Self‐reported emotional intelligence: Construct similarity and functional dissimilarity of higher‐order processing in Iran and the United States

This study employed the Trait Meta‐Mood Scale (TMMS) to assess self‐reported emotional intelligence cross‐culturally as an input (attention to emotions), process (clarity of emotions), and output (repair of emotions) information‐processing system. Iranian (N = 231) and American (N = 220) university students responded to the TMMS along with measures of alexithymia, public and private self‐consciousness, depression, anxiety, self‐esteem, and perceived stress. Negative correlations with alexithymia and expected linkages with all other variables documented the validity of the TMMS in both cultures. Most of the other measures correlated similarly in the two samples. However, private and public self‐consciousness displayed a stronger positive association in Iran. These two scales were also more predictive of adjustment in Iran and of maladjustment in the United States. This difference perhaps reflected a poorer integration of the two dimensions of self‐consciousness within a presumably more individualistic American society. Confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance procedures revealed cross‐cultural similarities in the fit of an a priori higher‐order factor structure to the obtained data, but subsequent structural equation modelling techniques uncovered cross‐cultural dissimilarities in the actual processing of emotional information. Specifically, the higher‐order factors of emotional intelligence were similar, but the interrelationships among those higher‐order factors were not. As expected, Iranians displayed positive relationships among the input, processing, and output activities of the information‐processing model. For the Americans, however, greater input was associated with diminished processing and output. This unanticipated relative contrast seemed congruent with speculation that the historical American emphasis on the self and individualism promotes positive, optimistic thinking. Overall, these data most importantly suggested that subtle cultural differences might exist in the processing of emotional information.     

In Defense of a Disputed Study of Construct Validity from South Africa

This analysis of a critique finds that the original study accurately showed that the items found easy or difficult by Black South African undergraduates were those found easy or difficult by their White and South Asian counterparts (r's=.90). There was no evidence of any culture‐specific effect. Instead, African/non‐African differences were found to be most pronounced on g. This was shown by item‐total correlations (estimates of the item's g loading), which predicted the magnitude of African/non‐African differences on those same items, and by a confirmatory factor analysis. The tests were equally predictive for Blacks and non‐Blacks on external criteria such as course grades. The results indicate the remarkable cross‐cultural generalizability of item properties across sub‐Saharan Africans, South Asians, and Europeans and that these reflect g more than culturally specific ways of thinking.     

Measurement Invariance of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale Scores: Does the Measurement Structure Hold across Far Eastern and European Countries?

In recent years, emotional intelligence and emotional intelligence measures have been used in a plethora of countries and cultures. This is also the case for the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), highlighting the importance of examining whether the WLEIS is invariant across regions other than the Far Eastern region (China) where it was originally developed. This study investigated the measurement invariance (MI) of the WLEIS scores across two countries, namely Singapore (N= 505) and Belgium (N= 339). Apart from items measuring the factor “use of emotion”, the measurement structure underlying the WLEIS ratings was generally invariant across both countries as there was no departure from MI in terms of factor form and factor loadings. The scalar invariance model (imposing an identical threshold structure) was partially supported. Factor intercorrelations (not involving the factor “use of emotion”) were also identical across countries. These results show promise for the invariance of the WLEIS scores across different countries, yet warn of the non‐invariance of the dimension “use of emotion”. Reducing the motivation‐oriented nature of these items is in order to come to an exact model fit in cross‐cultural comparisons.     

Estimates of lay views about reversal multiple intelligences for self and others: Sex and cross‐cultural comparisons

This study focuses on lay conceptions of intelligence. It examined sex and cross‐cultural similarities and differences in estimated intelligences and beliefs about intelligence in two countries, Angola and East Timor, within the reversal theory framework. A total of 209 Angolan (109 women and 100 men) and 183 Timorese (89 women and 94 men) students were participated in this study. Participants completed a questionnaire in order to estimate their parents', partners' and own overall intelligence and the 8 reversal multiple intelligences (telic, paratelic, conformist, negativistic, autic mastery, autic sympathy, alloic mastery and alloic sympathy intelligence). Respondents also rated 6 questions about intelligence. Men rated their overall, conformist and autic mastery higher than women. Angolans rated their overall, telic, paratelic, conformist, negativistic, autic mastery, autic sympathy, alloic mastery and alloic sympathy intelligence higher than Timorese. In both countries, fathers have been perceived as more intelligent than mothers, and telic intelligence emerged as a significant predictor of overall intelligence. Principal component analysis of the 8 reversal multiple intelligences yielded one factor. Angolan participants revealed more IQ test experience than Timorese participants. Most of respondents in both countries did not believe in sex differences in intelligence. These findings are discussed by means of cross‐cultural literature.     

Ubiquity of Whiteness in majority group national imagination: Australian = White,but New Zealander does not

This research examined cross‐national differences in the extent to which majority ethnic group members (White Europeans) in Australia and New Zealand automatically privileged members of their ingroup, relative to Indigenous targets, in cognitive representations of nationhood. As predicted, European Australian undergraduates implicitly associated their own ethnic group with the concept of “Australian”, relative to Aboriginal Australian targets (N = 50), but the implicit preferencing of Whiteness in representations of nationhood (relative to Maori targets) was absent in a comparable sample of New Zealand European undergraduates (N = 50). These results indicate that the extent to which representations of minority groups are interwoven with non‐conscious cognitive representations of nationhood and national identity are not immutably fixed. Instead, it is argued that this cross‐national difference is due to underlying systemic differences in the extent to which symbolic markers of Indigenous culture, identity, and values are consensually represented in majority group (White) national culture.     

Estimating national populations: cross‐cultural differences and availability effects

Estimates of national population were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, Canadian and Chinese undergraduates rated their knowledge of 112 countries and then estimated the population of each. In Experiment 2, Canadians rated their knowledge of 52 countries and then provided population estimates for these primed countries and for a comparable set of 52 unprimed countries. In Experiment 1, participants from both nations produced estimates that resembled those obtained from Americans in prior studies (Brown and Siegler, 1992 , 1993 , 1996 , 2001 ). However, there were several reliable cross‐national differences in performance which appear to reflect cross‐cultural differences in task‐relevant naive domain knowledge. In addition, both experiments produced findings consistent with the claim that availability‐based intuitions play an important role in this task. In Experiment 1, cross‐national differences in rated knowledge predicted cross‐national differences in estimated population; in Experiment 2, primed country names elicited larger population estimates than unprimed country names. We conclude by arguing for the general utility of this hybrid approach to real‐world estimation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An application of belief‐importance theory with reference to trait emotional intelligence,mood, and somatic complaints

Petrides, K.V. (2011). An application of belief‐importance theory with reference to trait emotional intelligence, mood, and somatic complaints. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 161–167. This article describes the basic principles of belief‐importance (belimp) theory and tests them in two empirical studies. Belimp theory hypothesizes that personality traits confer a propensity to perceive convergences and divergences between our belief that we can attain goals and the importance that we place on these goals. Belief and importance are conceptualized as two coordinates, together defining the belimp plane. Four distinct quadrants can be identified within the belimp plane (Hubris, Motivation, Depression and Apathy), broadly corresponding to the personality dimensions of trait emotional intelligence, conscientiousness, neuroticism and introversion. Study 1 (N = 365) defines the four quadrants in relation to goals about financial security and shows that they score differently on trait emotional intelligence, mood and somatic complaints. Study 2 (N = 230) defines the quadrants in relation to goals about appearance and, separately, in relation to goals about popularity, and replicates the findings of the first study. Strategies and requirements for testing belimp theory are presented, as are a number of theoretical and practical advantages that it can potentially offer.     

Measurement invariance of the Belief in a Zero‐Sum Game scale across 36 countries

In this paper, we examined the psychometric properties of cross‐cultural validation and replicability (i.e. measurement invariance) of the Belief in a Zero‐Sum Game (BZSG) scale, measuring antagonistic belief about interpersonal relations over scarce resources. The factorial structure of the BZSG scale was investigated in student samples from 36 countries (N = 9907), using separate confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) for each country. The cross‐cultural validation of the scale was based on multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFA). The results confirmed that the scale had a one‐factor structure in all countries, in which configural and metric invariance between countries was confirmed. As a zero‐sum belief about social relations perceived as antagonistic, BZSG is an important factor related to, for example, social and international relations, attitudes toward immigrants, or well‐being. The paper proposes different uses of the BZSG scale for cross‐cultural studies in different fields of psychology: social, political, or economic.     

Personal Values and Intended Self‐Presentation during Job Interviews: A Cross‐Cultural Comparison

This study examined the impact of personal values on intended self‐presentation during job interviews among German, Ghanaian, Norwegian, and Turkish students (total N= 1,474). We also sought to explain cultural differences in self‐presentation among these groups. The Cultural Impression Management Scale for applicants (CIM‐A) and the Portrait Values Questionnaire were administered. A multigroup MIMIC model with invariant measurement and structural weights was supported, in which achievement, security, and benevolence values predicted a latent impression management factor. Intended impression management scores were significantly higher in the Ghanaian and Turkish samples than in the Norwegian and German samples. Values (achievement and security) accounted for 19.6 per cent of the cross‐cultural differences in self‐presentation. Adding acquiescence as an additional predictor (interpreted here as a measure of communication style) decreased the cross‐cultural differences by 52.8 per cent. It is concluded that values are similarly related to intended self‐presentation across these four groups, even though the cross‐cultural differences in mean scores in both sets of variables were considerable.     

Enhancing Cultural Intelligence: The Roles of Implicit Culture Beliefs and Adjustment

Although international experience has been proposed as an important factor contributing to the development of cultural intelligence (CQ), its effect on CQ has often been assumed. Through a contact hypothesis framework, this study advances our understanding of CQ. It examines the process through which CQ changes occur against the backdrop of international exchanges. University students who were enrolled in an international exchange program with partners worldwide participated in this study. Using a 3‐wave time‐lagged design, we found that implicit culture beliefs (the beliefs about fixedness or malleability of cultural attributes) influenced intercultural rejection sensitivity, which impacted the cross‐cultural adjustment of sojourning students and their subsequent CQ. Specifically, we found that cross‐cultural adjustment experiences, particularly in the social domain, play an important role in influencing CQ. Findings from this study raise novel research questions and underscore the need for more empirical work in this area. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Testing the Situationism Scale in Europe: Scale validation,self‐regulation and regional differences

The term situationism refers to an individual's belief about the importance of a behaviour's context. This study tested whether the degree of situationism expressed by individuals in various regions of Europe was consistent with self‐regulation and cross‐cultural theories. The English version of a Situationism Scale (measuring beliefs about the relation between the environment and one's own behaviour) was translated into five additional languages: Dutch, German, Hungarian, Italian and Slovenian. Young adults (N = 1106, M_Age = 22.9 years, 79% female) across Europe responded to one of the six language versions of the scale as part of a larger survey. Results indicated that: new language versions were psychometrically valid; there was a positive relation between situationism and the use of situation‐control strategies; and situationism was higher for individuals from regions that are Eastern European and relatively more interdependent, compared with individuals from regions that are Western European and relatively less interdependent. As the first evaluation of the Situationism Scale outside America, this study supports the Scale's validity and suggests not only may some effects of situationism be universal, but between‐ and within‐culture differences in situationism exist. Overall, when making judgments and decisions about the self, cultural background and individual differences in situationism may come into play.     

Societal consequences of the g factor in employment

This article reviews and rebuts seven common arguments that intelligence (g) is of little or no practical importance in employment. It then illustrates in several ways the profound effect that differences in intelligence in a work force may have on the structure and functioning of whole societies. First, evidence and theory are presented to support the position that the occupational status hierarchy, which is of central concern in the study of social inequality, is an intellectual complexity factor among occupations that has evolved in response to the wide dispersion in intelligence levels within populations. Second, the large and stubborn mean black-white difference in intelligence is used to illustrate more concretely some of the society-wide ramifications of individual and group differences in intelligence, particularly when social policies are based on misconceptions about intelligence or its impact.     

Optimism and realism: A review of self‐efficacy from a cross‐cultural perspective

T his review critically examines much of the research investigating self‐efficacy beliefs through cross‐cultural comparisons. Two sets of cross‐cultural comparison groups are examined: Asian (or immigrant Asian) versus Western, and Eastern European versus Western European and American groups. After an introduction to self‐efficacy theory, some cross‐cultural aspects of self and self‐beliefs are discussed, and the cultural dimensions of individualism and collectivism are introduced. Analysis of the articles focuses on differences in levels of efficacy beliefs, calibration of beliefs with performance, methodological problems, and implications for practice. Almost all of the 20 studies reviewed found efficacy beliefs to be lower for non‐Western cultural groups, but in some cases these lower beliefs were more predictive of subsequent functioning. There is some evidence that the mean efficacy beliefs of a cultural group are modified through immigration or political changes. For some non‐Western groups, collective efficacy appears to operate in much the same way as self‐efficacy operates for Western groups. Realistic—as opposed to optimistic—efficacy beliefs do not necessarily predict poor performance for all cultural groups, as has been suggested by self‐efficacy theory. Only a minority of the studies included measurement of cultural dimensions such as individualism and collectivism, although most of the studies based conclusions on assumed cultural differences. In some cases, self‐efficacy was poorly defined and bore little resemblance to theoretically derived definitions. Conclusions from this research have implications especially for applied settings in education and business: Efficacy beliefs and performance appear to be enhanced when training approaches are congruent with the individual's sense of self. Lower levels of self‐efficacy beliefs found in some collectivist groups do not always signify lower subsequent performance, but are instead reflective of differing construals of self.     

Stigma towards psychosis: Cross‐cultural differences in prejudice,stereotypes, and discrimination in White British and South Asians

Public stigma towards people with mental health problems has been demonstrated in Western societies. Little is known about non‐Western cultures and whether cultures differ in their perceptions of people with mental health problems. Aim of this study was to examine cultural differences in prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination towards people with psychosis. Participants were from White British and South Asian backgrounds (N = 128, aged 16–20 years) recruited from two schools and colleges in the United Kingdom. They completed a cross‐sectional survey on affective, cognitive, and behavioural dimensions of stigma. Results revealed significant cultural differences on all three stigma dimensions. South Asians attributed higher anger (prejudice) and dangerousness (stereotypes) to people with psychosis than White British. They also reported lower willingness to help, greater avoidance, and higher endorsement of segregation (discrimination). The effects of ethnic group on helping intentions, avoidance, and segregation endorsement were mediated by anger and by dangerousness. Understanding cultural differences in stigma towards psychosis will be important for designing stigma interventions as well as treatments for people with different cultural backgrounds.     

Contemporary attitudes and their ideological representation in Flanders (Belgium), Poland,and the Ukraine

The present research tests the validity of a two‐dimensional cultural and economic right‐wing model of ideology, as well as the relationships between these dimensions and attitudes toward recent political issues. Opinions about environmentalism, war on terror, and European Union enlargement were selected as representative contemporary attitudes. The present research questions were investigated in a Flemish (N = 176), Polish (N = 93), and Ukrainian (N = 93) sample. The results revealed that two dimensions underlie the ideological spectrum in all samples, one referring to cultural conservatism and right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), and one referring to economic conservatism and social dominance orientation (SDO). Although the validity of differentiating between these ideological dimensions has been amply illustrated in studies on Western samples, the replication of these dimensions in former communist countries add to their validity and generality, because these countries have a specific political culture and history. However, important cross‐cultural differences with respect to the representation of the contemporary attitudes in this two‐dimensional ideological space were obtained as well. Whereas the war on terror attitude was meaningfully related to the cultural right‐wing dimension in all samples, the relationships for the environmentalism and EU enlargement attitudes were sample dependent. These cross‐cultural differences were explained in terms of saliency of the issue (nonsignificant versus significant relationships in the case of environmentalism) and pragmatic concerns in terms of profits and costs (in the case of EU enlargement). In the discussion it is also argued that the closer correspondence between the ideological representation of these attitudes in Polish and Western society may be caused by the fact that communism was less successful in penetrating political mentality in Poland than in the Ukraine.     

The Global Context and People at Work: Special Issue Introduction

Although considerable research has been conducted on a variety of cross‐cultural management topics, we still know very little about how organizations can effectively manage people involved in global work or how cross‐cultural differences impact individuals and groups at work. To address this gap, we edited a special issue of Personnel Psychology that presents scholarly research contributing to understanding how global experiences and contexts impact people at work. We identified 3 research themes: cross‐cultural comparisons, the different types of global workers, and theoretical perspectives that underlie the accepted articles’ contributions to this special issue. We conclude with specific theoretical and methodological recommendations for research on human resource management and organizational behavior topics incorporating the global context.     

The Relationship Between Diverse Components of Intelligence and Creativity

Intelligence and creativity are accounted for in terms of two different mental operations referred to as ‘convergent thinking’ and ‘divergent thinking’, respectively. Nevertheless, psychometric evidence on the relationship between intelligence and creativity has been controversial. To clarify their relationship, we characterized the relationship between diverse components of intelligence and creativity through the administration of psychometric tests on a large sample (WAIS, RPM, and TTCT‐figural: n = 215; TTCT‐verbal: n = 137). The general intelligence factor (g) score showed significant correlations with both TTCT‐figural and TTCT‐verbal scores. However, sub‐dimensional analysis demonstrated that their association was attributable to the specific components of both TTCTs (TTCT‐figural: Abstractness of Titles, Elaboration, and Resistance to Premature Closure; TTCT‐verbal: Flexibility) rather than to their common components (Fluency and Originality). Among the intelligence sub‐dimensions, crystallized intelligence (gC) played a pivotal role in the association between g and the specific components of both TTCTs. When the total sample was divided into two IQ groups, these phenomena were more evident in the average IQ group than in the high IQ group. These results suggest that the mental operation of creativity may be different from that of intelligence, but gC may be used as a resource for the mental operation of creativity.     

A longitudinal intergenerational analysis of executive functions during early childhood

Despite the importance of executive function (EF) in both clinical and educational contexts, the aetiology of individual differences in early childhood EF remains poorly understood. This study provides the first longitudinal intergenerational analysis of mother–child EF associations during early childhood. A group of children and their mothers (n = 62) completed age‐appropriate EF tasks. Mother and child EFs were modestly correlated by 24 months of age, and this association was stable through 48 months. Importantly, maternal–child EF associations were still robust after controlling for verbal ability (potential indicator of verbal/crystallized intelligence) and maternal education (correlate of socio‐economic status and verbal intelligence). Potential implications of these findings as well as underlying mechanisms of the maternal–child EF association (gene–environment interplay) are discussed.     

Culture and institutional agency: difference in judgments of economic behavior and organizational responsibilities

The current research tested the concept of institutional agency (IA) and its implications for laypeople's attribution patterns related to economic behaviors and organizational responsibilities. The term “institutional agency” refers to a set of lay theories about whether or not an organization can have personhood and related mental properties, such as wishes, desires, intents, and responsibility. Through three cross‐cultural studies, we found that people do form certain beliefs about IA which are similar to the legal discourse of institutional responsibility. However, there are significant cultural differences in views of IA, and the concept is more mentally salient for Americans than for Chinese. In Study 1, we distinguished institutional from group agency by showing the cultural differences on attributions in the scenario with “individual vs. group agency” and the scenario with “individual vs. institutional agency.” In Study 2, we again demonstrated the stronger salience of IA for Americans than for Chinese by including the individual, group, and institutional agencies together in one scenario. In Study 3, we further demonstrated that the concept of IA is more salient for Americans by presenting three different agents in separate scenarios. The practical implications of these cultural differences for cross‐cultural understanding and the psychological effects of economic globalization are discussed.