A cross-cultural study of suicide intent in parasuicide patients

As part of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide, the level of suicide intent among female and male parasuicide patients from various European regions was compared. From nine regions, a total of 1,212 parasuicide patients, 752 females and 460 males, were included in the study. Although some statistical significant differences in level of suicide intent between the regions and genders were found, the effect sizes of these relationships were so small that the differences have neither theoretical nor practical significance. As far as level of suicide intent is concerned, the WHO study has succeeded in recruiting a relatively homogeneous group of self-harming patients across borders of region, culture, and country.     

Control blindness: Why people can make incorrect inferences about the intentions of others

There is limited evidence regarding the accuracy of inferences about intention. The research described in this article shows how perceptual control theory (PCT) can provide a “ground truth” for these judgments. In a series of 3 studies, participants were asked to identify a person’s intention in a tracking task where the person’s true intention was to control the position of a knot connecting a pair of rubber bands. Most participants failed to correctly infer the person’s intention, instead inferring complex but nonexistent goals (such as “tracing out two kangaroos boxing”) based on the actions taken to keep the knot under control. Therefore, most of our participants experienced what we call “control blindness.” The effect persisted with many participants even when their awareness was successfully directed at the knot whose position was under control. Beyond exploring the control blindness phenomenon in the context of our studies, we discuss its implications for psychological research and public policy.     

Spirituality and intentions to engage in Covid-19 protective behaviours

Accumulating evidence points to spirituality as a belief system that contributes to low trust in science, with self-identified spiritual individuals reporting high levels of unwarranted scepticism towards science in general and vaccination specifically. We investigated whether self-identified spirituality also predicts intentions to engage with Covid-19 protective measures during the pandemic. In Studies 1–3 (N = 774), we asked participants to report their spirituality and desire to be vaccinated against Covid-19 shortly after the first vaccine rollout. In Studies 2–3, we included measures of scepticism towards and intentions to comply with Covid-19 prevention measures (handwashing, wearing face coverings, distancing). As expected, stronger self-reported spirituality involved lower desire to be vaccinated, controlling for various worldview and demographic variables. Yet, we found no evidence for spirituality to predict scepticism towards other Covid-19 preventative behaviours or intentions to engage with them. Our findings corroborate and extend previous literature on science rejection, demonstrating that spirituality is uniquely involved in vaccine rejection.     

Psychopathy in Iran: a cross-cultural study

Few cross-cultural studies have assessed psychopathy and none have included a sample from non-western countries. This study investigated the factor structure of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) in an Iranian sample, and compared the results with a western sample. Three hundred fifty-one Iranian prisoners were compared with 405 participants of the standardization sample of the PCL:SV. Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory method were used for data analysis. The Iranian data fitted well with the hierarchical three-factor model of psychopathy and neither two- nor four-factor models showed an adequate fit. Differential item functioning existed across samples, with discriminatory power of factor 1 (arrogant and deceitful interpersonal style) being lower in the Iranian sample that for factor 2 (deficient emotional experience) being greater in the Iranian sample than the standardization sample. Deficient emotional experience might be the most significant factor in diagnosing psychopathy, regardless of the studied culture. Other factors appear to be relatively culture-specific.     

Self-concept: a cross-cultural study.

Self-concept differences between 190 American and 98 Danish 5th and 6th grade suburban students were examined in light of known societal and educational differences. Danish males and American females reported significantly higher self-confidence in personal attributes; American students reported higher achieving in school scores than Danish students. Results are discussed in the contex of cultural differences; further areas of investigation are offered.     

Loneliness in relation to suicide ideation and parasuicide: a population-wide study

Some links between loneliness and different manifestations of suicidal conduct have been reported in variety of subgroups (e.g., college students, the elderly, psychiatric patients). We tested this hypothesis by using the results of a population-wide survey. Strong associations among suicide ideation, parasuicide and different ways of being lonely and alone, defined either subjectively (i.e., the feeling), or objectively (i.e., living alone or being without friends), were observed. Moreover, prevalence of suicide ideation and parasuicide increased with the degree of loneliness. Only minimal differences between men and women were found.     

Political distrust,perceived threat,and intentions to engage in normative and violent collective action: A mixed-methods study

In three studies, we examined the role of distrust and perceived threat in intentions to engage in normative and violent non-normative collective action. A field-based qualitative study of 35 pro-democracy protestors during the 2019 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition protests revealed that perceived threat to Hong Kong values alongside distrust of political institutions spurred collective action engagement and support for defensive violent collection action. In Study 2, a questionnaire (N = 639) testing pro-democracy action intentions demonstrated direct paths on both normative and violent collective action intentions from distrust and threat. In Study 3 (N = 133), experimental trust and threat manipulations demonstrated a significant association between distrust and threat on violent collective action intentions and acceptance, and a significant interaction on acceptance of violent collective action. Our results reveal the importance of distrust and threat in attitudinal support for, and engagement in, collective action and their role in transitioning from non-violent to violent collective action.     

Seeking medical care for a breast cancer symptom: determinants of intentions to engage in prompt or delay behavior

This study examined the cognitive structures underlying women's intentions to delay or not delay seeking medical care for a breast cancer symptom. Middle-aged women imagined that they had just discovered a particular change in their breast, and they completed a questionnaire that assessed variables specified by Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action with respect to two alternative courses of action: immediately calling the doctor (i.e., prompt behavior) and monitoring the breast change on one's own (i.e., delay behavior). Also assessed were variables external to the theory that were drawn from previous research on cancer delay. Results showed that intentions to delay were positively associated with having favorable attitudes toward delay and with perceived social pressure to delay; the attitudinal factor, however, was more influential than the social factor in determining intentions. Underlying favorable attitudes toward delay were beliefs that delay would be likely to result in maintaining control over and avoiding the disruption of one's own and others' lives but would be unlikely to result in negative health outcomes. No external variable was found to contribute to intentions to delay above and beyond attitudinal and normative considerations.     

Deductive reasoning and creativity: a cross-cultural study

The present cross-cultural study examined the relationship between deductive reasoning and creativity among college students (M age=20.4 yr., SD= .6) from Hong Kong (n=39) and the United States (n=38). Participants performed tasks designed to measure deductive reasoning, creative writing, and insight problem-solving, all in verbal form. No correlation was found between the performance for deductive reasoning and creativity as measured by creative writing. Insight problem-solving performance correlated significantly with that for both reasoning and creativity. Significant cultural differences favoring the American participants were only found on the creative writing and insight problem-solving tasks, both of which supposedly involve creative thinking. There seems to be cultural dependence for creativity but not for deductive reasoning which suggests a qualification of a strong cultural-relevance view positing pervasive cultural influences on human thinking processes.     

Theory of planned behaviour and parasuicide: An exploratory study

Recent evidence suggests that parasuicide (deliberate self-harm) should be considered in terms of ‘normal’ rather than ‘abnormal’ behaviour. This study aimed to address this assertion by applying a social cognition model, for the first time, to parasuicidal behaviour. An extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model was tested on 55 individuals drawn from hospital and non-hospital populations. Thirty-eight percent of the sample (n=21) reported a history of deliberate self-harm. Findings supported the utility of the TPB: attitudes, subjective norm, self-efficacy, moral norm and anticipated affect discriminated significantly between those with and without a history of parasuicide. The extended TPB explained more than 50% of the variance associated with intentions to deliberately self-harm. These findings have considerable theoretical and practical implications for intervention. Future research should investigate the utility of the TPB employed within a prospective framework.     

Theory of planned behaviour and parasuicide: An exploratory study

Recent evidence suggests that parasuicide (deliberate self-harm) should be considered in terms of ‘normal’ rather than ‘abnormal’ behaviour. This study aimed to address this assertion by applying a social cognition model, for the first time, to parasuicidal behaviour. An extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model was tested on 55 individuals drawn from hospital and non-hospital populations. Thirty-eight percent of the sample (n=21) reported a history of deliberate self-harm. Findings supported the utility of the TPB: attitudes, subjective norm, self-efficacy, moral norm and anticipated affect discriminated significantly between those with and without a history of parasuicide. The extended TPB explained more than 50% of the variance associated with intentions to deliberately self-harm. These findings have considerable theoretical and practical implications for intervention. Future research should investigate the utility of the TPB employed within a prospective framework.     

Reproduction of cultural values: a cross-cultural examination of stories people create and transmit

Narratives are one of the oldest and universal forms of communication in human societies. In the present research, the authors hypothesized that narratives play an important role in the reproduction of cultural values. To test this idea, Study 1 examined the contents of stories created by American and Japanese participants for their reflection of individualistic and collectivistic values, and Study 2 examined whether information consistent with cultural values would be more likely to be retained and passed onto others. The studies found that American participants created stories that reflected individualistic values and retained more individualistic information than collectivistic information when they transmitted a story to others. In contrast, Japanese participants created stories that reflected collectivistic values and retained more collectivistic information than individualistic information when they transmitted a story to others. These findings support the idea that narrative communication is an important part of cultural reproduction mechanism.