However, we would suggest that explicit metacognition might potentially facilitate efficient use of any kind of vicariously acquired information, as well as helping in any situation where habitual or automatic responses may need to be overridden due to the availability of up-to-date, or situation-specific, information which indicates that these are not appropriate.

Although such situations will be by no means restricted to contexts involving social information use, the need to override default automatic and habitual responses may be a prevalent feature of these contexts.

Taking full advantage of this new information might necessitate an immediate switch in foraging strategy, overriding habitual responses which have been directly reinforced on multiple occasions. Although similar exposure to new information might occur outside of social contexts e.

Furthermore, once transgenerational accumulation of knowledge was in evidence, social sources would then effectively become repositories of particularly valuable information that might be otherwise hard to acquire. Therefore the benefits of this type of learning might be most apparent in social contexts, even though the learning mechanisms themselves would be general-purpose ones, not specifically adapted for use in social contexts.

Overlap between the concepts of executive function and metacognition have been acknowledged in the existing literature e. Roebers, Indeed, some research effort has already been targeted at the question of whether executive function limitations specifically difficulties with inhibition might explain the absence of cumulative culture in chimpanzees e.

Davis et al. We would see such an explanation as falling under the umbrella of the broader EMCC, within this particular category of optimisation of receiver behaviour due to understanding of own knowledge state.

This would then allow others to make more strategic use of that social information, weighting information more heavily when a source reports confidence, or disregarding conflicting information when a source reports high levels of uncertainty.

There is some experimental evidence suggesting that this kind of metacognitive communication does indeed improve the efficacy of social information use. For example Bahrami et al. When members of a pair had similar visual acuity, they performed better as a pair than they did individually, as long as they were given the opportunity to communicate freely. The authors concluded that this benefit was attributable to the participants providing accurate estimates of their own confidence level within their communication.

Heyes, , are using the term metacognition in a context that, in other areas of the literature, would be regarded as non-standard, and possibly even controversial e. Nichols and Stich, Premack and Woodruff, , has been a focus of much empirical enquiry and many theoretical analyses in both comparative and developmental psychology, and therefore we do not intend to reiterate findings or conclusions in depth here. Krupenye et al. Wellman et al. Apperly and Butterfill, two-systems account is perhaps the most high profile of the theories that have been proposed to reconcile these findings although others exist, e.

Perner and Roessler, From , Taking Part has initiated a children questionnaire by randomly selecting children aged 11—15 in surveyed households[ 40 — 45 ]. In this study, we only considered participants with children who were aged 11—15 and had completed the children questionnaires.

We combined the data from these three waves, providing a total sample of 1, children. Consent for the interview was obtained verbally and parental permission was recorded at the appropriate point in the instruments for participants under age This study focused on three main aspects of children arts and cultural participation: i engaging in performing arts activities including dance activities e.

For each aspect, children respondents were asked whether they had participated in any of the activities in the past 12 months. To understand patterns of variation in-school and out-of-school engagement, we considered a set of socio-demographic predictors.

A full description of parental previous and current engagement in the arts can be found in Appendix B. To examine the associations between socio-demographic factors and arts and cultural engagement during school time and free time, we used multivariable logistic regression analyses. A total of individuals were missing data on one or more variables So multiple imputation by chained equations using the predictor variables outlined above were used to create 50 imputed datasets to account for the missingness.

Imputed and non-imputed data provided similar results, so we report findings from the imputed data set. All analyses were weighted using the weights supplied by the survey administrators to ensure our sample was representative [ 40 ]. Odds ratios OR are presented in our models, showing the odds that a young person would be frequently engaged in the arts depending on each socio-demographic factor. In our analyses, model 1 included socio-demographic characteristics, while model 2 included parental arts engagement whilst adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics.

All analyses met regression assumptions and were carried out using Stata v Table 1. The distribution of arts and cultural engagement during school time and free time by socio-demographic factors are shown in S1 — S3 Tables.

Outside of school, there was evidence of a social gradient across all three activities. Girls were more likely than boys to engage in all activities, with 3. Children who lived in social housing compared with children whose parents rented or owned their houses were 1.

Children were also more likely to engage in the arts if their parents had done so in the past 12 months, with 2. However, there was no evidence of differential engagement by parental marital status, whether parents were working or economically inactive, and nor was whether parents had a degree or not Tables 2 — 4. In school, there was little evidence of a social gradient across all three activities. But there were no further differences.

The main finding of this study is that socio-economic factors predicted arts engagement outside of school, but not in school. Specifically, out of school, children from lower SES families are less likely to participate in the arts especially performing arts or engage with culture e. Although there has already been evidence showing the social and economic determinants of arts and cultural participation in adults [ 2 , 35 — 37 , 46 ], this is the first study to examine whether the patterns of engagement are the same for children, and the first to specifically compare differences in engagement at school and outside of school.

There are two main inferences from these findings. It is possible that this is because factors such as wealth mean that some families are less able to pay for activities for their children. Indeed, our results for cultural engagement showed that children who live in social housing which suggests lower levels of wealth are less likely to go to museums, archives or heritage sites.

Whilst some of these activities are free, many require fees either for entry or for travelling to sites. It is also possible, however, that parents of higher SES themselves were more likely to have engaged in the arts as children and were more likely to value arts engagement than parents who do not have past childhood experience of higher levels of engagement.

This supports theories and previous studies which suggest that there is an intergenerational transmission of cultural capital from parents to children through tastes and preferences, cultural goods, books or arts [ 39 , 48 ]. It has been argued that cultural reproduction tends to occur through family upbringing in which the arts are more likely to be recognised by privileged families [ 39 ].

This may suggest that children who engage in the arts frequently may be more likely to engage with their parents who are likely to encourage and support engagement. Parents of children who are highly engaged in the arts may also actively guide their children to participate in cultural activities.

On the one hand, such a finding might seem obvious as participation at school is often compulsory, rather than voluntary. However, policy developments in the past decade have had a marked effect on provision of the arts in school settings.

There has been a steady decrease in arts and cultural participation between and among children in the UK [ 49 , 50 ]. Subjects like Art and Design and Music are not currently included in the national curriculum at secondary Key Stage 4 level ages around 14—16 [ 51 ].

Students in schools where these subjects are not available at this level may have limited opportunities to participate in artistic activities during school lessons where supplies, materials and resources are usually provided or subsidised.

Further, more schools have also reduced or completely removed Music in the curriculum as early as for secondary year 7 students around age 11 or have changed Music as an optional subject at secondary Key Stage 3 level ages around 11—14 despite Music being in the National Curriculum for these school years [ 52 , 53 ].

In the absence of obligatory engagement in the arts, there has been an ongoing decrease in voluntary uptake of arts subjects at school [ 54 , 55 ]. It is encouraging that results still suggest that there are not yet clear social gradients on in-school participation, but it remains to be seen how patterns of inequalities in participation develop in schools as the effects of these policies are realised over the coming years.

Not only might the reduction in arts classes pose a challenge to artistic development amongst students that could have implications for other academic-related outcomes such as writing achievement and academic buoyancy [ 24 , 56 , 57 ], but these changes in the delivery of arts opportunities within schools may lead to imbalances in participation amongst young people, widening inequalities in access.

Therefore, the findings from this study suggest the importance of school settings for providing equal access to the arts amongst children, in contrast to outside of school, where efforts to enhance participation could risk exacerbating the differences in participation across the social gradient. As a result, policies and practices relating to the promotion of child arts engagement in schools may be a more equal way of trying to ensure universal access to the arts amongst children.

Our research also showed some further noteworthy results. First, while higher SES is positively associated with children performing arts activities and attendance in archives, museums or heritage sites, it is also of note that children from a family with lower levels of wealth as indicated by living in social housing were more likely to engage in arts, crafts and design activities out of school. One possibility is that this type of activity is least expensive, not depending as much either on admissions costs and travel, or on tuition.

However, future research could consider why we see different socio-economic relationships with certain arts activities but not others and what the barriers or enablers of different types of arts participation amongst children might be.

Further, our results show that children living in rural areas are more likely to engage in arts, crafts and design activities outside school than those who lived in urban areas. This is supported by previous studies which show that participation rates in the arts are higher in rural areas than in urban areas [ 5 , 58 , 59 ].

However, no differences are found for other types of engagement. While urban areas may have higher levels of take-up or provision of wide ranging arts and cultural activities as well as have better accessibility to these activities , rural areas may offer different types of arts and cultural opportunities e.

It is also plausible that people living in rural areas may have greater interest for creative arts engagement or have fewer social, personal and financial barriers to engagement than their urban counterparts [ 59 ]. However, engagement levels may still vary within cities, towns and villages and across regional locations. Second, female children are likely to engage in the arts, both at schools and outside of school. It is possible this is due to gendered social perception of the arts, as has previously been reported [ 60 — 62 ].

But more research is needed to understand fully why this is and how equal access and engagement can be promoted across genders. Finally, we found that children from an ethnic minority background are more likely to visit archives, museums or heritage sites with school, while less likely to do so outside of school compared to children of white ethnicity. One explanation for this lower out-of-school participation could be related to psychological barriers; it has been suggested that individuals from ethnic minority groups are more likely to have concerns about feeling uncomfortable when engaging in cultural and heritage activities [ 63 ].

Alternatively, it is plausible that children from ethnic minority groups may be more likely to be frequently engaged in other cultural activities e. Future research is needed to explore these wider types of cultural behaviours.

Also, it is unclear whether the higher engagement in school reflects more opportunities for heritage visits amongst schools with a high proportion of children from ethnic minority backgrounds or a greater uptake amongst these children, perhaps due to increased motivation from parents to consent to such trips due to lower levels of such engagement outside of school.

This suggests that in-school arts provision may help alleviate the psychological barrier that might otherwise have occurred when engaging outside of school.

A major strength of this study is that the results were based on a nationally representative sample of children in the UK. However, we relied on child self-report of arts engagement, which is likely affected by recall bias. Whilst we categorised engagement into frequent vs infrequent engagement rather than relying on the precise recall as to the number of times children had engaged, these results remain to be corroborated by adult self-report in future studies.

We only focused on three main types of arts activities that are common amongst children. It may be interesting to examine other types of arts activities such as digital arts and street arts that may have different patterns of engagement. Further, the frequency question in the survey for performing arts categorised activities that are more active e.

Future study is encouraged to disentangle whether engagement is different across these active and receptive art forms. Relatedly, although the arts categories are based on a previous study on the definition of arts forms for population-based research [ 2 ], each specific activity may have different socio-demographic patterns. Additionally, we focused on a particular age range of children. Other studies may like to explore the relationship amongst younger children. Finally, we did not have a measure of what was available for children to engage with in their local area or at school [ 5 ].

Future studies could consider what types of schools children attended some schools in the UK such as academies are not required to follow the national curriculum , as well as whether the distribution of cultural assets or availability of funding for arts activities affects participation rates.

School provision of arts and cultural activities therefore appears important in ensuring that access to the arts is equal during crucial developmental periods. Our study suggests that attention to in-school arts provision is necessary, as school creates an equal environment for children to be exposed to various arts activities that is also amenable to interventions to increase participation rates.

Given the well-documented evidence on the link between arts engagement and multiple social determinants of health including child development and educational attainment and wide-ranging mental and physical health outcomes, ensuring equality of access is an important topic in trying to help reduce social and health inequalities. Browse Subject Areas? Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field. Abstract There is evidence on the health, social and developmental benefits of arts and cultural participation for young people.

Introduction Adolescence is a transitional period from childhood to adulthood in which young people experience biopsychosocial development, influencing their cognitive ability, efficiency of thought, reasoning, emotional lability, autonomy, self-identity and social identity [ 1 ]. Measurements This study focused on three main aspects of children arts and cultural participation: i engaging in performing arts activities including dance activities e. Analysis To examine the associations between socio-demographic factors and arts and cultural engagement during school time and free time, we used multivariable logistic regression analyses.

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Among the entire U. On the whole, Asian Americans do well on measures of economic well-being compared with the overall U.

Foreign-born Asian households earned slightly more than those headed by U. These overall figures hide differences among Asian origin groups, however. All told, 12 Asian origin groups had higher median household incomes than the median among all Americans.

Poverty rates among U. Again, there are large differences in poverty rates among Asian subgroups. Most of the Asian origin groups analyzed 12 of 19 had poverty rates that were as high as or higher than the U. Similar shares of U. Both figures are substantially higher than the share of all U.

Much like economic trends within the U. Asian population, there are wide disparities among origin groups. Indians ages 25 and older have the highest level of educational attainment among U. The Asian population , or the number of individuals choosing one or more Asian races, is The shares reporting specific Asian origin groups have been corrected to reflect the shares of the Asian population, rather than the shares of the Asian responses. No other findings in the report and fact sheets have been affected by these changes.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published Sept. Read full methodology here. Fresh data delivered Saturday mornings. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions.