Individual and Cultural Differences in Predispositions to Feel Positive and Negative Aspects of Awe

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (10) ◽  
pp. 771-793
Author(s):  
Masataka Nakayama ◽  
Yuki Nozaki ◽  
Pamela M. Taylor ◽  
Dacher Keltner ◽  
Yukiko Uchida

Psychological research on awe has largely focused on its positive dimensions, both in terms of the experiential state of awe and individual trait-based predispositions to awe experience. Little is known, however, about awe’s negative-valence dimensions, such as individual tendencies to experience awe as threatening. To gain a broader understanding of awe, the current study investigates individual predispositions to feel negative aspects of awe (i.e., threat) and positive aspects of awe (e.g., beauty) and examines how these two tendencies are interrelated. Additionally, this study uses both Japanese and US samples to explore whether predispositions to feel awe vary across cultures. Two studies (total N = 1245) suggests that in both Japanese and US samples, predispositions to feel positive and negative aspects of awe were separable. However, there were cultural differences: North Americans were more predisposed to feel positive aspects than Japanese, and the predispositions to feel positive and negative aspects were positively correlated for Japanese, but not North Americans. This contributes to a better understanding of how the valence of awe may be influenced by culturally-mediated patterns of affect.

2021 ◽  
pp. 014616722199853
Author(s):  
Judith Gerten ◽  
Michael K. Zürn ◽  
Sascha Topolinski

For financial decision-making, people trade off the expected value (return) and the variance (risk) of an option, preferring higher returns to lower ones and lower risks to higher ones. To make decision-makers indifferent between a risky and risk-free option, the expected value of the risky option must exceed the value of the risk-free option by a certain amount—the risk premium. Previous psychological research suggests that similar to risk aversion, people dislike inconsistency in an interaction partner’s behavior. In eight experiments (total N = 2,412) we pitted this inconsistency aversion against the expected returns from interacting with an inconsistent partner. We identified the additional expected return of interacting with an inconsistent partner that must be granted to make decision-makers prefer a more profitable, but inconsistent partner to a consistent, but less profitable one. We locate this inconsistency premium at around 31% of the expected value of the risk-free option.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003329412098809
Author(s):  
Paul K. Miller ◽  
Sophie Van Der Zee ◽  
David Elliott

In recent years a considerable body of psychological research has explored the relationship between membership of socio-cultural groups and personal pain perception. Rather less systematic attention has, however, been accorded to how such group membership(s) might influence individual attitudes towards the pain of others. In this paper, immersion in the culture of competitive sport, widely regarded as being exaggeratedly tolerant of risky behaviours around pain, is taken as a case-in-point with students of Physical Education (PE) in tertiary education as the key focus. PE students are highly-immersed in competitive sporting culture both academically and (typically) practically, and also represent a key nexus of cross-generational transmission regarding the norms of sport itself. Their attitudes towards the pain that others should reasonably tolerate during a range of activities, sporting and otherwise, were evaluated through a direct comparison with those of peers much less immersed in competitive sporting culture. In total, N=301 (144 PE, 157 non-PE) undergraduate students in the UK responded to a vignette-based survey. Therein, all participants were required to rate the pain (on a standard 0-10 scale) at which a standardised “other” should desist engagement with a set of five defined sporting and non-sporting tasks, each with weak and strong task severities. Results indicated that PE students were significantly more likely to expect others to persevere through higher levels of pain than their non-PE peers, but only during the sport-related tasks – an effect further magnified when task severity was high. In other tasks, there was no significant difference between groups, or valence of the effect was actually reversed. It is argued that the findings underscore some extant knowledge about the relationship between acculturated attitudes to pain, while also having practical implications for understanding sport-based pedagogy, and its potentially problematic role in the ongoing reproduction of a “culture of risk.”


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene E. de Pater ◽  
Sonja Schinkel ◽  
Bernard A. Nijstad

Validation of the Dutch Core Self-evaluations Scale Validation of the Dutch Core Self-evaluations Scale I.E. de Pater, S. Schinkel & B.A. Nijstad, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 20, maart 2007, nr. 1, pp. 82-100 In this article we investigated the reliability and validity of the Dutch version of the Core Self-evaluations scale (CSES, Judge, Erez, Bono & Thoresen, 2003). Research into the English version has shown that CSE is a valid construct, consistently correlating with important work related criteria such as work satisfaction and work performance. Because of the relevance of these findings, we developed a Dutch version of this scale (NCSES). Results from four different studies (total N = 1389) showed that the NCSES is internally consistent, has a high test-retest reliability and has the predicted factor structure. Additionally, the convergent and divergent validity of the NCSES are high, and the NCSES correlates with important work outcomes, such job characteristics, job performance, and affective outcomes. It can be concluded that the NCSES is a valuable and effective instrument for applied psychological research.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412090945
Author(s):  
Jason Trent ◽  
Yuna Ferguson

Over two studies, participants (total N = 642) rated a community sample of photographs of Black, East Asian, and White males who were smiling or portraying a neutral expression to see how participant ethnicity, target ethnicity, and target expression influence judgments of approachability (i.e., trustworthiness, friendliness, and threat). We also examined how a commonly used study design, in which each participant is asked to evaluate different groups of people, may motivate participants to adjust their ratings in an effort to avoid appearing biased. Results showed that the White participant group tended to rate smiling targets as friendlier (Studies 1 and 2) and more trustworthy (Study 1) than did the non-White participant group, which could be due to cultural differences based on majority versus minority status among the participants. In addition, the White participant group tended to rate White targets more positively than did the non-White participant group, suggesting an in-group bias. Finally, differences in results between Studies 1 and 2 suggest that study design can influence the degree of bias responding, highlighting the importance of incorporating a diversity of methods to better understand first impression judgments.


Author(s):  
Shihui Han

Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of cultural differences in human behavior by giving examples of human behaviors in East Asian and Western societies. It reviews the concept of culture used by psychologists, anthropologists, and philosophers, introduces several dimensions of culture, and emphasizes shared beliefs and behavioral scripts as the key components of culture that influence human behavior. It also reviews cross-cultural psychological research that has revealed differences in multiple cognitive processes including perception, attention, memory, causal attribution, and self-reflection between individuals in East Asian and Western cultures. It gives an overview of cultural neuroscience studies that employ brain imaging techniques to reveal neural mechanisms underlying cultural differences in human behavior and mental processes.


Author(s):  
Ning Zhang ◽  
Li-Jun Ji ◽  
Tieyuan Guo

Lay theories of change refer to beliefs people hold about how events develop over time and are related to each other. This chapter reviews cultural differences in lay theories of change between East Asians and Euro-Americans/Canadians. The overarching theme from the existing research is that East Asians tend to believe more than Westerners that phenomena change in a cyclical way, whereas Westerners tend to believe that events are either relatively stable or develop in a linear fashion. This cultural variation is manifested in a wide range of predictions and decisions. Furthermore, Euro–North Americans are more likely than East Asians to hold linear beliefs about the correspondence between cause and effect in magnitude, and between appearance and reality (e.g., a strong appearance corresponds to a strong internal state). The chapter also discusses the cultural underpinnings of lay theories of change and directions for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter K.H. Chew

Racism refers to ‘the differential treatment enacted by an individual, group, or organization on individuals based on assumptions of a group's phenotypic, linguistic, or cultural differences’ (Gamst, Liang, & Der-Karabetian, 2011, p. 251). Currently, there is a lack of psychological research investigating racism in Singapore. The available research, narrative reviews, qualitative studies, and quantitative studies have yielded limited and inconclusive results. These researches are critically evaluated to provide four recommendations for a psychological research agenda: (a) develop a reliable and valid instrument to assess racism, (b) conduct experimental research to examine racism perpetuated by the majority or institutions, (c) examine the negative effects of racism, and (d) develop and evaluate interventions for racism.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document