SignificanceBiologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships—differences in relational mobility—and how those differences influence individual behaviors. We measure relational mobility in 39 societies and find that relationships are more stable and hard to form in east Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East, while they are more fluid in the West and Latin America. Results show that relationally mobile cultures tend to have higher interpersonal trust and intimacy. Exploring potential causes, we find greater environmental threats (like disease and warfare) and sedentary farming are associated with lower relational mobility. Our society-level index of relational mobility for 39 societies is a resource for future studies.
Precarious manhood beliefs portray manhood, relative to womanhood, as a social status that is hard to earn, easy to lose, and proven via public action. Here, we present cross-cultural data on a brief measure of precarious manhood beliefs (the Precarious Manhood Beliefs scale [PMB]) that covaries meaningfully with other cross-culturally validated gender ideologies and with country-level indices of gender equality and human development. Using data from university samples in 62 countries across 13 world regions ( N = 33,417), we demonstrate: (1) the psychometric isomorphism of the PMB (i.e., its comparability in meaning and statistical properties across the individual and country levels); (2) the PMB’s distinctness from, and associations with, ambivalent sexism and ambivalence toward men; and (3) associations of the PMB with nation-level gender equality and human development. Findings are discussed in terms of their statistical and theoretical implications for understanding widely-held beliefs about the precariousness of the male gender role.
Cybervictimization is a public health concern in adolescence. Victims of cyberbullying may present with important short- and long-term sequelae. Specifically, past research has demonstrated positive associations between being cybervictimized and risk of suicide among adolescents. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanisms that may mediate or moderate this relationship remain unclear. The present research examined perceived stress as a mediator and forgiveness as a moderator to explore the relationship between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation. Specifically, vengeance, avoidance, and benevolence motivations, as a means of measuring forgiveness experienced, were analyzed as moderators in the relations between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation. The sample included 1,821 adolescents (954 girls) who ranged in age from 12 to 17 years from nine centers. Adolescents’ self-reported perceived stress levels, cybervictimization, and forgiveness were collected. A mediation and a moderated mediation analyses were used to explore the aim of the present study. Results suggest that, after controlling for sex and age, perceived stress partially mediates the association between cybervictimization and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, the mediation effects of perceived stress were independently moderated by vengeance and avoidance. Thus, revenge and avoidance might intensify the adverse impact of perceived stress on suicidal ideation. These results highlight how and when cybervictimization is related to suicidal ideation. We discuss the results in relation to previous research and consider their practical implications. These findings suggest that adolescents’ perceived stress, together with vengeance and avoidance motivations, may be key targets for prevention and intervention programs dealing with cybervictimization. This highlights the need to implement treatment and prevention programs focused on decreasing such motivations.
Suicide is a public health problem that makes up the second leading cause of death for young persons aged from 15 to 29 years (World Health Organization [WHO, 2016]). This serious global health concern, especially in adolescent age groups, has become a public concern-thus calling for efforts to understand how, why, and when it can be prevented (Hinduja & Patchin, 2018). Over the past decades, some research efforts (Hinduja & Patchin, 2018; Holt et al., 2015; Klomek et al., 2010) have focused on the links between exposure to bullying and suicide. Traditional bullying (also known as face-to-face bullying) has been considered as repeated aggressive actions, extending over time and occurring in the context of a power imbalance, wherein
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