What Makes Women Social Cynics? An Exploratory Study

Although women are comprised almost half of the human population, still their experiences as a minority within the larger social framework, affect the affective and behavioral aspects of their personality including social cynicism. Unfortunately, social cynicism had never been empirically studied from the perspective of women, especially indigenously. By applying a qualitative approach, this study explored an indigenous understanding of social cynicism in a sample of (N=20) young adult women through a focus group discussion (n=6) and open-ended questionnaires (n=14), respectively. Five central themes emerged after the thematic analysis of the transcribed data that included gender inequality and exploitation, misrepresentation and misinformation, negative beliefs and generalizations, authority and control, and lastly, safety and security concerns. The findings showed several distinctive and indigenous themes like paternal authoritarianism, religion-based misinterpretation and sense of imminent danger while a few sub-themes were consistent with the previous literature. By exploring the construct of social cynicism in women, this study had not only broadened the limits of existing research literature on this construct but its themes could be applied for indigenous theory and scale development.

Culture and attitudes towards contraception of women in subsistence markets: the role of values and social axioms

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.

The social axioms of populism: Investigating the relationship between culture and populist attitudes

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.

Value Orientations of Modern Kazakhstanis

Background & Objective: Values are a good indicator for tracking social and individual changes due to historical, social and personal events. Therefore, it is important to explore the values of modern Kazakhstanis and determine the dialectical relationship of integrity, stability, and dynamics in the invariance of the system of value orientations during socio-economic, political, religious, aesthetic, and cultural-historical changes in post-Soviet society. Comprehending the problem of transformation and transmission of values will allow us to consider the underlying psychological processes influencing the formation of personal values. This research aimed to study the value orientations of modern Kazakhstanis of the post-Soviet period in the context of gender and age factors. Methods: The study involved 305 respondents, of which 192 were women and 113 were men, while the age of 202 respondents ranged from 18 to 25 years, and that of 103 respondents ranged from 50 to 65 years. For the study of value orientations, the “Modified Questionnaire of Values” (PVQ-R) by S. Schwartz was used. Results: In the system of value orientations of Kazakhstanis, an internal conflict can be traced between personal and social focus, and between self-determination and self-affirmation. Two generations are differentiated by the following values: the value of Achievement, Social complexity, and Control of fate. The two sexes are differentiated by values such as Social cynicism, Control of fate, Stimulation, Personal Security, Modesty, Universalism-Tolerance, Benevolence-Care and Benevolence-Sense of duty. Conclusion: Despite the late deep transformations of Kazakhstani society, the value orientations of modern Kazakhstanis tend to preserve the basic value component, which is a mechanism of transferring the stable elements of the value system of a highly collective culture from generation to generation. The value orientations of Kazakhstani people of both young and older generations are realized through mechanisms of growth and development, and self-defense.

Problematic Smartphone Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Its Association with Pandemic-Related and Generalized Beliefs

Smartphone technologies have played a crucial role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the increased use of smartphones during the pandemic period may expose the general public to a higher risk of problematic smartphone use (PSU). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of PSU among Chinese community adults and adopted a social-cognitive theory and social axiom framework to evaluate the effects of beliefs on PSU. A Chinese adult sample (N = 616) was obtained through probability sampling via a telephone survey from Macao, China and included 591 smartphone users’ data (39.4% men) for formal analysis. The prevalence of PSU was 43.3% in the overall sample, with 41.9% in women, and 45.5% in men. Two types of beliefs derived from the social-cognitive theory, pandemic-related self-efficacy and government efficacy, both showed significant and negative correlations with PSU (r = −0.13 and −0.10, p < 0.05). As for the two beliefs from the social axiom framework, reward for application was negatively correlated with PSU (r = −0.10, p < 0.05), whereas social cynicism was positively associated with PSU (r = 0.25, p < 0.001). Among those four beliefs, social cynicism exerted the most substantial effect on PSU when controlling for demographics. Our findings enriched the understanding of PSU during the pandemic and provided empirical direction regarding cognition-based intervention strategies for reducing PSU.

Cynical consumer: how social cynicism impacts consumer attitude

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of social cynicism on consumer cynicism. The negative inferred motive is tested as a mediator between social cynicism and consumer cynicism; whereas, negative affectivity is tested as a moderator between social cynicism and negative inferred motive. Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out in India using a mixed-method approach. In the first stage, a survey was conducted to test the moderated mediation model, followed by in-depth interviews in the second stage. The survey was analysed using structural equation modelling, while themes were generated from the data collected through interviews. Findings The study established the effect of social cynicism on consumer cynicism. Negative inferred motive mediated the relationship between social cynicism and consumer cynicism. Negative affectivity moderated the influence of social cynicism on negative inferred motive. Research limitations/implications With rising anti-consumption behaviours, it is imperative to understand why consumers turn cynical towards marketers. The study indicates that consumer cynicism is influenced by previous experiences of the consumer with the society and is not merely a reaction to arm-twisting by firms. As social cynicism cannot be changed drastically, understanding how it impacts consumer cynicism would help a firm handle its marketing efforts better. Originality/value The study empirically validates the relationship between social cynicism and consumer cynicism. The mediating effect of negative inferred motive on consumer cynicism was also validated. The study is also the first to point out the moderating role of negative affectivity on the relationship between social cynicism and negative inferred motive.