Local/foreign status,cultural background,and organizational citizenship behaviour: A study among foreign and local workers in The Netherlands

A study in Singapore (Ang et al., 2003 Ang, S., van Dyne, L. and Begley, T. M. 2003. The employment relationship of foreign workers versus local employees: A field study of organizational justice, job satisfaction, performance, and OCB. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24: 561–583. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) found that foreign employees displayed a lower tendency to engage in Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) than their local counterparts. The explanation was that foreign employees often experience their employment relation as more disadvantageous. The present study attempted to investigate possible differences in OCB between foreign and local workers in The Netherlands. In addition, it aimed to ascertain what role the cultural dimension of “individualism–collectivism” plays in this connection. Contrasting the expectations, the foreign employees reported a higher propensity to pursue OCB than local workers. The difference in behaviour could not be explained by cultural differences. It was argued that economic and personal motives of foreign workers might have affected the self-reports of their organizational behaviour.     

Transition to market economy promotes individualistic values: Analysing changes in frequencies of Russian words from 1980 to 2008

Google Books Ngram was used to assess changes in frequency of usage in words corresponding to collectivistic and individualistic values in Russia during the time of economic changes. It was found that in many domains transition to market economy was associated with a rise in the use of words corresponding to individualistic values and a decrease in the use of words associated with collectivistic values. In several cases, words corresponding to collectivistic terms were used more often than words corresponding to individualistic values. The results suggest that economic changes lead to a change in values structure, but that individualistic and collectivistic values can co‐exist because of the transitional sate of the Russian society.     

Not all cultural values are created equal: Cultural change in China reexamined through Google books

Given its major transformations in recent decades, China has figured prominently in research on cultural change. Previous research converges in showing a general trend towards individualism in contemporary China while noting that rising individualism tends to coexist with enduring collectivism. To further understand this, we tested whether perceived traditional importance of cultural values would modulate the trajectory of cultural change reflected in word usage frequencies in published books. We re‐analysed Google's Chinese corpus since 1980 based on a broad sample of words associated with individualism–collectivism. We replicated the pattern of rising individualism and declining collectivism among words of modest and low perceived traditional importance. Most important, however, collectivistic words of high perceived traditional importance increased in usage frequencies with time, thus departing from the general trend towards individualism. Overall, our research underscores the role of core culture in cultural maintenance during times of rapid cultural change.     

Relationship between collectivism and corruption in American and Chinese books: A historical perspective

Previous research on the relationship between collectivism and corruption has not investigated their co‐variation over time. In this study, we use Google Ngram Viewer to track the frequency of words related to collectivism and corruption in American books (1800–2000) and in Chinese Books (1970–2008). The results demonstrate that a positive association between the usage of these terms during the periods in both Chinese and American books, with changes in words related to collectivism preceding changes in words related to corruption in American books. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.     

Identity and sociocultural change: Comparing young indigenous people in Chiapas who have different sociodemographic trajectories

One of the most commonly used distinctions in cross‐cultural studies is the one between individualism and collectivism. One of the criticisms levelled at this distinction is that it fails to incorporate the differences that may exist when comparing people from a rural context with little formal education to people from the same group who live in an urban context where formal education is the norm. Bearing in mind these sociodemographic factors, we have compared the self‐concepts among 104 young indigenous people in Chiapas (Mexico), having divided them into three groups: “rural‐traditional,” “rural–urban” and “urban.” These people's self‐concepts were analysed using a task that contrasts personal self‐concept with social self‐concept and a technique in which participants draw themselves along with the things and people they consider most important to them. The results reveal significant differences between the three groups. The personal categories are given a higher value in the “urban” group while the social categories score higher in the “rural‐traditional” group. Regarding the results of the indigenous self‐portraits, from the content analysis of the drawings, 16 categories emerged. These findings are discussed in the light of Greenfield's theory of social change and human development.     

Outcomes of work–life balance on job satisfaction,life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures

This study investigates the effects of work–life balance (WLB) on several individual outcomes across cultures. Using a sample of 1416 employees from seven distinct populations – Malaysian, Chinese, New Zealand Maori, New Zealand European, Spanish, French, and Italian – SEM analysis showed that WLB was positively related to job and life satisfaction and negatively related to anxiety and depression across the seven cultures. Individualism/collectivism and gender egalitarianism moderated these relationships. High levels of WLB were more positively associated with job and life satisfaction for individuals in individualistic cultures, compared with individuals in collectivistic cultures. High levels of WLB were more positively associated with job and life satisfaction and more negatively associated with anxiety for individuals in gender egalitarian cultures. Overall, we find strong support for WLB being beneficial for employees from various cultures and for culture as a moderator of these relationships.     

The role of cultural factors and attitudes for pedestrian behaviour in an urban Turkish sample

There is a limited number of studies that examine the role of cultural factors and attitudes related to pedestrian behaviour. The aim of this study was to explore the role of cultural variables (i.e. vertical and horizontal collectivism, and individualism, as well as uncertainty avoidance) and attitudes towards pedestrian safety for reported risk-taking pedestrian behaviour in a sample of urban Turkish road users. An additional aim was to test whether the cultural factors had mediated relations to pedestrian behaviour through attitudes towards pedestrian safety. The results are based on an urban Turkish sample (n = 289, response rate = 64%) established in Izmir and Istanbul. The sample consisted of 169 females and 120 males. Their age ranged from 15 to 78 years (M = 32.00, SD = 13.89). A regression analysis showed that the cultural factors added to the explained variance of risky pedestrian behaviour above demographic and exposure-relevant control variables as well as attitudes towards pedestrian safety. Structural Equation Modeling showed that a mediated model had good fit and explained about 60% of the variance in attitudes towards pedestrian safety and 24% in pedestrian behaviour. Within this model, vertical collectivism related to lower levels of pedestrian risk-taking behaviour, while horizontal collectivism was related to higher levels of risk-taking behaviour. As expected, safe attitudes were related to lower levels of risk-taking pedestrian behaviour. The results are discussed in relation to hierarchy and authority orientations facilitated by the specific cultural factors and how such tendencies may relate to pedestrian risk-taking behaviour.     

Culture as situated cognition: Cultural mindsets,cultural fluency,and meaning making

Culture is a human universal, a “good enough” solution to universal needs. It is also a specific meaning-making framework, a “mindset” that influences what feels fluent, what is attended to, which goals or mental procedures are salient. Cross-national comparisons demonstrate both universality and between-group difference (specificity) but cannot address underlying process or distinguish fixed from context-dependent effects. I use a situated cognition framework and experimental methods to address these gaps, demonstrating that salient cultural mindsets have causal downstream consequences for meaning making, self-processes, willingness to invest in relationships, and complex mental procedures. Moreover, individualistic and collectivistic mindsets are accessible cross-culturally so both can be primed. Between-group differences arise in part from momentary cues that make either individualistic or collectivistic mindset accessible.     

Burden,Interdependence, Ethnicity,and Mental Health in Caregivers of Patients with Schizophrenia

Caring for a patient with schizophrenia often results in high levels of perceived burden and poorer overall mental health. Using a sample of 176 caregivers of patients with schizophrenia, the present study examined how two components of burden (objective and subjective) interacted with interdependence and ethnicity to influence relatives' overall mental health. In line with study hypotheses, and with the stress‐appraisal‐coping model developed by Lazurus and Folkman (1984), we found that subjective burden mediated the relationship between objective burden and mental health. In other words, subjective appraisals of caregiving appeared to partially underlie the association between the concrete costs of caregiving and psychological outcomes in schizophrenia caregivers. Also as hypothesized, we found that interdependence, or the perceived interconnectedness of individuals within a group, moderated the relationship between objective burden and subjective burden. In other words, when levels of interdependence were high, the objective components of burden appeared to have a weaker relationship with subjective burden. When interdependence was low, on the other hand, objective burden was more likely to be associated with subjective burden. This finding suggests that helping caregivers to value harmony and connection with others over individual self‐interests may reduce the likelihood that objective stressors (which are often inevitable in schizophrenia) will result in subjective distress. On the basis of prior research, we also tested several hypotheses regarding the role of ethnicity and its association with burden, interdependence, and mental health. However, contrary to expectations, no ethnic patterns were observed.