Social axioms and values: a cross‐cultural examination

Leung, Kwok; Au, Al K. C.; Huang, Xu; Kurman, Jenny; Niit, Toomas; Niit, Kaisa‐Kitri

doi:10.1002/per.615

Cited by 79 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(65 reference statements)

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“…The influences of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism on Chinese thoughts are evident in empirical studies on cross-cultural comparisons of social values (e.g., Hofstede 1980;Schwartz 1992) and social axioms Leung et al 2007;Leung and Bond 2004). For instance, in Hofstede's cultural dimensions, Chinese culture is known to accept high power distance and put great emphasis on collectivism over individualism, which may reflect the values stressed in the relationship-centered Confucianism (e.g., Hofstede 1980).…”

Section: Previous Studies On Sources Of Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources of Meaning in Life Among Chinese University Students

et al. 2015

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The current studies were designed to explore the structure of sources of meaning in life among Chinese university students. In Study 1, we content-analyzed 171 students' answers to the question of what made their lives meaningful and derived 74 frequently mentioned ideas. Then, we composed a questionnaire based on these ideas and administered it to another sample of 523 university students in Study 2. Seven underlying dimensions were identified through exploratory factor analysis: Self-development (i.e., to accomplish one's aspirations and actualize one's potential), social commitment (i.e., to contribute to society and to adhere to moral principles), interpersonal relationships (i.e., relationships with family members, friends and others), secular pursuits (i.e., stable jobs, material possessions and social status), experiences in life (i.e., to experience all the joys and sorrows in life), civilization (i.e., reading, thinking, music and arts), and autonomy (i.e., to make decisions freely and take charge of one's own life). Results are discussed in light of the philosophical influences in Chinese culture, especially those from Confucianism and Taoism.

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Section: Previous Studies On Sources Of Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources of Meaning in Life Among Chinese University Students

et al. 2015

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“…Relevant psychopathological findings from other studies for this latter subscale are lacking. However, social cynicism as a socially oriented general belief is positively correlated with the societal values of power and conformity (Leung et al, 2007). Power and conformity values represent collectivist attitudes that were observed to be related to stress-associated symptoms Müller et al, 2011).…”

Section: Significant Variables βmentioning

confidence: 99%

Features of Prolonged Grief Symptoms in Chinese and Swiss Bereaved Parents

Xiu¹,

Maercker²,

Woynar³

et al. 2016

J Nerv Ment Dis

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This study investigates clinical expressions of prolonged grief in samples of 32 Chinese and 33 Swiss bereaved parents, according to the proposed International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision model of prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Sex differences and predictors (cultural attitudes, sense of coherence, and posttraumatic growth) of PGD were analyzed. In result, after controlling for sociodemographic and loss-related sample differences, both samples showed similar PGD symptom profiles, with Swiss parents exhibiting more severe grief-related preoccupation and Chinese parents exhibiting some accessory symptoms and functional impairment to a greater extent. Multivariate analyses revealed for the Chinese sample primary predictions of PGD by life satisfaction, general health and one's world view (social cynicism) and for the Swiss sample by female sex, sense of coherence, and life satisfaction. The findings substantiate the basic appropriateness of the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision PGD in distinct cultural groups and may contribute to a better understanding of grief expression and its potential predictors across different cultures.

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“…Previous studies have established that social axioms as a cognitive construct are distinct from values as a motivational construct, because values focus on "what", that is, important goals in one's life, whereas social axioms focus on "how", that is, the ways to achieve these goals (Leung, Au, Huang, Kurman, Niit, & Niit, 2007). Social axioms have also been shown to predict individual difference variables, such as vocational interests, ways of coping, and styles of conflict resolution, over and above values (Bond et al, 2004a).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do people’s world views matter? The why and how.

Chen¹,

Lam²,

Wu³

et al. 2016

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Publisher's copyright statement:c 2016 APA, all rights reserved. This article may not exactly replicate the nal version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Over the past decades, personality and social psychologists have extensively investigated the role of self-views in individual functioning. Research on world views, however, has been less generative due to overly specific conceptualizations, and little research about how and why they impact life outcomes. To answer the questions of why and how world views matter, we conducted seven studies to examine the functions, antecedents, and consequences of generalized beliefs about the world, operationalized as social axioms (Leung et al., 2002). This research focused on two axiom factors, viz., social cynicism and reward for application. These axioms were found to explain individual differences in self-views over and above personality traits in Hong Kong and US samples (Study 1) and to explain cultural differences in self-views in addition to self-construals among Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, East Asian Canadians, and European Canadians (Study 2). Endorsement of social axioms by participants, their parents, and close friends was collected from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Canada to infer parental and peer influences on world views (Study 3). World views affected psychological well-being through the mediation of positive self-views across three age groups, including children, adolescents, and young adults (Study 4) and over time (Study 5). The mediation of negative self-views was through comparative self-criticism rather than internalized self-criticism (Study 6). Holistic thinking moderated the effect of social cynicism on self-views and psychological well-being (Study 7). These results converge to show that both world views as a distal force and self-views as a proximal force matter in people's subjective evaluation of their lives. The Why and How.As a cognitive framework that helps people organize information about the self and guide their social behavior, the utility of positive and negative self-views has received growing attention in the past three decades (e.g., Kuiper & Rogers, 1979;Markus, 1977). Theory and research have demonstrated that self-views function like schemas and beliefs to affect psychological outcomes, fueling the popularity of self-help books and programs designed to boost self-esteem (Swann & Seyle, 2005).Recent critiques, however, have challenged the ...

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Social axioms and values: a cross‐cultural examination

Cited by 79 publications

References 44 publications

Sources of Meaning in Life Among Chinese University Students

Sources of Meaning in Life Among Chinese University Students

Features of Prolonged Grief Symptoms in Chinese and Swiss Bereaved Parents

Do people’s world views matter? The why and how.

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