Cross-cultural differences in a global “survey of world views”

• Main Authors: SAUCIER, Gerard, KENNER, Judith, IURINO, Kathryn, MALHAM, Philippe Bou, CHEN, Zhuo, THALMAYER, Amber Gayle, KEMMELMEIER, Markus, TOV, William, ONG, Lay See, LEUNG, Angela K. Y.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: cultural psychology; family; child rearing; personality; religion; morality; values; attitudes; beliefs; gender; sex roles; ethnic identity; Applied Behavior Analysis; Child Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2053; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3310/viewcontent/Cross_cultural_differences_in_a_global_survey_of_world_views.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

We know that there are cross-cultural differences in psychological variables, such as individualism/collectivism. But it has not been clear which of these variables show relatively the greatestdifferences. The Survey of World Views project operated from the premise that such issuesare best addressed in a diverse sampling of countries representing a majority of the world’spopulation, with a very large range of item-content. Data were collected online from 8,883individuals (almost entirely college students based on local publicizing efforts) in 33 countriesthat constitute more than two third of the world’s population, using items drawn from measuresof nearly 50 variables. This report focuses on the broadest patterns evident in item data. Thelargest differences were not in those contents most frequently emphasized in cross-culturalpsychology (e.g., values, social axioms, cultural tightness), but instead in contents involvingreligion, regularity-norm behaviors, family roles and living arrangements, and ethnonationalism.Content not often studied cross-culturally (e.g., materialism, Machiavellianism, isms dimensions,moral foundations) demonstrated moderate-magnitude differences. Further studies are neededto refine such conclusions, but indications are that cross-cultural psychology may benefit fromcasting a wider net in terms of the psychological variables of focus.