Popular media and politicians have often blamed the high public debt of some EU countries on cultural differences. These claims are most apparent in the discourse contrasting ostensibly prudent... Show morePopular media and politicians have often blamed the high public debt of some EU countries on cultural differences. These claims are most apparent in the discourse contrasting ostensibly prudent Northern Europeans with spendthrift Southern Europeans. Despite the prominence of these and similar narratives and evidence that culture plays a nontrivial role in other economic outcomes, there is no systematic evidence that culture influences attitudes towards sovereign debt in the EU. We provide the first empirical test of this claim using over 233,000 responses to a Eurobarometer question about the salience of national debt. Our analysis reveals that national and sub-national differences explain very little of the variance in debt preferences. Further, the differences that do emerge do not fit existing cultural narratives. Additional analysis reveals that established measures of national culture or religious observance, at the national and regional levels, do not correlate with debt attitudes as cultural arguments would predict. Show less
Three preregistered experiments examined to what extent information about an epidemic situation provided by experts and information about anti-infection policies promoted by governments/media... Show moreThree preregistered experiments examined to what extent information about an epidemic situation provided by experts and information about anti-infection policies promoted by governments/media influenced anti-infection behaviors. The above effects were examined among populations from different countries (in Experiments 2 and 3) and across self-construals (in Experiment 3). In three experiments, participants (N =706) were presented with a scenario where experts provided (or did not provide) information about an epidemic situation and governments/media promoted (or did not promote) information about anti-infection policies. After that, participants indicated their willingness to adopt anti-infection behaviors. Results across three experiments showed that both types of information independently increased participants’ anti-infection behaviors. In Experiments 2 and 3, we further found that the epidemic information had a larger impact on inducing anti-infection behaviors than the policy information, which was robust and consistent across countries and self-construals. Findings were discussed under the framework of social influence and in terms of practical implications for pandemic situations like the COVID-19. Show less
Barreto, M.; Breen, J.A. van; Victor, C.; Hammond, C.; Eccles, A.; Ritchins, M.; Qualter, P. 2022
The current study uses data from The BBC Loneliness Experiment to explore the social stigma of loneliness and how it varies by gender, age, and cultural individualism. We examined stigmatizing... Show moreThe current study uses data from The BBC Loneliness Experiment to explore the social stigma of loneliness and how it varies by gender, age, and cultural individualism. We examined stigmatizing judgements of people who are lonely (impressions of those who feel lonely and attributions for loneliness), perceived stigma in the community, and self-stigma (shame for being lonely and inclination to conceal loneliness), while controlling for participants’ own feelings of loneliness. The scores on most measures fell near the mid-point of the scales, but stigmatizing perceptions depended on the measure of stigmatization that was used and on age, gender, and country-level individualism. Multi-level analyses revealed that men had more stigmatizing perceptions, more perceived community stigma, but less self-stigma than women; young people had higher scores than older people on all indicators except for internal vs external attributions; and people living in collectivist countries perceived loneliness as more controllable and perceived more stigma in the community than people living in individualistic countries. Finally, young men living in individualistic countries made the most internal (vs. external) attributions for loneliness. We discuss the implications of these findings for understandings of loneliness stigma and interventions to address loneliness. Show less
Biologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships and how those differences influence culture. This study... Show moreBiologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships and how those differences influence culture. This study measures relational mobility, a socioecological variable quantifying voluntary (high relational mobility) vs. fixed (low relational mobility) interpersonal relationships. We measure relational mobility in 39 societies and test whether it predicts social behavior. People in societies with higher relational mobility report more proactive interpersonal behaviors (e.g., self-disclosure and social support) and psychological tendencies that help them build and retain relationships (e.g., general trust, intimacy, self-esteem). Finally, we explore ecological factors that could explain relational mobility differences across societies. Relational mobility was lower in societies that practiced settled, interdependent subsistence styles, such as rice farming, and in societies that had stronger ecological and historical threats. Show less
Alden, D.L.; Friend, J.; Schapira, M.; Stiggelbout, A. 2014
