Abstract: Investigation into eastern and western thinking styles has been a hot-topic in the field of cultural psychology during recent decades. This article focuses on psychological studies on thinking style and analyzes the transition of the investigation routes along with the development of psychological researches. It stresses the contrast between eastern and western thinking styles and the theoretical and empirical analyses of Chinese thinking style. The analysis has great theoretical and practical significance in understanding the influence of Chinese thinking style and in promoting the cultural communication between the east and the west. The article also points out the future direction of thinking style research

Key words: culture, cultural psychology, thinking style, Chinese holistic thinking style scale