Value Orientations and Mental Health: A Theoretical Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Heim ◽  
Andreas Maercker ◽  
Diana Boer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
The Relationship

Cross-national epidemiological studies show that prevalence rates of common mental disorders (i.e. depression, anxiety disorders, and PTSD) vary considerably between countries, suggesting cultural differences. In order to gather evidence on how culture relates to the aetiology and phenomenology of mental disorders, finding meaningful empirical instruments for capturing the latent (i.e. non-visible) construct of ‘culture’ is vital. In this review, we suggest using value orientations for this purpose. We focus on Schwartz's value theory, which includes two levels of values: cultural and personal. We identified nine studies on personal values and four studies on cultural values and their relationship with common mental disorders. This relationship was assessed among very heterogeneous cultural groups; however, no consistent correlational pattern occurred. The most compelling evidence suggests that the relationship between personal values and mental disorders is moderated by the cultural context. Hence, assessing mere correlations between personal value orientations and self-reported symptoms of psychopathology, without taking into account the cultural context, does not yield meaningful results. This theoretical review reveals important research gaps: Most studies aimed to explain how values relate to the aetiology of mental disorders, whereas the question of phenomenology was largely neglected. Moreover, all included studies used Western instruments for assessing mental disorders, which may not capture culturally-specific phenomena of mental distress. Finding systematic relationships between values and mental disorders may contribute to making more informed hypotheses about how psychopathology is expressed under different cultural circumstances, and how to culturally adapt psychological interventions.

scholarly journals What is Right? What is Wrong? and Does the Answer Tell Something about Culture? - an Investigation into Culture and Morality Using the Values Concept

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Christin-Melanie Vauclair
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Multilevel Regression

<p>Morality, or what is considered right or wrong, varies seemingly across cultures. However, the literature shows that moral psychologists have mainly investigated moral reasoning assuming a universal morality. Cross-cultural psychologists in contrast have widely neglected moral issues such as prescriptive beliefs of what people ought to do in a culture, and have predominantly measured culture through personal values. This thesis attempts to bridge this gap by focusing on the values concept. Four empirical studies were conducted to critically examine values as a measure of culture and their relationship to morality. Chapter one is an introduction into the topics morality, culture and values. Chapter two outlines the conceptual and methodological issues associated with deriving cultural values through the statistical aggregation of individuals' personal values. A value taxonomy is presented in which personal moral values and societal moral values are proposed as alternatives for measuring the cultural context. Following this critique, personal values are examined in two empirical studies in a cross-cultural context scrutinizing the validity of Schwartz' (1994) Culture-level Value Theory. Study 1 is a cross-cultural meta-analysis using the Rokeach Value Survey (Rokeach, 1973) showing that Schwartz' culture-level value structure was replicable with different samples, and a different method for assessing value priorities. Nonetheless, a set of values not included in Schwartz' analysis formed a new value type: Self-fulfilled Connectedness (SFC) which is related to the pursuit of non-material goals and endorsed in countries in which basic needs are fulfilled. Study 2 tested in a multilevel regression model whether Schwartz' cultural values predicted individuals' moral attitudes with data from more than 40 different countries. The findings indicated that the value dimension Autonomy-Embeddedness explained individuals' lenient attitude towards personal-sexual, but not towards dishonest-illegal issues. Study 3 dealt with the fundamental critique raised in chapter two that Schwartz (1994) does not operationalize micro- and macro-level constructs independently when measuring cultural values. To address this empirically, personal moral values and societal moral values were explicitly measured in student samples from eight cultures. Societal moral values showed greater cross-cultural differences than personal moral values. Furthermore, societal moral values at the culture-level conceptually replicated the multilevel findings from Study 2. This suggests that societal moral values are a valid macro-level variable for the measurement of culture. Finally, Study 4 was conducted to elicit implicit moral values. Respondents from four cultures free-listed their associations of a 'moral person'. correspondence analyses revealed that collectivistic-oriented samples mentioned more traditional moral attributes, whereas individualistic samples reported more liberal attributes. Furthermore, accessibility of implicit moral values - matched with the SVS - correlated with explicit ratings of personal moral values from Study 3, providing convergent validity for this kind of values. This multi-method finding corroborated that personal moral values and societal moral values are different concepts. In sum, these studies support the validity of Schwartz' theory and suggest that notions of right and wrong do indeed tell us something about culture, but it depends on (1) the issues studied (personal-sexual issues), and (2) the kind of values measured (societal moral values).</p>

scholarly journals What is Right? What is Wrong? and Does the Answer Tell Something about Culture? - an Investigation into Culture and Morality Using the Values Concept

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Christin-Melanie Vauclair
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Multilevel Regression

<p>Morality, or what is considered right or wrong, varies seemingly across cultures. However, the literature shows that moral psychologists have mainly investigated moral reasoning assuming a universal morality. Cross-cultural psychologists in contrast have widely neglected moral issues such as prescriptive beliefs of what people ought to do in a culture, and have predominantly measured culture through personal values. This thesis attempts to bridge this gap by focusing on the values concept. Four empirical studies were conducted to critically examine values as a measure of culture and their relationship to morality. Chapter one is an introduction into the topics morality, culture and values. Chapter two outlines the conceptual and methodological issues associated with deriving cultural values through the statistical aggregation of individuals' personal values. A value taxonomy is presented in which personal moral values and societal moral values are proposed as alternatives for measuring the cultural context. Following this critique, personal values are examined in two empirical studies in a cross-cultural context scrutinizing the validity of Schwartz' (1994) Culture-level Value Theory. Study 1 is a cross-cultural meta-analysis using the Rokeach Value Survey (Rokeach, 1973) showing that Schwartz' culture-level value structure was replicable with different samples, and a different method for assessing value priorities. Nonetheless, a set of values not included in Schwartz' analysis formed a new value type: Self-fulfilled Connectedness (SFC) which is related to the pursuit of non-material goals and endorsed in countries in which basic needs are fulfilled. Study 2 tested in a multilevel regression model whether Schwartz' cultural values predicted individuals' moral attitudes with data from more than 40 different countries. The findings indicated that the value dimension Autonomy-Embeddedness explained individuals' lenient attitude towards personal-sexual, but not towards dishonest-illegal issues. Study 3 dealt with the fundamental critique raised in chapter two that Schwartz (1994) does not operationalize micro- and macro-level constructs independently when measuring cultural values. To address this empirically, personal moral values and societal moral values were explicitly measured in student samples from eight cultures. Societal moral values showed greater cross-cultural differences than personal moral values. Furthermore, societal moral values at the culture-level conceptually replicated the multilevel findings from Study 2. This suggests that societal moral values are a valid macro-level variable for the measurement of culture. Finally, Study 4 was conducted to elicit implicit moral values. Respondents from four cultures free-listed their associations of a 'moral person'. correspondence analyses revealed that collectivistic-oriented samples mentioned more traditional moral attributes, whereas individualistic samples reported more liberal attributes. Furthermore, accessibility of implicit moral values - matched with the SVS - correlated with explicit ratings of personal moral values from Study 3, providing convergent validity for this kind of values. This multi-method finding corroborated that personal moral values and societal moral values are different concepts. In sum, these studies support the validity of Schwartz' theory and suggest that notions of right and wrong do indeed tell us something about culture, but it depends on (1) the issues studied (personal-sexual issues), and (2) the kind of values measured (societal moral values).</p>

Understanding the Millennials’ Integrated Ethical Decision-Making Process: Assessing the Relationship Between Personal Values and Cognitive Moral Reasoning

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1671-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Weber
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Ethical Decision ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cognitive Moral Reasoning

Focusing on millennials, individuals born between 1980 and 2000 and representing the largest generational population in our history, this research seeks to understand their ethical decision-making processes by exploring the distinctive, yet interconnected, theories of personal values and cognitive moral reasoning. Utilizing a decision-making framework introduced in the 1990s, we discover that there is a statistically supported relationship between a millennial’s personal value orientation and stage of cognitive moral reasoning. Moreover, we discover a strong relationship between three of the four value orientations and a corresponding stage of cognitive moral reasoning. The theoretical and practical research implications of our discovery about millennials’ decision making are discussed.

Pain in the cultural context

2021 ◽  
pp. 101-108
Author(s):  
Margot Latimer ◽  
Amy Bombay ◽  
Rachel VanEvery
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
The Relationship

Pain and culture are complex and multifactorial phenomena. The concepts are difficult to define and measure since they intersect with the biological, psychological, and social realms. Considering the intrinsic multidimensionality of each phenomenon, we are only beginning to understand the myriad ways in which culture may influence pain. Consequently, (1) the study of the relationship between culture and pain has been fraught with methodological and theoretical challenges; and (2) there is little evidence to support specific guidelines on how to assess and treat pain of specific cultural groups. Therefore, researchers face challenges in conducting research on pain with indigenous populations.

Introduction: Identity and alterity in Bronze Age Britain and Ireland

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Brück
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Instrumental Reason ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Bronze Age

In 2004, excavation in advance of the construction of a bypass around Mitchelstown in County Cork uncovered a number of pits on the banks of the Gradoge River (Kiely and Sutton 2007). On the bottom of one of these pits, three pottery vessels and a ceramic spoon had been laid on two flat stones. The pots had been deposited in a row: at the centre of the row was a small vessel that clearly models a human face with eyes, a protruding nose and ears, and, at the base of the pot, two feet (cover images). Oak charcoal from the pit returned a date of 1916–1696 cal BC. This find calls into question one of the basic conceptual building blocks that underpins our own contemporary understanding of the world—the distinction between people and objects—for it hints that some artefacts may have been imbued with human qualities and agentive capacities. This book is about the relationship between Bronze Age people and their material worlds. It explores the impact of the post-Enlightenment ‘othering’ of the non-human on our understanding of Bronze Age society. As we shall see, there is in fact considerable evidence to suggest that the categorical distinctions drawn in our own cultural context, for example between subject and object, self and other, and culture and nature, were not recognized or articulated in the same way during this period. So too contemporary forms of instrumental reason—encapsulated in a particular understanding of what constitutes logical, practical action and in the distinction we make between the ritual and the secular—have had a profound effect on how we view the Bronze Age world. Our understanding of the Bronze Age has undoubtedly changed dramatically since Christian Jürgensen Thomsen first popularized the term in his famous formulation of the three-age system in 1836 (Morris 1992). The very notion of a ‘Bronze Age’ foregrounds concepts of technical efficiency and advancement that doubtless chimed with the preoccupations and cultural values of Thomsen’s audience in the industrializing world in the nineteenth century.

scholarly journals Partner alcohol use, violence and women's mental health: population-based survey in India

2010 ◽  
Vol 196 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhabika B. Nayak ◽  
Vikram Patel ◽  
Jason C. Bond ◽  
Thomas K. Greenfield
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Mediation Effects ◽  
The Relationship

BackgroundThe relationship between partner alcohol use and violence as risk factors for poor mental health in women is unclear.AimsTo describe partner-related and other psychosocial risk factors for common mental disorders in women and examine interrelationships between these factors.MethodData are reported on 821 women aged 18–49 years from a larger population study in north Goa, India. Logistic regression models evaluated the risks for women's common mental disorders and tested for mediation effects in the relationship between partner alcohol use and these disorders.ResultsExcessive partner alcohol use increased the risk for common mental disorders two- to threefold. Partner violence and alcohol-related problems each partially mediated the association between partner excessive alcohol use and these mental disorders. Women's own violence-related attitudes were also independently associated with them.ConclusionsPartner alcohol use, partner violence and women's violence-related attitudes must be addressed to prevent and treat common mental disorders in women.

Moderation of Doing and Mastery orientations in relationships among justice, commitment, and trust

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Jiang ◽  
Paul J. Gollan ◽  
Gordon Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Justice Research ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how two individual value orientations – Doing (the tendency to commit to goals and hold a strong work ethic) and Mastery (an orientation toward seeking control over outside forces) – moderate: the relationship between organizational justice and affective organizational commitment, and the mediation role of organizational trust in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collected data from 706 employees working in 65 universities across China, South Korea, and Australia. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses were employed to examine the cross-cultural equivalence of the measures. Hierarchical regressions were performed to test moderating effects of the two cultural value orientations. Findings – Results from the full sample showed that Doing and Mastery moderated the distributive justice-commitment relationship and the procedural justice-trust relationship. Comparisons between countries demonstrated limited cross-cultural differences. Practical implications – The present study adds to the understanding of the impact of individual and cultural differences on the relationship between justice and commitment, helping managers understand how employees’ reactions to justice are influenced by cultural value orientations. Originality/value – This study is a pioneer in empirically integrating the value orientation framework (e.g. Doing and Mastery orientations) and justice research in a cross-cultural context based in the Asia Pacific region. It also advances cross-cultural justice research through using a mediation-moderation combination.

scholarly journals The epidemiological burden of major psychiatric disorders

2018 ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
Jennifer Dykxhoorn ◽  
James B. Kirkbride
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Psychotic Disorders ◽  
Common Mental Disorders ◽  
Public Mental Health ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Key Issues

Psychiatric disorders, including common mental disorders, schizophrenia, and suicide, contribute substantially to the global burden of disease in terms of both morbidity and premature mortality, making them an important issue for public mental health. Epidemiological tools quantifying the burden of psychiatric disorders are important in furthering our understanding of psychiatric disorders and informing decision-making. In this chapter, we review major epidemiological studies from the past 30 years of psychiatric epidemiology to provide an overview of the burden of common mental disorders (depression and anxiety), psychotic disorders (schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders), and suicide. We also describe how the incidence and prevalence of these disorder vary by person and place, with a particular focus on the patterns of psychiatric disorders by ethnicity. Finally, we discuss the challenge of applying epidemiological evidence to public health, highlighting key issues facing public health professionals, researchers, and policymakers working in public mental health.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurs’ individual-level resources and social value creation goals

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Brieger ◽  
Dirk De Clercq
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Value Creation ◽  
Human And Social Capital ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of how the interplay of individual-level resources and culture affects entrepreneurs’ propensity to adopt social value creation goals.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 12,685 entrepreneurs in 35 countries from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, it investigates the main effects of individual-level resources – measured as financial, human and social capital – on social value creation goals, as well as the moderating effects of the cultural context in which the respective entrepreneur is embedded, on the relationship between individual-level resources and social value creation goals.FindingsDrawing on the resource-based perspective and Hofstede’s cultural values framework, the results offer empirical evidence that individual-level resources are relevant for predicting the extent to which entrepreneurs emphasise social goals for their business. Furthermore, culture influences the way entrepreneurs allocate their resources towards social value creation.Originality/valueThe study sheds new light on how entrepreneurs’ individual resources influence their willingness to create social value. Moreover, by focussing on the role of culture in the relationship between individual-level resources and social value creation goals, it contributes to social entrepreneurship literature, which has devoted little attention to the interplay of individual characteristics and culture.

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