scholarly journals Social axioms and coping strategies: the case of a Greek sample

Author(s):  
Aikaterini Gari ◽  
Penny Panagiotopoulou

Social axioms are individual assessments of psychological, social, material and spiritual reality expressed as generalized beliefs or assertions about the relationship between two entities or concepts. This study explores how social axioms are associated with coping styles in a Greek sample composed of students and adults. Previous studies of how social axioms are related to coping styles showed that Social Complexity predicted the coping style of problem solving, Fate Control predicted the strategies of distancing, and Social Cynicism predicted the wishful thinking coping processes. In the present study, the 82 item questionnaire version of the Social Axioms Survey (SAS) was employed, along with the Folkman and Lazarus questionnaire of coping styles adapted in the Greek language. Both questionnaires were administered to a sample of 192 individuals, of 48 men and 144 women, among whom 108 were adults and 84 were university students. The sample was composed by two age groups: young adults-students of age 18-30 years (43.8%) and adults of age 31-59 years (56.3%). The results showed that Social Cynicism was not correlated in any way withcoping strategies; however, Social Complexity was significantly associated with problem solving strategies, and Fate control was also associated with wishful thinking and distancing coping strategies.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Divaries Cosmas Jaravaza ◽  
Fanny Saruchera

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of culture on attitudes to contraception by rural-based women in a developing economy. Design/methodology/approach Based on data collected from 395 rural women in Eastern Zimbabwe, this study examines the hypothesized relationships between values (resultant conservation, resultant self-enhancement), social axioms (reward for application, social cynicism, religiosity, social complexity, fate control and Ubuntu) and contraceptive attitudes, considering the moderating effects of age and education. Findings Using covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling and Multi-Group Analysis, this study found that resultant self-enhancement, fate control, the reward for application and religiosity significantly relate to attitudes to contraception whilst resultant conservation, social complexity, Ubuntu and social cynicism, did not produce significant correlations. Age and education moderate the significant relationships. Research limitations/implications The study's findings suggest that contraception social marketers, non-governmental organizations and health practitioners should develop marketing strategies to neutralize the negative impact of these beliefs held by rural contraceptive consumers to increase contraceptive awareness and uptake in such subsistence markets. In addition, this study provides empirical evidence on the role of Ubuntu as a new culture construct in African markets. Originality/value Despite being limited to a single developing economy, this paper extends prior research on consumer culture and attitudes on contraception use by exploring the role of values and social axioms, an imperative issue for rural women health and general subsistence market well-being.


2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Harris Bond ◽  
Kwok Leung ◽  
Al Au ◽  
Kwok‐Kit Tong ◽  
Zoë Chemonges‐Nielson

Recently, Leung et al. (2002) have identified a pan‐cultural set of five dimensions tapping beliefs about the world in which each individual functions. These general axioms may be conceptualized as individual assessments of the social context constraining one's behavioural choices. As such, we hypothesize that these beliefs about the world may be combined with measures of motivation to predict an individual's actions. To test this model, the present research examined the usefulness of these social axioms as predictors of behavioural tendencies in conjunction with four comprehensive dimensions of values (Schwartz, 1992). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that social axioms added moderate predictive power over and above that provided by values to vocational choices, methods of conflict resolution, and coping styles. Specifically, reward for application was related to preference for conventional jobs and accommodation in conflict resolution; religiosity was related to accommodation and to competition in conflict resolution; social cynicism was related negatively to collaboration and to compromise in conflict resolution, and positively to wishful thinking in coping; fate control was related positively to wishful thinking and distancing in coping; and social complexity was related to compromise and to collaboration in conflict resolution, and to problem‐solving as a coping strategy. It thus seems as if measures of respondents' beliefs about the external, social world supplement measures of their internal motivations to achieve various goals. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankita Singh ◽  
Shabana Bano

Social axioms play a crucial role in the individual’s belief and value systems. The major functions of axioms are to enhance the survival and functioning of people in their social environment. Leung and Bond (2004) proposed five dimensions of social axioms as social cynicism, social complexity, reward for application, fate control and religiosity. The present study was designed to examine the social axioms of younger and older people. The study was conducted with 86 participants (N=51 young and N=35 old) age ranged 20-30 and 50-60 years. They were sampled from various areas of Varanasi City. The social axioms survey (Leung, Bond, Carrasquel, Munoz, Hernandez, Murikami, Yamagushi, Biebrauer&Singelis, 2002) was administered to examine the participants. Result showed that older participants significantly higher on social cynicism, reward for application and religiosity than younger participants. With respect to social complexity and fate control, no significant difference was found. The findings suggest that social axioms are important to understand an individual’s behaviour in a given society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 438-455
Author(s):  
Waleed A. Jami ◽  
Markus Kemmelmeier

Populism is on the rise with various movements having electoral breakthroughs. Most social-science research on populism has focused primarily on party tactics and rhetoric, and a definition for the term itself; only recently has populism emerged as a psychological construct. We contribute to this growing literature with two studies (n = 456 and n = 5,837) that investigated the cultural worldviews underpinned in populist attitudes. Using the social axioms model, an etic framework for assessing people’s generalized social expectations, we linked populist attitudes to universal dimensions of culture. We found that higher levels of social cynicism and social flexibility, and to a lesser extent, lower levels of fate control and reward for application predicted populist attitudes. These findings indicate that people who endorse populist attitudes, across a range of contexts, are cynical regarding the social world, believe in alternative solutions to social dilemmas, but may also perceive a world that is difficult to control and potentially unfair. The discussion focuses on the cultural forces that may drive or facilitate populist attitudes across context and time.


2007 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Ka-Ying Hui ◽  
Michael Harris Bond ◽  
Timmy Sze Wing Ng

Death ideation and death anxiety represent the cognitive and affective dimensions of death attitudes, respectively. General beliefs about the world are proposed to be useful defensive mechanisms protecting persons against the death anxiety provoked by death ideation. SEM is employed to test the proposed mediation model, using a sample of 133 Hong Kong Chinese university students. Results showed that death ideation was significantly and inversely linked to belief in social cynicism, reward for application, and fate control. Moreover, higher levels of belief in fate control and lower levels of religiosity predicted greater death anxiety. Only belief in fate control partially mediated the relationship between death ideation and death anxiety. Discussion focused on how social axioms serve as useful defensive mechanisms against death anxiety.


1997 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Lloyd Cheshire ◽  
Marilyn Anne Campbell

This study compared the coping strategies and styles of 30 learning disabled adolescents with 30 non learning disabled adolescents matched in age, gender and ethnicity from a large urban high school in Queensland. Results showed that the learning disabled adolescents use some different coping styles and strategies to their non learning disabled peers. The learning disabled group showed less tendency to relax, or work to achieve goals. They tended not to focus on the positive and not to attempt to solve problems. Rather they exhibited a higher tendency to use wishful thinking and believed that they could not cope. Cognitive and social skills deficits are proposed as the likely contributors to the differences. The implications of these findings are discussed.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 553
Author(s):  
Iwona Niewiadomska ◽  
Leon Szot

This article is theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part presents issues related to experiencing stress (including ways of coping with experienced problems) and the relationships between preference for various coping strategies and human behavior. The empirical part presents the results of research on the relationship between the frequency of seniors (n = 329) using 13 different ways to deal with experienced difficulties (including the strategy of turning to religion/religious coping) and 11 categories of aggressive behavior (retaliation tendencies, self-destructive tendencies, aggression control disorders, displaced aggression, unconscious aggressive tendencies, indirect aggression, instrumental aggression, self-hostility, physical aggression towards the environment, hostility towards the environment, and reactive aggression). The last part is devoted to a discussion on the obtained research results and the practical implications of using the strategy of turning to religion/religious coping in difficult situations as a factor protecting the elderly from aggressive behavior.


Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Talley ◽  
Patti Hammonds-Greene

The purpose of this study was to compare the coping strategies between homeless women with dependent children and homeless women without dependent children. Of the 192 homeless women in this study, 64 were mothers whose dependent children lived with them, and 132 were women who did not have dependent children living with them. The women were recruited from homeless shelters in Georgia, in the Metro Atlanta area and surrounding counties. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the differences between both groups using their scores on the Coping Strategies Inventory scales survey instrument (problem-solving skills, problem reframing, and ability to access social networks). Univariate analysis was used to look at each dependent variable. There was no statistical difference in coping strategies between both groups. The conclusions from this study suggest continued research regarding the benefit of coping strategies among homeless populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peta Stapleton ◽  
Sarah Garby ◽  
Debbie Sabot

Teaching professionals report higher levels of work-related stress and symptoms of psychological health problems than the general population. This study examined psychological distress, coping styles and wellbeing in 166 Australian teachers (aged 22–65 years; M =  37.74 years, SD =  10.84 years). Participants completed an online survey comprising demographic items and four empirical measures (The Satisfaction with Life Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale, The Brief COPE Inventory and The Patient Health Questionnaire). Work, workload and finances were identified as leading sources of stress. Moreover, above-average clinical symptoms of anxiety, depression and physical concerns were reported, and 17% of respondents met criteria for probable alcohol dependence. Results suggested that maladaptive coping strategies employed by teachers may contribute to their risk of increased psychological distress, and decreased life satisfaction and happiness. These findings indicate the need for work-based programmes to enhance teachers’ coping strategies in an effort to reduce psychological distress and improve overall wellbeing in teaching professionals.


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