Culturally Imprinted Anxiety and the Itinerary of Clinical Trial Projects for Its Management

Abstract

Anxiety has become ubiquitous in modern life, across countries. Cultural theories suggest that high uncertainty avoidance (UA) increases anxiety, while long-term orientation (LTO) decreases it. We question whether a high UA culture in a region attracts research and development (R&D) projects regarding anxiety management, compared to LTO. Furthermore, do these opposite dimensions moderate each other in attracting a pharmaceutical firm’s response? This article explores this link between the UA culture and the moderation effect of LTO. Using data on clinical trials related to anxiety management projects in 67 countries, we record 10,585 observations, capturing 4% of the global population of clinical trials on the subject. We find that the uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) shows a negative correlation with the intensity of the anxiety management project, while LTO has no significant correlation. The interaction between the two shows positive correlation. The results are found to be significant after controlling for confounding variables and robustness checks. This study makes three contributions. First, it highlights the link between culture and anxiety management projects through the clinical trial movement. Second, it contributes to cultural theory, suggesting that the UAI defines problems and LTO defines innovative solutions. It also highlights the differences and links between the UAI and LTO at the conceptual level. Thirdly, it offers general policy and practical implications.

Internet Diffusion and Ecstasy Diffusion Across Countries: The Moderating Role of National Anxiety Prevalence

“…This nonlinear reading is consistent with the manuscript's broader argument that NAP is not merely a background demographic characteristic but a national vulnerability condition that shapes how digital access is interpreted and used (Malik, 2020;Santomauro et al, 2021;Turner et al, 2018). In this sense, the evidence is consistent with treating NAP as a potential boundary condition in digital illicit-market diffusion rather than only as an independent predictor.…”

Internet Diffusion and Ecstasy Diffusion Across Countries: The Moderating Role of National Anxiety Prevalence

“…This nonlinear reading is consistent with the manuscript's broader argument that NAP is not merely a background demographic characteristic but a national vulnerability condition that shapes how digital access is interpreted and used (Malik, 2020;Santomauro et al, 2021;Turner et al, 2018). In this sense, the evidence is consistent with treating NAP as a potential boundary condition in digital illicit-market diffusion rather than only as an independent predictor.…”

Risk-taking under time-sensitivity in Sino-Pak negotiation in the context of the BRI project

“…Although this study deals with cultural friction as a moderator, it leaves the findings at an abstract level. While these authors make a valid point, and some other authors connect time and uncertainty on construal levels (Malik, 2020; Trope and Liberman, 2010), they leave the analysis abstract.…”

National Cultural Moderates the Link Between Work Stress and Depression: An Analysis of Clinical Trial Projects Across Countries

“…In the moderation analysis of posttraumatic stress disorder in the military context, masculinity has inconsistent results (Malik, 2022). In the context of clinical trials on anxiety in response to cultural differences, masculinity has a limited effect on the development of new products to solve mental health problems (Malik, 2020). Thus, it is unsurprising that the association between WS and depression did not show consistent results.…”

“…The literature shows that uncertainty avoidance decreases life satisfaction (Gaygisiz, 2010), it decreases general happiness (Steel et al, 2017), and it decreases subjective well-being (Kogan et al, 2013). In addition to the direct and moderating effects of uncertainty avoidance on general mental health, uncertainty avoidance predicts direct and moderating effects on anxiety-related new product development in an industrial setting across nations (Malik, 2020). Thus, uncertainty avoidance stands out as a dimension with consistent results.…”

“…First, long-term orientation has smaller odds than uncertainty avoidance. Second, temporality and uncertainty signal a similar phenomenon—time distance relates to uncertainty, and vice versa (Malik, 2020). Third, a prior study showed that inter-moderators can alter the moderating effects of uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation (Malik, 2022).…”

Internet Diffusion and Ecstasy Diffusion Across Countries: The Moderating Role of National Anxiety Prevalence

“…This nonlinear reading is consistent with the manuscript's broader argument that NAP is not merely a background demographic characteristic but a national vulnerability condition that shapes how digital access is interpreted and used (Malik, 2020;Santomauro et al, 2021;Turner et al, 2018). In this sense, the evidence is consistent with treating NAP as a potential boundary condition in digital illicit-market diffusion rather than only as an independent predictor.…”

Risk-taking under time-sensitivity in Sino-Pak negotiation in the context of the BRI project

“…Although this study deals with cultural friction as a moderator, it leaves the findings at an abstract level. While these authors make a valid point, and some other authors connect time and uncertainty on construal levels (Malik, 2020; Trope and Liberman, 2010), they leave the analysis abstract.…”

National Cultural Moderates the Link Between Work Stress and Depression: An Analysis of Clinical Trial Projects Across Countries

“…In the moderation analysis of posttraumatic stress disorder in the military context, masculinity has inconsistent results (Malik, 2022). In the context of clinical trials on anxiety in response to cultural differences, masculinity has a limited effect on the development of new products to solve mental health problems (Malik, 2020). Thus, it is unsurprising that the association between WS and depression did not show consistent results.…”

“…The literature shows that uncertainty avoidance decreases life satisfaction (Gaygisiz, 2010), it decreases general happiness (Steel et al, 2017), and it decreases subjective well-being (Kogan et al, 2013). In addition to the direct and moderating effects of uncertainty avoidance on general mental health, uncertainty avoidance predicts direct and moderating effects on anxiety-related new product development in an industrial setting across nations (Malik, 2020). Thus, uncertainty avoidance stands out as a dimension with consistent results.…”

“…First, long-term orientation has smaller odds than uncertainty avoidance. Second, temporality and uncertainty signal a similar phenomenon—time distance relates to uncertainty, and vice versa (Malik, 2020). Third, a prior study showed that inter-moderators can alter the moderating effects of uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation (Malik, 2022).…”

Internet Diffusion and Ecstasy Diffusion Across Countries: The Moderating Role of National Anxiety Prevalence

“…This nonlinear reading is consistent with the manuscript's broader argument that NAP is not merely a background demographic characteristic but a national vulnerability condition that shapes how digital access is interpreted and used (Malik, 2020;Santomauro et al, 2021;Turner et al, 2018). In this sense, the evidence is consistent with treating NAP as a potential boundary condition in digital illicit-market diffusion rather than only as an independent predictor.…”

Risk-taking under time-sensitivity in Sino-Pak negotiation in the context of the BRI project

“…Although this study deals with cultural friction as a moderator, it leaves the findings at an abstract level. While these authors make a valid point, and some other authors connect time and uncertainty on construal levels (Malik, 2020; Trope and Liberman, 2010), they leave the analysis abstract.…”

National Cultural Moderates the Link Between Work Stress and Depression: An Analysis of Clinical Trial Projects Across Countries

“…In the moderation analysis of posttraumatic stress disorder in the military context, masculinity has inconsistent results (Malik, 2022). In the context of clinical trials on anxiety in response to cultural differences, masculinity has a limited effect on the development of new products to solve mental health problems (Malik, 2020). Thus, it is unsurprising that the association between WS and depression did not show consistent results.…”

“…The literature shows that uncertainty avoidance decreases life satisfaction (Gaygisiz, 2010), it decreases general happiness (Steel et al, 2017), and it decreases subjective well-being (Kogan et al, 2013). In addition to the direct and moderating effects of uncertainty avoidance on general mental health, uncertainty avoidance predicts direct and moderating effects on anxiety-related new product development in an industrial setting across nations (Malik, 2020). Thus, uncertainty avoidance stands out as a dimension with consistent results.…”

“…First, long-term orientation has smaller odds than uncertainty avoidance. Second, temporality and uncertainty signal a similar phenomenon—time distance relates to uncertainty, and vice versa (Malik, 2020). Third, a prior study showed that inter-moderators can alter the moderating effects of uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation (Malik, 2022).…”