Cross-cultural validity of the Nature Relatedness Scale (NR-6) and links with wellbeing

Nature relatedness refers to individual differences in subjective connectedness with the natural environment. We aimed to cross-culturally validate the Nature Relatedness scale and examine links between nature relatedness and wellbeing. We also tested whether spirituality or self-transcendent emotions such as gratitude mediate the relationship between nature relatedness and wellbeing. University student participants (N = 798) from four countries (Hungary, India, South Korea, and Canada) completed the short-form Nature Relatedness scale (NR-6; Nisbet & Zelenski, 2013), the Inclusion of Nature in Self scale (Schultz, 2002a), and measures of hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Cross-cultural differences were found in a number of nature relatedness principal components, as well as differences in links between nature relatedness, spirituality, and wellbeing. In all four countries, gratitude formed a significant indirect path from nature relatedness to mental health and quality of life. The findings suggest that spiritual aspects of human-nature relationships may contribute to wellbeing across cultures

Belief in a just world for oneself versus others, social goals, and subjective well-being

The belief in a just world (BJW) affects subjective well-being and social behavior. However, its role in shaping the social goals that underlie behavior has not been investigated. Informed by the bidimensional model of BJW, the present study examined the relations of BJW for the self (BJW-self) versus BJW for other people (BJW-others) with social goals and subjective well-being in a sample of 398 university students. As predicted, BJW-self was positively related to affiliative social goals including nurturance, intimacy, and social development goals. In contrast, BJW-others was positively related to dominance and social demonstration goals. Consistent with the bidimensional model, BJW-self and BJW-others were related to most social goals in opposing directions. The present findings indicate that BJW-self and BJW-others is not only relevant to how people act in relation to others, but also why they act the way they do

Reasons for Forgiving: Individual Differences and Emotional Outcomes

This research is part of a program to identify common forms of forgiveness and study the outcomes associated with different ways of forgiving. Two samples, one in Canada (N = 274) and one in India (N = 159), completed a third version of the Reasons for Forgiving Questionnaire (R4FQ), several measures of individual differences, as well as measures of affect and mood while imagining their injurer. Nine R4FQ subscales were derived: For the Relationship, To Feel Better, Based on Principle, Because Injurer Reformed, To Demonstrate Moral Superiority, Because Understood Injurer, For God, Because of Social Pressure, and For Pragmatic Reasons. These subscales were differentially related to religiosity, attachment security, trait anger, collectivism, and individualism. Positive emotional outcomes were associated with forgiving for the relationship, based on principle, because injurer reformed, and because understood injurer. In contrast, negative outcomes were associated with forgiving To Demonstrate Moral Superiority, Because of Social Pressure, and For Pragmatic Reasons.Brock University Library Open Access Publishing Fun

Social values as arguments:similar is convincing

Politicians, philosophers, and rhetors engage in co-value argumentation: appealing to one value in order to support another value (e.g., equality leads to freedom). Across four experiments in the United Kingdom and India, we found that the psychological relatedness of values affects the persuasiveness of the arguments that bind them. Experiment 1 found that participants were more persuaded by arguments citing values that fulfilled similar motives than by arguments citing opposing values. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated this result using a wider variety of values, while finding that the effect is stronger among people higher in need for cognition and that the effect is mediated by the greater plausibility of co-value arguments that link motivationally compatible values. Experiment 4 extended the effect to real-world arguments taken from political propaganda and replicated the mediating effect of argument plausibility. The findings highlight the importance of value relatedness in argument persuasiveness

Maturity and Well-Being: Consistent Associations Across Samples and Measures

Introduction: Researchers have noted an association between maturity and well-being. However, this body of research uses different measures and conceptualizations of maturity (e.g., ego development, psychosocial maturity) and often only a few indicators of well-being. In the present research, we examined associations between a single self-rated measure of maturity and a variety of different indicators of well-being. Furthermore, we examined this association across a variety of samples. We hypothesized that maturity will show a positive relationship with measures related to well-being. Methods: Samples of college students (Studies 1, 3, 4), Star Wars fans (Study 2), and individuals in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Vietnam, and India (Study 5) completed a short measure of maturity and measures related to well-being. Results: Across the studies, self-rated maturity was consistently positively correlated with various indicators of well-being (e.g., psychological, physical) and related constructs (e.g., self-compassion, empathy). Conclusion: The results highlight the association between maturity and well-being. Furthermore, the results address the fragmented nature of this association in the literature by showing consistent relationships with a variety of well-being indicators with a single measure of maturity. Assessments of maturity may be beneficial in hiring decisions and student evaluation in the healthcare profession

Growth Motivation and Well-Being in the U.S., Japan, Guatemala, and India

The present study examined how the Growth Motivation Index (GMI; J. J. Bauer et al., 2015) related to well-being and identity exploration in samples from the U.S., Japan, Guatemala, and India. The GMI has two facets. GMI-reflective measures the motive to cultivate critical self-reflection and intellectual development, whereas GMI-experiential measures the motive to cultivate personally meaningful activities and relationships. We expected and found that, when comparing the two GMI facets simultaneously, GMI-reflective predicted well-being in countries ranked as having collectivist but not individualist cultures, whereas GMI-experiential predicted well-being in countries ranked as having individualist but not collectivist cultures. GMI-reflective predicted identity exploration across cultures. Implications for growth motivation and culture are discussed

Functional measurement in the field of ethics in politics

We present, in a synthetic way, some of the main findings from ten studies that were conducted in the field of ethics in politics, using the Functional Measurement framework. These studies were about (a) Angolan and Mozambican people’s views about the legitimacy of military-humanitarian interventions, (b) French people’s perspectives regarding the government’s responsibility for the health of consumers of illicit substances, (c) Togolese people’s views about the acceptability of political amnesties in a time of political transition, (d) the perspective of victims of the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda regarding the attribution of guilt by association to offspring of perpetrators, (e) slave descendants’ views about the acceptability of national policies on reparations for slavery, (f) Colombian people’s willingness to forgive perpetrators of violence who harmed family members during the civil war, (g) the attitudes of French and Colombian people about national drug control policies, (h) Indian students’ views about the appropriateness of the death penalty for murder or rape, (i) Colombian people’s perspectives regarding corruption, and finally (j) Venezuelan people’s conceptualization of human rights. The main findings are discussed in reference to six of the foundations of Moral Foundations Theory.Este texto presenta, de forma resumida, algunos de los principales resultados de diez estudios que se realizaron en el campo de la ética y la política, en el marco de la Medición Funcional. Estos estudios trataron de: (a) los puntos de vista de la gente de Angola y Mozambique sobre la legitimidad de las intervenciones militares-humanitaria; (b) las perspectivas de los franceses con respecto a la responsabilidad del gobierno con la salud de los consumidores de sustancias ilícitas; (c) las perspectivas de las personas de Togo acerca de la aceptabilidad de amnistías políticas en un momento de transición política; (d) las perspectivas de las víctimas del genocidio de los Tutsis en Ruanda en cuanto a la atribución de culpabilidad a los descendientes de los perpetradores de violencia; (e) los puntos de vista de los descendientes de esclavos acerca de la aceptabilidad de las políticas nacionales de reparaciones por la esclavitud; (f) la disposición de los colombianos a perdonar autores de la violencia que causaron daño a miembros de la familia durante el conflicto armado interno; (g) las actitudes de los franceses y colombianos acerca de las políticas nacionales de control de drogas; (h) los puntos de vista de los estudiantes indios acerca de la idoneidad de la pena de muerte por asesinato o violación; (i) las perspectivas de los colombianos con respecto a la corrupción, y, finalmente, (j) la conceptualización de los derechos humanos en la población venezolana. Los principales resultados se discuten en relación con seis de los fundamentos de la Teoría de los Fundamentos Morales

The internal consistency reliability of the Santosh-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Hinduism among students in India

The Santosh–Francis Scale of Attitude toward Hinduism was originally developed and tested among Hindus in the UK as part of a programme designed to assess religious affect across faith traditions. The present study tests the internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the instrument among 149 students in Karnatak University Dharwad (74 males and 75 females), India. The data demonstrated an alpha coefficient of .90, suggesting a high level of internal consistency reliability and commending the instrument for further application within Hindu communities

The perception of spontaneous and volitional laughter across 21 societies

Data available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/ dataverse/laughterperception</p

Effects of Voice Pitch on Social Perceptions Vary With Relational Mobility and Homicide Rate

Fundamental frequency ( fo) is the most perceptually salient vocal acoustic parameter, yet little is known about how its perceptual influence varies across societies. We examined how fo affects key social perceptions and how socioecological variables modulate these effects in 2,647 adult listeners sampled from 44 locations across 22 nations. Low male fo increased men’s perceptions of formidability and prestige, especially in societies with higher homicide rates and greater relational mobility in which male intrasexual competition may be more intense and rapid identification of high-status competitors may be exigent. High female fo increased women’s perceptions of flirtatiousness where relational mobility was lower and threats to mating relationships may be greater. These results indicate that the influence of fo on social perceptions depends on socioecological variables, including those related to competition for status and mates