Understanding Conceptions of ‘Nature’ for Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand

Empirical research that inductively investigates lay conceptions of ‘nature’ is scarce, despite global environmental narratives around sustainability calling for humans to have harmonious relationships with ‘nature’. This paper presents inductive research that attends to the empirical knowledge gap by exploring how respondents self-reportedly conceive ‘nature’ using Auckland, New Zealand as a case study. Results suggested that conceptions of ‘nature’ within the respondent group are diverse and range across 17 themes. Most commonly, respondents conceived ‘nature’ as being something that neither humans nor human influence or activities are a part of. This finding is consistent with what has been found by previous deductive research approaches to understanding conceptions of ‘nature’. However, this research provides a deeper understanding by identifying that respondents form associations with over 60 ‘aspects’ of ‘nature’. By highlighting the complexity of ‘nature’ from a human perspective and being able to identify significant components of ‘nature’ that people associate with, this study not only provides valuable insight for environmental management in the New Zealand study site, but also has potential to support improved management of human–nature interactions that can have a more targeted impact towards achieving sustainability goals at the global scale.

A hundred years of debates on sex differences: Developing research for social change

After women secured the right to vote some hundred years ago, the assertions about their innate inferiority gradually began to vanish, giving way to theories about the countless aspects which apparently differentiated them from men. In this paper, we follow the evolution of research on sex differences, starting with the work of the first female psychologists who questioned the theories that justified women’s subordinate positions in society. We trace the main developments of the studies on sex differences, their relationship with social roles, gender stereotypes, and gender identity, and describe the strategies used to highlight the role of society rather than of biology in shaping men and women’s personalities and behaviors. We describe the controversies this area of research gave rise to, the debates over its political implications, and the changes observed over time in women’s social positions and within research perspectives. Finally, we discuss the mutually reinforcing effects of social organization and lay conceptions of gender and reflect on how the field of research on sex differences has contributed to building a fairer society.

Adaptation of the Beliefs about Well-Being Scale to the Spanish population

El estudio de la felicidad y el bienestar está recibiendo cada vez más atención en diferentes campos. Las investigaciones recientes sobre el bienestar se han centrado en profundizar en la concepción del individuo sobre la experiencia del bienestar. McMahan y Estes (2011a) crearon una escala que evalúa las concepciones legas del bienestar en base a cuatro dimensiones: la experiencia de placer, la evitación de la experiencia negativa, el autodesarrollo y la contribución a los demás. El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar esta escala, Beliefs about Well-Being Scale (BWBS), a la población española. La muestra estuvo formada por 1.024 participantes de la población general con un intervalo de edad entre 17 y 87 años. El análisis factorial confirmatorio da como resultado una estructura de cuatro dimensiones, similar a la escala original, aunque en la adaptación de la escala los ítems disminuyen de 16 a 12. Los resultados del análisis de fiabilidad revelan índices similares a los de la escala original. Estos resultados confirman la validez de la Escala de Creencias sobre el Bienestar con población general en un contexto cultural diferente al del estudio original. Esto permitirá realizar estudios transculturales para analizar la influencia de la cultura en la percepción del bienestar The study of happiness and well-being is receiving increased attention in different fields. Recent research into well-being has focused on delving deeper into the individual’s conception about the experience of well-being. McMahan and Estes (2011a) created a scale that assesses lay conceptions of well-being (BWBS) based on four dimensions: the experience of pleasure, avoidance of negative experience, self-development and contribution to others. The goal of this study was to adapt this scale, the Beliefs about Well-Being Scale, to the Spanish population. The sample consisted of 1,024 participants from the general population ranging in age interval from 17 to 87 years old. The confirmatory factorial analysis results in a structure of four dimensions, similar to the original scale, although in the adaptation of the scale the items decrease from 16 to 12. The results of the reliability analysis reveal indexes similar to those of the original scale. These results confirm the validity of Beliefs about Well-Being Scale with general population in a cultural context different from the original study. This will allow cross-cultural studies to analyze the influence of culture in the perception of well-being.

Lay Conceptions of Modesty in China: A Prototype Approach

We investigated lay conceptions of modesty in China (谦虚) using a prototype approach. First, a sample of Chinese participants spontaneously listed the characteristics of modest persons. Independent coders then edited these into 112 exemplars, and further grouped them into 34 categories (Study 1). Categories that subsumed more frequently occurring items were deemed more prototypical. Second, another sample of Chinese participants directly rated these categories for how well they corresponded with the concept of modesty (Study 2). Thereafter, frequencies and ratings were algorithmically integrated, permitting categories to be ranked into three broad divisions: central, peripheral, and marginal. Finally, the ordinal validity of divisions was confirmed by having a third sample of Chinese participants rate the modesty of individuals exhibiting traits from within each division (Study 3). Lay conceptions of modesty in China only partly corresponded to those in previous Western samples. Among those categories that were shared, some were central in both China and the West (FRIENDLY, NOT CONCEITED), others only in China (LOW-KEY, POLITE, EASYGOING, AUTHENTIC). Furthermore, several central categories were unique to China (TAKES-CRITICISM, STEADY, CAUTIOUS, ASPIRING). Our findings inform ongoing conceptualizations of modesty in a cross-cultural context.

‘Hypertension multiple’: Patients’ experiential knowledge concept of symptoms and care required, and its implications for public health

Patients' conceptualisations of their disease do not always correspond to the biomedical definitions. Patients make sense of conditions by drawing on embodied experiences, beliefs circulating in their environments and information gathered from a variety of sources. Discrepancy between biomedical and patients' conceptualisations is problematic as it can affect treatment adherence, access to care, patient-provider communication and quality of patient experience. This is particularly the case for hypertension, an ‘invisible disease' that gives rise to various lay conceptions and practices. We examine how the disease is made ‘real' for Filipino hypertensive patients and the role their embodied experiences play in apprehending the chronicity of hypertension and in shaping care-related practices. Drawing from interview and focus group data from hypertensive patients in low-income communities in the Philippines, and on Annemarie Mol's notion of ‘multiplicity', the ‘symptom' plays a key role in the ways in which participants self-manage ‘hypertension'. Hypertension is a ‘multiple' condition that is understood and enacted differently by people who rely on their own experiential knowledge and ‘symptoms' to define its nature and act accordingly to maintain health. Their ‘symptoms' may or may not correspond with the biomedical view of hypertension, leading to a non-chronic view of hypertension that informs the decision (not) to take maintenance medications regularly. These findings have consequences for health communications and primary care. Failing to account for this ‘multiplicity' can also negatively impact experiences of care if patients feel that their embodied experiences are dismissed as less legitimate than biomedical indicators of the disease. Clinicians and public health officials must emphasize educational efforts that aim to address divergent views of noncommunicable diseases while respecting, listening to, and accounting for patients' experiential knowledge.

Nasa dugo (‘It’s in the blood’): lay conceptions of hypertension in the Philippines

IntroductionUnderstanding explanatory models is important for hypertension, a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. This article aims to determine what adult patients with hypertension in the Philippines attribute their condition to, how these views might be explained and what the implications are for hypertension management.MethodsThis is a qualitative study drawing on 71 semistructured interviews (40 initial and 31 follow-up) and four focus group discussions with patients diagnosed with hypertension. The setting was urban and rural low-income communities in the Philippines.ResultsFour prominent perceived causes were identified—genetics, heat, stress and diet—for what patients refer to as ‘high blood’. We propose a ‘folk physiology’ that rests on local understandings of blood and blood flow, draws from broader cultural notions of illness causation and accounts for a dynamic, non-chronic view of hypertension that in turn informs the health behaviours of those affected.ConclusionsBy understanding that hypertension is frequently seen not as a chronic constant condition but rather as an episodic one triggered by external influences, although in those genetically predisposed to it, it may be possible to address patient’s beliefs and thus adherence to treatment.

A Qualitative Exploration of Individual Differences in Wellbeing for Highly Sensitive Individuals

Cultures explicitly and implicitly create and reinforce social norms and expectations, which impact upon how individuals make sense of and experience their place within that culture. Substantial differences in research findings across a range of behavioral and cognitive indices can be seen between what have been called ‘Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD)’ societies, and non-WEIRD cultures. Indeed, lay conceptions and social norms around wellbeing tend to emphasize social outgoingness and high-arousal positive emotions, with introversion and negative emotion looked down upon or even pathologized. However, this extravert-centric conception of wellbeing does not fit many individuals who live within WEIRD societies, and studies find that this mismatch can have detrimental effects on their wellbeing. There is a need to better understand how happiness is created and experienced by the large number of people for whom wellbeing manifests in alternative ways. This study investigated one such manifestation – the personality trait of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) – qualitatively investigating how sensitive individuals experience and cultivate wellbeing within a WEIRD society. Twelve adults participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings suggest that highly sensitive individuals perceive that wellbeing arises from harmony across multiple dimensions. Interviewees emphasized the value of low-intensity positive emotion, self-awareness, self-acceptance, positive social relationships balanced by times of solitude, connecting with nature, contemplative practices, emotional self-regulation, practicing self-compassion, having a sense of meaning, and hope/optimism. Barriers of wellbeing included physical health issues and challenges with saying no to others. This study provides a richer idiographic representation of SPS wellbeing, highlighting diverse pathways which can lead to wellbeing for individuals for whom wellbeing manifests in ways that contradict the broader social narratives in which they reside.