Influences on the knowledge and beliefs of ordinary people about developmental hierarchies

Binstock, Georgina; Thornton, Arland; Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal; Ghimire, Dirgha J.; Xie, Yu; Yount, Kathryn M.

doi:10.1177/0020715213506726

Cited by 13 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…In general, higher social status is associated with greater tolerance of nontraditional behaviors such as cohabitation (Thornton and Philipov 2009). In addition, education tends to broaden viewpoints by providing new knowledge about the outside world (Binstock et al 2013). Thus we expect cohabitation experience to be more common among respondents with higher education and/or from higher-status families.…”

Section: Data Methods and Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cohabitation in China: Trends and Determinants

Xie

2015

Population & Development Rev

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109

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Using recent, nationally representative data, we examine the prevalence and social determinants of premarital cohabitation, an important sign of the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) in China. Descriptive results show that although only about 7 percent of Chinese adults born before 1980 cohabited before first marriage, cohabitation has grown sharply among recent birth cohorts. Based on the theoretical perspectives of “ideational change” and “economic development,” we conduct multivariate analyses of social determinants of cohabitation that may reveal potential mechanisms of its diffusion. We find that greater exposure to Western culture, higher educational attainment for men, and more advantaged family background were all positively related to premarital cohabitation. Our results also show the influence of a unique social institution in China, with Communist Party members less likely than their counterparts to cohabit before first marriage. Broadly speaking, the positive association between economic development and local rates of premarital cohabitation suggests the transformative influence of modernization on family systems.

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Section: Data Methods and Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cohabitation in China: Trends and Determinants

Xie

2015

Population & Development Rev

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109

157

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“…Contemporary research on developmental hierarchy suggests that the writings of social scientist and the programs and policies of the world polity have successfully disseminated hierarchical beliefs about countries and cultures throughout the world. Survey data collected in many different countries have produced a growing body of evidence in support of a common understanding of the rank ordering of countries on development Binstock et al 2013;Melegh et al 2013;Csánóová 2013). That is, when asked to rate countries by level of development, respondents from countries as different as Argentina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Nepal, Taiwan and the United States constructed very similar hierarchies that were also highly correlated with objective measures of development such as the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI).…”

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Chinese and world cultural models of developmental hierarchy

Dorius

2016

Chinese Journal of Sociology

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Prior research on cultural models of developmental hierarchy finds broad cross-national agreement among publics about the rank ordering of societies on perceived level of development, based on an omnibus measure of development. In this research, I use a multidimensional index of world hierarchy derived from subjective evaluations of a large number of national attributes to explore dimensionality in Chinese perceptions of global hierarchy. Statistical analysis show that the data exhibit over time stability and strong association with objective measures of development and with alternate subjective measures of world hierarchy. Irrespective of the national attributes evaluated, Chinese respondents produced a very similar rank-ordering of countries on each of six different indexes. The Chinese model of world hierarchy shows broad overlap with the global hierarchy produced by raters from 19 other surveyed publics. Notable differences between Chinese and world cultural models of hierarchy include especially negative views of Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India among Chinese respondents, and unusually favorable opinions of Russia, relative to the ratings of these countries by other publics. Analyses also show that respondents from 19 societies ranked China higher on the cultural dimension than on any other dimension but ranked the Chinese government lower than all but one country. Results suggest that scales based on an omnibus subjective measure of developmental hierarchy and indexes based on subjective ratings of national attributes produce a similar world hierarchy of nations. Disciplines Social Psychology and Interaction | Sociology of Culture CommentsThis is a manuscript of an article published as Dorius, Shawn F. "Chinese and world cultural models of developmental hierarchy. Abstract:Prior research on cultural models of developmental hierarchy finds broad agreement among publics in diverse countries about the rank ordering of countries on perceived level of development, based on an omnibus measure of development. In this research, I use a multidimensional measure of world hierarchy to explore dimensionality in models of global hierarchy. A detailed analysis of the Chinese model of hierarchy identifies content domains where country-specific models of hierarchy differ from world cultural models. Irrespective of the national attributes evaluated, Chinese respondents produced very similar hierarchies on each six different indexes. The Chinese model of hierarchy shows broad overlap with the world culture model, suggesting that an omnibus measure of developmental hierarchy is sufficient to measure global hierarchy. Notable differences between Chinese and world cultural models of hierarchy indicate that Chinese respondents hold especially negative views of Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India, and unusually favorable opinions of Russia. Analyses also show that respondents from 19 countries ranked China higher on the cultural dimension than any other dimension but ranked the Chinese government lower than all but one...

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“…Furthermore, survey data from several countries from diverse settings document that general publics understand development and developmental hierarchies and do so in ways closely resembling descriptions used by the United Nations (Binstock and Thornton 2007; Binstock et al 2013; Csánóová 2013; Melegh et al 2013; Thornton, Binstock, and Ghimire 2008; Thornton et al 2012b). Participants in 16 social surveys fielded in 14 countries and representing every major world region and level of living were asked to rate a set of countries on development on a scale from zero (or one) to ten.…”

Section: The Spread and Effects Of Developmental Idealismmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Figure 1 provides a summary view of the strength of agreement between UN HDI ratings on the national development of 55 countries and the average public ratings gleaned from the surveys in 14 countries (Binstock et al 2013; Csánóová 2013; Melegh et al 2013; Thornton et al 2012b). 3 Figure 1 shows a remarkable correspondence between respondent averages and UN HDI scores, with the correlation between the two sets of ratings being .76.…”

Section: The Spread and Effects Of Developmental Idealismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This growing research has shown that the beliefs and values of developmental idealism have spread not only to the world's rich and powerful individuals and large international organizations, but to the citizens of many countries throughout the world (Abbasi-Shavazi et al 2012; Binstock and Thornton 2007; Binstock et al 2013; Lai and Thornton 2014; Melegh et al 2013; Thornton et al 2012a; 2012b; 2014a; 2014b; Xie et al 2012). This new research has also provided additional insights about how the spread of developmental idealism has affected many aspects of family behavior, including gender roles, marriage, childbearing, living arrangements, and divorce (Allendorf 2013; Allendorf and Thornton forthcoming ; Cammack and Heaton 2011; Kavas and Thornton 2013; Pierotti 2013; Thornton and Philipov 2009; Thornton 2010; Yount and Rashad 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Developmental Idealism

Thornton

Dorius

Swindle

2015

Sociology of Development

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This paper extends theory and research concerning cultural models of development beyond family and demographic matters to a broad range of additional factors, including government, education, human rights, daily social conventions, and religion. Developmental idealism is a cultural model—a set of beliefs and values—that identifies the appropriate goals of development and the ends for achieving these goals. It includes beliefs about positive cause and effect relationships among such factors as economic growth, educational achievement, health, and political governance, as well as strong values regarding many attributes, including economic growth, education, small families, gender equality, and democratic governance. This cultural model has spread from its origins among the elites of northwest Europe to elites and ordinary people throughout the world. Developmental idealism has become so entrenched in local, national, and global social institutions that it has now achieved a taken-for-granted status among many national elites, academics, development practitioners, and ordinary people around the world. We argue that developmental idealism culture has been a fundamental force behind many cultural clashes within and between societies, and continues to be an important cause of much global social change. We suggest that developmental idealism should be included as a causal factor in theories of human behavior and social change.

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Influences on the knowledge and beliefs of ordinary people about developmental hierarchies

Cited by 13 publications

References 49 publications

Cohabitation in China: Trends and Determinants

Cohabitation in China: Trends and Determinants

Chinese and world cultural models of developmental hierarchy

Developmental Idealism

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