We know that there are cross-cultural differences in psychological variables, such as individualism/collectivism. But it has not been clear which of these variables show relatively the greatest differences. The Survey of World Views project operated from the premise that such issues are best addressed in a diverse sampling of countries representing a majority of the world’s population, with a very large range of item-content. Data were collected online from 8,883 individuals (almost entirely college students based on local publicizing efforts) in 33 countries that constitute more than two third of the world’s population, using items drawn from measures of nearly 50 variables. This report focuses on the broadest patterns evident in item data. The largest differences were not in those contents most frequently emphasized in cross-cultural psychology (e.g., values, social axioms, cultural tightness), but instead in contents involving religion, regularity-norm behaviors, family roles and living arrangements, and ethnonationalism. Content not often studied cross-culturally (e.g., materialism, Machiavellianism, isms dimensions, moral foundations) demonstrated moderate-magnitude differences. Further studies are needed to refine such conclusions, but indications are that cross-cultural psychology may benefit from casting a wider net in terms of the psychological variables of focus.

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Objective Women with major depressive disorder (MDD) and childhood sexual abuse histories have an increased risk for suicidal behaviours, but it is unclear whether specific abuse characteristics contribute to risk. We aimed to examine the contributions of abuse characteristics to lifetime history of suicide attempts and multiple suicide attempts, independent of posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder. Method Women with MDD and sexual abuse histories (n = 106) were assessed regarding sexual abuse characteristics, psychiatric diagnoses, and suicide attempts. Results In multivariate logistic regressions, the odds of having multiple suicide attempts increased 12.27-fold when childhood sexual abuse was perpetrated by a parent figure or a parent, compared with a nonparent. Conclusions Parental perpetration of sexual abuse increases the likelihood of multiple suicide attempts among women outpatients. The relationship of the perpetrator to the abused woman is important in suicide risk evaluation and treatment planning.

Objective-To investigate the hypothesis that a history of sudden unexpected loss including number of losses and type of loss (death due to unnatural versus natural causes) would be associated with the magnitude of dysregulation. The sudden unexpected death of a loved one confers risk of morbidity and mortality, perhaps due to dysregulation in the immune/inflammatory and endocrine systems.Methods-Female primary care patients aged ≥40 years (n = 75) completed questionnaires, a clinical interview, and a blood draw. Interleukin (IL)-6 and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 were assayed, using standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay protocols and anticytokine antibody pairs.Results-History of sudden loss was positively associated with IL-6 (mean = 4.07 pg/mL; log 10 values, B = 0.314, p = .009) and negatively associated with IGF-1 (mean = 97.05 ng/mL; B = −0.277, p = .023). A linear relationship parsimoniously captured the association between ordered categories of lifetime loss (0, 1, 2-5, 5+) and increases in log 10 IL-6 (B = 0.107, p = .005) and decreases in IGF-1 (B = −0.116, p = .005). Adjusting for illness burden, depressive symptom severity, and obesity did not change the observed associations. The hypothesized effect of type of loss was not supported.Conclusions-These preliminary findings encourage further investigations to elucidate pathways from sudden unexpected loss to biomarker changes that increase risk for morbidity and mortality.

The goal of the current study was to investigate individual‐level factors associated with job burnout among probation officers (POs) and, specifically, to examine if attitudes toward probationers were linked with job burnout in the context of the recently established probation system in Turkey. Participants (N = 115) were recruited from a probation office in Istanbul. Job burnout was assessed via three components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and professional accomplishment. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that more favorable attitudes toward probationers were related to a lower sense of depersonalization and higher experience of professional accomplishment. However, POs’ attitudes toward probationers were not associated with emotional exhaustion. Our findings are discussed in light of the present empirical literature on the contextual factors influential in job burnout. Practical implications for burnout prevention point to the potential effectiveness of working on attitudes among POs toward the people they supervise.

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