Collectivistic norms, beliefs and Mexican OCBs: gender and generation differences

PurposeThe authors study the role of collectivistic norms and beliefs on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in Mexico, including differences across gender and generations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors researched the relationship between Mexican employees' collectivistic norms and beliefs and their OCBs, which the authors grouped into etic (universal), emic (regional) and unique (indigenous) categories, the latter referred to as Mexican OCBs (MOCBs). The authors also studied the role of gender and generations as moderators.FindingsCollective norms had a positive relationship only on the etic OCBs of sportsmanship, while collective beliefs impacted altruism and civic virtue; the etic OCBs of personal development, protecting company resources, interpersonal harmony; and the MOCBs of dedication and camaraderie. Collective beliefs on the etic OCB of altruism, the emic OCB of protecting company resources and the unique MOCB of camaraderie were stronger for workers from Xers than for Millennials. Moderation tests also showed that collective belief had stronger effects on the emic OCB of protecting company resources and the unique MOCBs of dedication and camaraderie for men than for women.Research limitations/implicationsGender roles in emerging economies where society is characterized by collectivistic attributes, especially in a sample drawn from professional employees, may have changed. This could explain the reason why most of the interactions were stronger for men. Future studies involving gender roles should look beyond a demographic variable and design an instrument measuring self-perceptions of role identity, such as the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974). This study's findings could be generalized, particularly, to other Latin American nations, but scholars should acknowledge differences in economic development and gender roles, as well as unique cultural elements (Arriagada, 2014; Hofstede, 1980).Practical implicationsThe results of this study yield three practical implications for international managers, including (1) distinguishing between the impact of changing cultural norms or beliefs on OCBs, (2) understanding how demographic factors such as gender or generation may influence the degree of OCBs exhibited in the workplace by specific employee groups, and (3) identifying cultural contexts which promote OCBs. First, workers from a younger generation in a collectivistic society, such as Millennials, respond less positively than workers from older generations to cultural beliefs concerning OCBs, such that they are less willing to engage in a particular category of OCBs including protecting company resources.Social implicationsGlobal managers should be aware that employees engage in distinct OCBs for different reasons. Emphasizing cultural rules and norms behind helping one another may backfire in Mexico, particularly among men and younger generations of workers. This is understandable for these OCBs. For example, engaging in personal development for the organization's sake due to collective norms may be less effective that pursuing personal development opportunities that employees are passionate about or recognize as beneficial for their careers. Dedication and sportsmanship behaviors that stem from rules are likely less strong or effective as OCBs employees engage in due to strong beliefs or altruistic spontaneity.Originality/valueThe authors filled a gap in scholar's understanding of cultural norms and beliefs on behavior. Specifically, the authors found that cultural beliefs shape etic, emic and unique MOCBs, particularly for men and older generations, and that cultural norms have a negligible and sometimes negative role, being positively related only to the etic OCB of sportsmanship.

The Cognitive-Sentient Exploration of Mediated Reality

This chapter described the intimate processes of the informational system of the human body and cells and their effect on the mind in order to understand how information is received/operated and integrated in the genetic structure of the organism by epigenetic mechanisms. Individual education/learning are the basic processes allowing the knowledge/judgement of mediated reality, and for the formation of decision criteria, beliefs, and mentality. The contributive role of media in education/behavior is highlighted, revealing the positive/negative effects of the persuasive messages in interaction with individual/collective beliefs and mentality. The inoculation techniques applied in various fields of media are discussed from the informational perspective, emphasizing the implication of the cognitive centers on such processes. Big data analysis and predictive conclusions on the social effects are used nowadays as feedback support, helping the optimization of the relation between audience and media products.

Network Structure Impacts the Synchronization of Collective Beliefs

People’s beliefs are influenced by interactions within their communities. The propagation of this influence through conversational social networks should impact the degree to which community members synchronize their beliefs. To investigate, we recruited a sample of 140 participants and constructed fourteen 10-member communities. Participants first rated the accuracy of a set of statements (pre-test) and were then provided with relevant evidence about them. Then, participants discussed the statements in a series of conversational interactions, following pre-determined network structures (clustered/non-clustered). Finally, they rated the accuracy of the statements again (post-test). The results show that belief synchronization, measuring the increase in belief similarity among individuals within a community from pre-test to post-test, is influenced by the community’s conversational network structure. This synchronization is circumscribed by a degree of separation effect and is equivalent in the clustered and non-clustered networks. We also find that conversational content predicts belief change from pre-test to post-test.

FORMAL EXPRESSION OF SACRED SPACE IN THE WORKS OF CARL MOSER

The article analyzes the imitation of traditional historical forms in the formation of sacred space. The main examples of world architecture are presented, which partially or completely copy the historical forms. The development of the sacred architecture of the modernist epoch in its imitation is represented. The phenomenon of perception in certain visible figures of objects is an expression of a more general situation, an expression of a certain type of views or collective beliefs. The using of traditional forms in modernist architecture is considered, which at the same time is not a complete rejection of modernist preferences, but also an attempt to reinterpret the geometry of traditional historical forms. The combination of national landscape and local specifics and European established traditional forms of sacred space is presented. Contradictions in the perception of sacred space and reading the symbolism of its content are considered. An attempt is also made to adapt the principles of modernism to the needs of the formation of sacred space, in which, after the suspension of historical knowledge, the essence of the phenomenon under study is sought, which is understood as its invariable feature. Religion, art, science and language are presented as forms of human thinking about reality with forms of epistemologically understandable symbol. The need to take into account the relationship between certain forms and messages that are transmitted through them in the formation of sacred space. Symbols pointing out not certain sacred reality, but certain intellectual tendencies, social situations or expressions of culture are singled out.

Collective Epistemic Luck

A platitude in epistemology is that an individual’s belief does not qualify as knowledge if it is true by luck. Individuals, however, are not the only bearers of knowledge. Many epistemologists agree that groups can also possess knowledge in a way that is genuinely collective. If groups can know, it is natural to think that, just as true individual beliefs fall short of knowledge due to individual epistemic luck, true collective beliefs may fall short of knowledge because of collective epistemic luck. This paper argues, first, that the dominant view of epistemic luck in the literature, the modal view, does not yield a satisfactory account of lucky collective beliefs. Second, it argues that collective epistemic luck is better explained in terms of groups lacking (suitably defined) forms of control over collective belief formation that are specific to the different procedures for forming collective beliefs. One of the main implications of this, we will argue, is that groups whose beliefs are formed via internal deliberation are more vulnerable to knowledge-undermining collective luck than groups that form their beliefs via non-deliberative methods, such as non-deliberative anonymous voting. The bottom line is that the greater exposure to knowledge-undermining luck that deliberation gives rise to provides a reason (not a conclusive one) for thinking that non-deliberative methods of group belief formation have greater epistemic value.

Mapping varied mental representations: The case of representing illegalized immigrants

How do people represent social categories? To answer this question, aggregate mental representations would typically be estimated at the sample level or within theory-derived individual differences (e.g., conservatives vs. liberals). However, these approaches can fail to capture the heterogeneous contours of collective beliefs. We introduce a novel data-driven approach that first clusters mental representations by similarity and then identifies which measures best differentiate between clusters. We apply this approach to understand mental representations of illegalized immigrants. Representations were estimated using face-based reverse correlation from border states, Texas and California (N = 1002), along with various measures thought to influence perceptions of immigrants: attitudes, demographics, ideologies, social geographic characteristics, and a manipulation of labels (i.e.., “undocumented” vs “illegal” immigrant). Comparative analyses revealed how the aggregate approach hid representational clusters that differed on visualized facial phenotype and affective expressions. Furthermore, the clusters were differentiated by characteristics not typically measured in social psychology: age and local population size perceptions. Data-driven approaches therefore offer a useful tool for identifying unexpected sources of shared beliefs by centering representational variation in investigations of mental representations.

Crossing the Maelstrom: New Departures in Viking Archaeology

This paper reviews the achievements and challenges of archaeological research on Viking Age northern Europe and explores potential avenues for future research. We identify the reemergence of comparative and cross-cultural perspectives along with a turn toward studying mobility and maritime expansion, fueled by the introduction of biomolecular and isotopic data. The study of identity has seen a shift from a focus on collective beliefs and ritual to issues of personal identity and presentation, with a corresponding shift in attention to individual burials and the “animated objects.” Network ontologies have brought new perspectives on the emergence of sea trade and urban nodes and to the significance of outfield production and resources. Field archaeology has seen an emphasis on elite manors, feasting halls, and monuments, as well as military sites and thing assembly places, using new data from remote sensing, geophysical surveys, geoarchaeology, and metal detectors. Concerns over current climate change have placed the study of environment as a key priority, in particular in the ecologically vulnerable North Atlantic settlements. Discussing future directions, we call for alignment between societal/economic and individual/cultural perspectives, and for more ethically grounded research. We point to diaspora theory and intersectionality as frameworks with the potential to integrate genomics, identity, and society, and to ecology as a framework for integrating landscape, mobility, and political power.

INHERITANCE OF TRADITIONAL HISTORICAL FORMS IN THE FORMATION OF SACRED SPACE

The article analyzes the imitation of traditional historical forms in the formation of sacred space. The main examples of world architecture are presented, which partially or completely copy the historical forms. The development of the sacred architecture of the modernist epoch in its imitation is represented. The phenomenon of perception in certain visible figures of objects is an expression of a more general situation, an expression of a certain type of views or collective beliefs. The using of traditional forms in modernist architecture is considered, which at the same time is not a complete rejection of modernist preferences, but also an attempt to reinterpret the geometry of traditional historical forms. The combination of national landscape and local specifics and European established traditional forms of sacred space is presented. Contradictions in the perception of sacred space and reading the symbolism of its content are considered. An attempt is also made to adapt the principles of modernism to the needs of the formation of sacred space, in which, after the suspension of historical knowledge, the essence of the phenomenon under study is sought, which is understood as its invariable feature. Religion, art, science and language are presented as forms of human thinking about reality with forms of epistemologically understandable symbol. The need to take into account the relationship between certain forms and messages that are transmitted through them in the formation of sacred space. Symbols pointing out not certain sacred reality, but certain intellectual tendencies, social situations or expressions of culture are singled out.