A Guide to Prototype Analyses in Cross-Cultural Research: Purpose, Advantages, and Risks

The prototype approach provides a theoretically supported basis for novel research, detailing “typical” cognitive representations of targets in question (e.g., groups, experiences). Fairly recently, in social and cognitive psychology, this approach has emerged to understand how people categorize and conceptualize everyday phenomena. Although this approach has previously been used to study everyday concepts, it has predominantly been overlooked in cross-cultural research. Prototype analyses are flexible enough to allow for the identification of both universal and culture-specific elements, offering a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the concept in question. We highlight theoretical, empirical, and practical reasons why prototype analyses offer an important tool in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary research while also addressing the potential for reducing construct bias in research that spans multiple cultural contexts. The advantages and risks of conducting prototype analyses are discussed in detail along with novel ways of integrating computational approaches with traditional prototype-analyses methods to assist in their implementation.