Social class differences produce social group preferences

Some social groups are higher in socioeconomic status than others and the former tend to be favored over the latter. The present research investigated whether observing group differences in wealth alone can directly cause children to prefer wealthier groups. In Experiment 1, 4–5‐year‐old children developed a preference for a wealthy novel group over a less wealthy group. In Experiment 2, children did not develop preferences when groups differed by another kind of positive/negative attribute (i.e. living in brightly colored houses vs. drab houses), suggesting that wealth is a particularly meaningful group distinction. Lastly, in Experiment 3, the effect of favoring novel wealthy groups was moderated by group membership: Children assigned to a wealthy group showed ingroup favoritism, but those assigned to a less wealthy group did not. These experiments shed light on why children tend to be biased in favor of social groups that are higher in socioeconomic status.     

A longitudinal study of the moderating effects of social capital on the relationships between changes in human capital and ikigai among Japanese older adults

Ikigai, one of the indices of well‐being, tends to decline with age because resources relating to ikigai decline. However, there are individual differences in this decline. This study tested for maintenance of ikigai among Japanese elderly, using a longitudinal study investigating the moderating role of social capital on the effects of changes in human capital on ikigai. We conducted a panel survey targeting 1,068 people (M age = 73.01 years) in 2013, and 686 people in 2017. The variables were ikigai, changes in human capital (self‐rated financial status, physical health) and social capital (social networks, trust in others), educational level, and control variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed the interaction effects of changes in physical health and changes in social networks (strong ties, weak ties) on follow‐up ikigai. Post hoc analyses indicated that declines in physical health predicted declines in ikigai among those whose social networks (strong ties and weak ties) had declined in the 4‐year study, but these relationships were not significant among those whose social networks had increased. The results suggest that older adults can weaken the adverse effect of a decline in human capital on ikigai by maintaining or increasing social networks.     

Constructing who can be Japanese: A study of social markers of acceptance in Japan

Social markers of acceptance are socially constructed indicators of adaptation (e.g., language skills or adherence to social norms) that recipient nationals use in deciding whether to view an immigrant as a host community member. This study had two objectives: (a) to distill the markers considered important by Japanese undergraduates to accept immigrants in Japanese society and (b) to test the premises of integrated threat and social identity theories by ascertaining the effects on marker endorsement of perceived immigrant threat, contribution, relative social status, and intergroup permeability. Native‐born Japanese (the term “native‐born Japanese” is used throughout this article to refer to people born as Japanese citizens—differentiating them from immigrants who are Japanese citizens naturalized after birth) from 12 Japanese universities (N = 428) completed an online survey. Marker importance ratings were factor‐analyzed, and three latent dimensions were found representing sociolinguistic, ethnic, and socioeconomic markers. Multiple hierarchical regressions discerned the main effects of immigrants’ perceived threat and contribution on social markers as well as their interactions with intergroup permeability and immigrant relative status. The results underscored perceived threat’s consistent role in increasing marker importance and suggested divergent paths to acceptance: Immigrants perceived as “low‐status” were expected to conform to sociolinguistic and ethnic markers, whereas socioeconomic markers were stressed more for “high‐status” immigrants when perceived immigrant threat increased and intergroup boundaries were considered less permeable.     

Applying Western models of volunteering in Hong Kong: The role of empathy,prosocial motivation and motive–experience fit for volunteering

The present research investigates the applicability of prominent Western volunteering frameworks in Hong Kong. Two cross‐sectional surveys involving a total of 268 respondents were conducted. In Study 1, we tested a model of volunteering among 149 Hong Kong Chinese adult individuals (M_age = 34.8 years; 51.7% female) that examines antecedents and outcomes of voluntary engagement. Results show that prosocial motivation relates to volunteering, and that volunteering in turn predicts life satisfaction. Unexpectedly, and unlike studies in Western settings, other‐oriented empathy was not related to volunteering. Study 2 tests the propositions of the Volunteer Process Model (VPM) among 119 Hong Kong Chinese volunteers (M_age = 36.9 years; 58.0% female). Findings largely support the VPM: our results indicate that the link between motives, voluntary service length and frequency is mediated by satisfaction with volunteering. Moreover, findings suggest that a fit between motives and experience seems relevant for increasing volunteers' satisfaction with their service. Results of both studies suggest that Western volunteering models can be applied to volunteering in East Asian cultures when culture‐specific adaptations are considered.     

Adult's amae as a tool for adjustment to a new environment

Past research has found that people of East Asian backgrounds avoid seeking help out of relational concerns. Research on amae, however, suggests that Japanese may use amae to simultaneously obtain the needed help and enhance relationships. Study 1 showed that among Japanese entrepreneurs and managers, the propensity toward amae correlated with perceiving fewer costs of help‐seeking, seeking more help at work, greater engagement in new relationships and higher general trust. These associations suggest that the Japanese may be using amae to get the help they need and to build new relationships. Study 2 further showed that first‐year undergraduates who reported engaging in amae soon after entering college showed a significant increase in sense of purpose and satisfaction with college life in their first year. These findings suggest that, unlike dependency or passive love, amae can be highly adaptive for the Japanese.     

Cooperation and coordination across cultures and contexts: Individual,sociocultural, and contextual factors jointly influence decision making in the volunteer's dilemma game

What factors promote or hinder volunteering within organizations and groups? This paper simultaneously explores the impact of individual, contextual, and sociocultural variables on decision making in a special type of social dilemma: the volunteer's dilemma game (VDG). The VDG provides a controlled experimental method for studying volunteering behaviors in an anonymous interactive environment. We developed six variations of the VDG and administered them to economics students in five different cultures (N_total = 603). Among other things, these VDGs varied whether the potential benefits of volunteering were certain or uncertain. Although the overall level of volunteering did not vary substantially across most cultural groups, we found that culture interacted with the size and (un)certainty of the benefits associated with volunteering, to influence volunteering decisions. We also found that religiosity (but not religious affiliation per se) increases volunteering and that men are less likely to volunteer when the returns to doing so are certain. These results extend our knowledge of behaviors in the VDG, and their potential drivers, with clear implications for understanding how culture, individual characteristics, and context jointly influence prosocial behavior and coordination.     

Young European citizens: An individual by context perspective on adolescent European citizenship

Abstract

This study examined the effects of individual, school-level and country-level variables and their interactions on two components of adolescents’ active European citizenship: trust in European institutions and participation at the European level. For comparison, country-related institutional trust and participation were also predicted. Using multilevel regression models, we re-analysed a subsample of survey data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, collected from 14-year-old students (n = 72,466) in 22 European countries in 2009. Results showed that higher cognitive engagement with politics (e.g., political interest), more opportunities for learning about Europe at school, and country wealth and social equality were positively associated with both aspects of adolescents’ active European citizenship. In contrast to country-related participation, the participatory dimension of active European citizenship was also positively related to a higher socioeconomic status of adolescent’s classroom and family, an association that was more pronounced in less wealthy and post-communist countries.     

More evidence on the latent benefits of work: bolstered by volunteering while threatened by job insecurity

ABSTRACT

This research examined whether volunteering would grant an alternative route to meaning at work (in the form of the latent benefits of work), even when people are deprived of meaning in times of job insecurity. Two longitudinal studies conducted in Germany (2 waves; n = 110) and the United Kingdom (3 waves; n = 377) showed that volunteering was related to more latent benefits in general, although the specific relationships differed between the countries: In the German sample, volunteering led to more collective purpose and social contacts over time, in the UK sample, it increased time structure and activity. Cross-lagged path analyses further showed that the relationship between volunteering and the latent benefits was reciprocal in both countries: volunteering increased the latent benefits and vice versa. There was limited evidence for the depriving effect of job insecurity, which was found only cross-sectionally. In sum, the results confirm that volunteering can enhance the benefits of work in times of job insecurity and that the effect is reciprocal.     

Cultural group norms for harmony explain the puzzling negative association between objective status and system justification in Asia

Why do poorer and less educated Asians trust their institutions of governance more than their richer and well educated counterparts, despite their disadvantaged position within society? System justification theory (SJT) assumes that this trust is driven by a system-level motivation that operates independently from social identity needs. In two nationally representative surveys spanning several years (N_total = 221,297), we compared SJT's explanation with a newer social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA): that system justification amongst disadvantaged Asians is driven by a group norm for harmony, especially amongst those who are strongly invested in their national ingroup. The results supported SIMSA more than SJT. Specifically, a strong sense of national identification boosted trust in systems of governance amongst poorer and less-educated Asians, both when societal norms for harmony (Study 1), and personal endorsement of this norm (Study 2) were strong. Hence, social identity needs help to explain stronger system justification among objectively disadvantaged Asians.     

Marketing social norms: Social marketing and the ‘social norm approach’

This paper is inspired by the observation that the social norm approach (SNA) to socially desirable behaviour change – that is, telling people about what lots of other people do – retains something of a Cinderella role among social marketing practitioners and academics. Thus, the objective of this paper is to bring the social norm approach to the attention of a wider – and specifically, marketing and social marketing – audience, in the hope that the practice, study and critical analysis of the approach can be widened and deepened. We begin this task by tracing the background of the social norm approach to its origins in psychology and social psychology and by discussing a number of typical social norm campaigns. Thereafter, we review four key characteristics of successful social norm campaigns. In our discussion, we return to a more theoretical discussion of how the social norm approach works, and we pose a number of questions that emerge from the paper. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religious Social Networks and Volunteering: Examining Recruitment via Close Ties

A growing number of studies point to religious social networks as the critical link between religion and volunteering, mediating the effect of religious participation and predicting volunteering more strongly than beliefs. Previous studies have examined how the presence or absence of religiously based social ties predicts volunteering behavior. However, few studies have focused on the role of recruitment in personal networks. Examining the sources and frequency of recruitment efforts is especially important, since being asked to volunteer is one of the strongest predictors of volunteering. Using data from the nationally representative Portraits of American Life Study, this study examines the frequency and effectiveness of volunteer recruitment via close, same-faith ties. I find that same-faith friends and family members vary widely in their propensity to make volunteer requests, depending on whether religion is a salient aspect of the relationship and whether the relationship is connected to congregational social networks. I also find that, for churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike, ties to people actively involved in a congregation are important sources of volunteer invitations. As expected, having been asked to volunteer is a strong predictor of volunteering. However, the recruitment source appears to be less critical. I explore how these findings shed light on the mechanisms linking religious networks and volunteering.     

Doing good,feeling good: Values and the self 's moral center

Rarely do social psychological treatments of the self highlight its moral dimension. We expect people with prosocial values to feel better about themselves when enacting such values. Social identities situate individuals within social groups and wider social structures; successfully enacting important identities increases feelings of self-esteem. This paper looks at individual differences and demonstrates that enacting a social identity (volunteering) contributes more to feelings of self-esteem for those individuals whose values align with that identity. Volunteering may increase self-esteem in general; but for those who claim the identity and hold especially prosocial values, volunteering becomes an important route toward positive self-evaluation.     

You are my happiness: Socially enriched happiness belief predicts life satisfaction,especially among the poor

ABSTRACT

What three words come to your mind in response to “happiness”? Using a free-association task [cf. Nelson, D. L., McEvoy, C. L., & Dennis, S. (2000). What is free association and what does it measure? Memory and Cognition, 28, 887–899], this research finds that the number of social words (e.g. family, love) provided in link to happiness predicts people’s actual life satisfaction level. However, this association was significantly moderated by the person’s self-perceived financial state. The contingency between holding a socially-oriented belief about happiness and experienced life satisfaction was significant among members of low socioeconomic status (SES), but not among the high SES group. This pattern was replicated across two divergent samples (Asian college students, Study 1; American adults, Study 2), regardless of one’s extraversion level (Studies 1, 2) and availability of social support (number of friends, Study 2). Given the overlapping function of money and social relationships (instrumental in promoting survival), believing in the social nature of happiness seems to be more central in the life satisfaction of those with less financial resource.     

Religion,Volunteering, and Educational Setting: The Effect of Youth Schooling Type on Civic Engagement

Research on civic engagement shows that volunteering rates decline as young people move from adolescence into emerging adulthood. Using panel data spanning this period of the life course, we examine the impact of secondary schooling type—public, Catholic, Protestant, private nonreligious, and homeschool—on sustaining volunteering into emerging adulthood. We apply a framework that posits pathways between secondary schooling and sets of opportunities to volunteer embedded in institutions and social networks. We also posit a link between schooling type and durable motivational dispositions to volunteer. Results indicate substantial differences by schooling type, although our measures of opportunity structure and motivation do not adequately account for these differences. Those educated in Protestant secondary schools are considerably more likely than other young people to continue to volunteer, even accounting for potential spurious influences. Those schooled at home or in private nonreligious settings are significantly less likely to continue volunteering. We conclude by discussing two alternative accounts that should be addressed in further research: one focused on the role of habituated social practices and the other focused on differences in organizational efforts to link adolescent volunteering to emerging adult volunteering.     

Economic Adversity and Depressive Symptoms in Mothers: Do Marital Status and Perceived Social Support Matter?

Over the past decade there has been increasing interest in the idea that marriage and perhaps other forms of interpersonal support can buffer the negative effects of poverty. The current study tests the hypothesis that marital status, perceived social support and neighborhood collective efficacy can moderate the effects of economic adversity on depressive symptoms among parents. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to analyze data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Participants were 1,957 mothers of minor children. Analysis of main effects revealed associations between neighborhood SES (β = ?0.69, SE (0.15), p < .001), family income (β = ?0.11, SE (0.05), p = .02) financial strain (β = 0.51, SE (0.18), p = .004), being single (β = 0.63, SE (0.24), p = .009) and perceived social support (β = ?0.22, SE (0.03), p < .001) on depressive symptoms. The hypothesis that interpersonal resources can buffer the effects of economic adversity was not supported. There were no significant interactions between marital status and economic adversity. There was a significant interaction between perceived social support and neighborhood level socioeconomic status (β = ?0.07, SE (0.03), p = .04) but the effects of social support were weakest in neighborhoods characterized by low socioeconomic status.     

How Status Conflict Undermines Athletes' Willingness to Help New Teammates

Drawing from theory on social hierarchy and intragroup behaviors, the current study examined whether status conflicts attenuate willingness to help newcomers. Using experimental vignettes with high-level team sport athletes (N = 112), the results demonstrated that athletes were less willing to help high-status newcomers who played the same position than newcomers who played (a) a different position and (b) the same position but were described to be lower status. Our findings show that when positional competition creates a salient status threat, this can curtail an athlete's willingness to help in the socialization processes of a teammate.     

The Effects of Social Status and Culture on Delay Discounting

People generally tend to discount future outcomes in favor of smaller but immediate gains (i.e., delay discounting). This study examines the hypothesis that culture and social status moderate this tendency, as well as the alternative hypothesis that social status and culture influence delay discounting independently of each other. American and Japanese adults were asked to choose receiving hypothetical monetary rewards either immediately or receiving rewards of different amounts with a delay of 1 year. The results replicated previous findings and supported the alternative hypothesis. Delay discounting was lower when subjective socioeconomic status (i.e., an individual’s perception of her or his social rank) was higher. Also, the Japanese were less likely to discount future rewards than the Americans. However, there was no interaction between social status and culture in influencing the rates of delay discounting.     

Life events and psychological well-being in old age

Abstract

Although life event research has burgeoned in recent years, little attention has been paid to the prevalence of events among the elderly or their relationship to psychological well-being. This paper presents data from a three-wave longitudinal study of community elderly in Aberdeen. Negative life events were highly prevalent among both survivors [N=349) and non-survivors [N=108], but the relatively small differences between the groups indicate that attrition does not seriously affect longitudinal findings. Longitudinal analysis of survivors' data was performed using LISREL and yielded a model with a goodness of fit index of 0.918, demonstrating a close fit between the data and the model. The model parameters indicate that those in poor psychological state were more likely to report serious non-health events than health events, although the latter were more likely than the former to result in a decline in psychological well-being, even after prior psychological state was taken into account. While elderly people with low social integration experienced more severe reactions to life events in the short term than those with high social integration, there were no significant long term effects, even for those reporting highly stressful events. There was no evidence of a sub-group of elderly people lacked into a cycle of serious life events. However life events were not random occurrences; serious health events were more often reported by those with low education while women and those in lower social classes were more likely to report serious non-health events. Overall, long term disruption, directly attributable to life events, was minimal when viewed within the context of the community elderly's stable psychological state.     

Education and conspiracy beliefs: A replication of van Prooijen (2017)

The main aim of the study was to replicate and extend van Prooijen's findings on how education and its outcomes (cognitive complexity, subjective social standing, self-esteem, a feeling of control and powerlessness, cognitive reflection, epistemic curiosity and scientific reasoning) predict conspiracy beliefs. In two studies (Study 1: N = 497, M_age = 49.06, SD_age = 14.92; Study 2: N = 482, M_age = 47.45, SD_age = 15.87), subjective socioeconomic status and cognitive reflection (Study 1) and a feeling of powerlessness and scientific reasoning (Study 2) contributed to the negative relationship between education level and belief in conspiracy theories. These results showed the connection of education to socioeconomic status, a feeling of control and analytic thinking (cognitive reflection, scientific reasoning) and their power to reduce conspiracy beliefs.     

Asymmetric Explanations of Group Differences: Experimental Evidence of Foucault’s Disciplinary Power

Whilst the same group differences can be explained in many ways, explanations of group differences tend to spontaneously figure the distinctive attributes of lower‐status groups against a background norm of high‐status groups’ attributes. We suggest that this asymmetry occurs in the explanations of scientists and laypeople who have been influenced by the history of ‘disciplinary power’ which works to disempower lower‐status people by making them visible to the human sciences. We argue that social groups who are habitually studied first in research programs, more commonly encountered social groups, and prototypical social groups are all less likely than their counterparts to be marked in spontaneous explanations of empirical group differences. We present evidence that groups who are explicitly mentioned in such explanations are assumed to be lower in power. We describe some limitations to current knowledge about such asymmetric explanations and suggest some directions for further research, including our thoughts about how to integrate existing findings with the possibility of formulating cognitive alternatives to the status quo among minority groups.