Cross‐Cultural Variation in the Experience of Depression in Older People in the UK

Abstract To date, research in advertising has focussed almost exclusively on metaphor, with linguists and marketing scholars paying very little attention to alternative types of figurative expression. Beyond the finding that metaphor leads to an increased appreciation of advertisements, there has been surprisingly little research into how consumer response is affected by metonymy, or by metaphor–metonymy interactions. In this article, we present findings from a study that investigated the depth to which participants (n = 90) from a range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds (the UK, Spain, and China) were found to process 30 real-world adverts featuring creative metaphor and metonymy in multimodal format. We focus on the cross-cultural variation in terms of time taken to process, appreciation and perceived effectiveness of adverts, and on individual differences explained by different levels of need for cognition. We found significant variation in the understanding of advertisements containing metaphor, metonymy, and combinations of the two, between subjects and across nationalities in terms of (i) processing time, (ii) overall appeal, and (iii) the way in which participants interpreted the advertisements.

Download Full-text

Social context and culture influence judgments of non-Duchenne smiles

Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science ◽

10.1007/s41809-020-00066-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 309-321

Author(s):

Shushi Namba ◽

Magdalena Rychlowska ◽

Anna Orlowska ◽

Hillel Aviezer ◽

Eva G. Krumhuber

Keyword(s):

Contextual Information ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cultural Variation ◽

Contextual Influences ◽

Basic Emotions ◽

Cultural Variations ◽

Emotion Displays ◽

Positive Feelings ◽

The Uk ◽

Duchenne Smiles

Abstract Extant evidence points toward the role of contextual information and related cross-cultural variations in emotion perception, but most of the work to date has focused on judgments of basic emotions. The current research examines how culture and situational context affect the interpretation of emotion displays, i.e. judgments of the extent to which ambiguous smiles communicate happiness versus polite intentions. We hypothesized that smiles associated with contexts implying happiness would be judged as conveying more positive feelings compared to smiles paired with contexts implying politeness or smiles presented without context. In line with existing research on cross-cultural variation in contextual influences, we also expected these effects to be larger in Japan than in the UK. In Study 1, British participants viewed non-Duchenne smiles presented on their own or paired with background scenes implying happiness or the need to be polite. Compared to face-only stimuli, happy contexts made smiles appear more genuine, whereas polite contexts led smiles to be seen as less genuine. Study 2 replicated this result using verbal vignettes, showing a similar pattern of contextual effects among British and Japanese participants. However, while the effects of vignettes describing happy situations was comparable in both cultures, the influence of vignettes describing polite situations was stronger in Japan than the UK. Together, the findings document the importance of context information in judging smile expressions and highlight the need to investigate how culture moderates such influences.

Download Full-text

WHY SOME HESITATE MORE: CROSS-CULTURAL VARIATION IN CONSPIRACY BELIEFS, BELIEF IN SCIENCE, AND VACCINE ATTITUDES

10.1101/2021.07.09.21260228 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gul Deniz Salali ◽

Mete Sefa Uysal

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Relative Effect ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Cultural Variation ◽

Vaccine Acceptance ◽

Country Level ◽

Conspiracy Beliefs ◽

The Cross ◽

The Uk

Background: Countries differ in their levels of vaccine hesitancy (a delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines), trust in vaccines, and acceptance of new vaccines. In this paper, we examine the factors contributing to the cross-cultural variation in vaccine attitudes, measured by levels of 1) general vaccine hesitancy, 2) trust in vaccines, and 3) COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Methods: We examined the relative effect of conspiracy mentality, belief in COVID-19 conspiracies, and belief in science on the above-mentioned vaccine attitudes in the UK (n= 1533), US (n= 1550), and Turkey (n= 1567) through a quota-sampled online survey to match the population for age, gender, ethnicity, and education level. Results: We found that belief in COVID-19 conspiracies and conspiracy mentality were the strongest predictors of general vaccine hesitancy across all three countries. Belief in science had the largest positive effect on general vaccine trust and COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Although participants in Turkey demonstrated the lowest level of vaccine trust, their belief in science score was significantly higher than participants in the US, suggesting that belief in science cannot explain the cross-cultural variation in vaccine trust. The mean levels of conspiracy mentality and agreement with COVID-19 conspiracies were consistent with the country-level differences in general and COVID-19 vaccine attitudes. Demographic variables did not predict vaccine attitudes as much as belief in conspiracies and science. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that cross-cultural variation in vaccine hesitancy, vaccine trust, and COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates are mainly driven by differences in the prevalence of conspiratorial thinking across countries.

Download Full-text

Cross-cultural variation in political leadership styles

Europe’s Journal of Psychology ◽

10.5964/ejop.v13i4.1412 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 749-766 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Petia Paramova ◽

Herbert Blumberg

Keyword(s):

Transformational Leadership ◽

Multivariate Analyses ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cultural Variation ◽

Contextual Influences ◽

Political Leaders ◽

Cross Cultural Differences ◽

Culturally Different ◽

The Uk ◽

Applied Fields

Guided by gaps in the literature with regard to the study of politicians the aim of the research is to explore cross-cultural differences in political leaders’ style. It compares the MLQ (Avolio & Bass, 2004) scores of elected political leaders (N = 140) in Bulgaria and the UK. The statistical exploration of the data relied on multivariate analyses of covariance. The findings of comparisons across the two groups reveal that compared to British political leaders, Bulgarian leaders were more likely to frequently use both transactional and passive/avoidant behaviours. The study tests Bass’s (1997) strong assertion about the universality of transformational leadership. It contributes to the leadership literature by providing directly measured data relating to the behaviours of political leaders. Such information on the characteristics of politicians could allow for more directional hypotheses in subsequent research, exploring the contextual influences within transformational leadership theory. The outcomes might also aid applied fields. Knowledge gained of culturally different leaders could be welcomed by multicultural political and economic unions, wherein understanding and allowances might aid communication.

Download Full-text

Status or fun? A cross-cultural examination of young consumers’ responses to images of champagne and sparkling wine

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-12-2015-0497 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 118 (8) ◽

pp. 1960-1975 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Natalia Velikova ◽

Steve Charters ◽

Joanna Fountain ◽

Caroline Ritchie ◽

Nicola Fish ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Product Category ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Sparkling Wine ◽

Cultural Variation ◽

Content Type ◽

The Usa ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test Luna and Gupta’s (2001) investigative framework on the interaction of cultural values and consumer behaviour by conducting a cross-cultural comparison of young wine consumers’ interpretation of images of champagne and sparkling wine. The research examined consumer responses to the images through the prism of the relationship between symbolism, ritual and myth, as well as other related values. Design/methodology/approach – In a series of focus groups with consumers from four anglophone countries (the USA, New Zealand, Australia and the UK), six images of champagne and sparkling wine were used as stimuli to encourage affective and cognitive perspectives on the topic. Findings – Overall, the UK market showed distinct differences from the other markets, due very much to its cultural context. The UK consumers valued traditional advertising; focused mainly on the product itself; and did not associate champagne with fun. Respondents from the New World focused on the general impression of the image and on enjoyment and fun associated with consumption of champagne and sparkling wine. Practical implications – The most crucial implication of this research is the cultural variation in consumer perceptions of champagne and sparkling wine and the impact that it has upon marketing strategies on how to market this product category to younger consumers in different markets. Originality/value – This research contributes to the study of cultural values and consumption behaviour, as well as image effectiveness in forming perceptions of the product category.

Download Full-text

Cross-cultural validation of the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) in older people: Results from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK were satisfactory

Disability and Rehabilitation ◽

10.1080/09638280600747637 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 155-162 ◽

Cited By ~ 119

Author(s):

Gertrudis I. J. M. Kempen ◽

Chris J. Todd ◽

Jolanda C. M. Van Haastregt ◽

G. A. Rixt Zijlstra ◽

Nina Beyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Older People ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

The Uk ◽

Cultural Validation

Download Full-text

Cross-cultural variation in women's preferences for cues to sex- and stress-hormones in the male face

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2013.0050 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 20130050 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

F. R. Moore ◽

V. Coetzee ◽

J. Contreras-Garduño ◽

L. M. Debruine ◽

K. Kleisner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stress Hormones ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cultural Variation ◽

Significant Relationships ◽

Relative Value ◽

The Face ◽

Societal Level ◽

Women’S Preferences ◽

The Uk

Women in the UK prefer the faces of men with low levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and the relationship is moderated by the sex hormone testosterone. In a Latvian sample, however, women's preferences were not affected by cortisol, and the interaction with testosterone differed from that of the UK. To further explore cross-cultural variation in preferences for facial cues to sex- and stress-hormones, we tested the preferences of women from 13 countries for facial composites constructed to differ in combinations of the hormones. We found significant relationships between a measure of societal development (the United Nations human development index 2011) and preferences for cues to testosterone in the face, and the interaction between preferences for cues to testosterone and cortisol. We also found a significant relationship between preferences for cues to testosterone and a societal-level measure of parasite stress. We conclude that societal-level ecological factors influence the relative value of traits revealed by combinations of sex- and stress-hormones.

Download Full-text