1. A Global Study of Social Axioms Kwok Leung City University of Hong Kong Michael Harris Bond Chinese University of Hong Kong

2. Social axioms  A social axiom is a generalized belief which is central in a person's belief system, and its function is to enhance the survival and functioning of the person in his/her social and physical environment.

3. Why are social axioms useful to explain cross-cultural differences?  Beliefs are related to a variety of social behaviors.  Social axioms should demonstrate more cross-cultural variability than concepts frequently used in explaining cultural differences, such as values.

4. Identification of social axioms  Western psychological literature  Qualitative research in Hong Kong and Venezuela  Open-ended questionnaire  Interview  Content analysis of popular songs, newspapers, magazines, and primary and secondary school textbooks

5. The Social Axioms Survey  182 items  Administered in Hong Kong and Venezuela  Both college students and adults in both sites  Factor analysis

6. Five factors  Social cynicism  A negative view of human nature and social events  Reward for application  The belief that effort will lead to positive outcomes  Social complexity  Multiple solutions to problems and the uncertainty of events  Fate control  a deterministic view of social events  Religiosity (Previously named as Spirituality)  the existence of a supreme being and positive consequences of religions

7. Replication in U.S., Japan, and Germany  60 items short form created  Administered to college students  Confirmatory factor analysis

8. Round the world study  Over 40 samples  Students (40 culture)  Adults (13 cultures)  Factor analysis based on a meta-analytic procedure  Normalize the correlation matrix for each culture  Average the matrices across cultures  Transform the average matrix into a correlation matrix again

9. Evaluate the factor solution across the two samples  Highly similar factor structures across the two samples  High correlations between student and adult means for each factor  The student data is used as the sample size is larger

10. Social Axioms Factor Structure and Summary Findings

11. Social Cynicism (CYN) ItemFactor Loading 1. Powerful people tend to exploit others..60 2. Power and status make people arrogant..59 3. Kind-hearted people usually suffer losses..57 4. Kind-hearted people are easily bullied..53 5. People will stop working hard after they secure a comfortable life..45 6. Old people are usually stubborn and biased..45 7. The various social institutions in society are biased towards the rich..44 8. It is rare to see a happy ending in real life..44 9. To care about societal affairs only brings trouble for yourself..42 10. People deeply in love are usually blind..39 11. Young people are impulsive and unreliable..38 - College student samples from 40 countries

12. Social Complexity (PLEX) ItemFactor Loading 1. People may have opposite behaviors on different occasions..60 2. Human behavior changes with the social context..54 3. One’s behaviors may be contrary to his or her true feelings..54 4. One has to deal with matters according to the specific circumstances..48 5. Current losses are not necessarily bad for one’s long-term future..40 6. There is only one way to solve a problem.*.39 * Reverse item - College student samples from 40 countries

13. Reward for Application (RA) ItemFactor Loading 1. One will succeed if he/she really tries..63 2. Hard working people will achieve more in the end..59 3. Adversity can be overcome by effort..56 4. Every problem has a solution..50 5. Knowledge is necessary for success..49 6. One who does not know how to plan his or her future will eventually fail..45 7. Competition brings about progress..42 8. Failure is the beginning of success..40 9. Caution helps avoid mistakes..36 - College student samples from 40 countries

14. Religiosity (REL) ItemFactor Loading 1. Belief in a religion helps one understand the meaning of life..75 2. Religious faith contributes to good mental health..72 3. There is a supreme being controlling the universe..62 4. Belief in a religion makes people good citizens..61 5. Religion makes people escape from reality.*.59 6. Religious beliefs lead to unscientific thinking.*.54 7. Religious people are more likely to maintain moral standards..51 * Reverse item - College student samples from 40 countries

15. Fate Control (FATE) ItemFactor Loading 1. Individual characteristics, such as appearance and birthday, affect one’s fate..60 2. There are many ways for people to predict what will happen in the future..60 3. There are certain ways to help us improve our luck and avoid unlucky things..52 4. Most disasters can be predicted..51 5. Fate determines one’s successes and failures..48 6. Good luck follows if one survives a disaster..48 - College student samples from 40 countries

16. Citizen Means of 40 Countries

17. Correlations with Social Indicators  Social Cynicism  Life satisfaction (-.69)  View on leadership: Charismatic/value based (-.65)  Achievement via conformity (-.62)

18. Correlations with Social Indicators (Cont’d)  Social Complexity  Other-referenced performance motive (-.60)  Percentage of showing interest in politics (.55) )  Percentage of GDP on Health (.41)

19. Correlations with Social Indicators (Cont’d)  Reward for Application  Mate preference – emphasizing mutual attraction, deemphasizing financial prospect (-.74)  Working hours per week (.51)  Sources of guidance - superiors (.49)

20. Correlations with Social Indicators (Cont’d)  Religiosity  Importance of religion in life – percentage of “very important” (.69)  Hedonic balance (positive – negative affect) (.47)  Agreeableness (.59)

21. Correlations with Social Indicators (Cont’d)  Fate Control  Suicide rate (.54)  Heart disease (.52)  Work ethic – enjoyment of working hard (.-54)

22. Country-level analysis  Factor analyze item means of 41 cultural groups

26. Future directions  Convergent and discriminant validity with similar concepts  Origin of social axioms and their acquisition  Environmental and situational influence on social axioms  Behavioral consequences of Social axioms  Contrast with values its their impact on behaviors