Suicide and Culture: Exploring Country-Level Relations between Suicide Rates and Dimensions of Cultural Variability

Suicide rates vary considerably between nations. This observation suggests that sociocultural characteristics of nations might play an important role in explaining suicidal behavior. In this study we examined country-level associations between suicide rates and dimensions of cultural variability while adjusting for gross domestic product per capita. While some characteristics of modern culture such as intellectual autonomy and secular-rational values were associated with higher suicide rates, characteristics of postmodern societies such as self-expression values and egalitarian commitment were associated with lower suicide rates. Exploratory analyses also showed meaningful associations between suicide rates and other measures of cultural variability such as societal cynicism and long-term orientation. Gender differences were also observed, with hierarchy being positively associated to female but not male suicide rates

A within-country study of biased comparative judgements about the severity of environmental problems

The spatial and temporal reach of contemporary environmental problems are unparalleled. Collective efforts to address global environmental problems are required but actions to tackle these problems demand initial recognition of their seriousness. Cross-cultural research has shown a reliable bias in comparative judgements about the severity of environmental problems for geographically distant places, with environmental issues perceived to be more severe “there” than “here.” The robustness of this effect may have unwarranted consequences since perceiving environmental problems as being worse elsewhere might lead individuals to not take actions in their locality. We conducted a within-country study to test whether this spatial bias would emerge for samples from all Brazilian states (k = 27, N = 4,265; 85% female; Age M = 24; Age SD = 9.67). Providing further support for a biased comparative judgement, we observed that the severity of environmental problems was judged as worse at the country level than at the state level (mean spatial bias score among Brazilian states = 0.54). Only 2% of the variation in spatial bias was attributable to across-state differences. By replicating cross-cultural findings within a single nation, our findings provide further support for the prevalence and generalizability of biased comparative judgements about the severity of environmental problems. We discuss critical future directions for spatial bias research

Does having children increase environmental concern? Testing parenthood effects with longitudinal data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study

Having children is a transformative experience and may change the way people think about the future. Parents invest time, energy and resources to ensure the survival and reproductive success of offspring. Having children may also induce environmental concerns and investments in actions aimed at guaranteeing the quality of natural resources available to offspring. However, there is limited empirical support for this parenthood effect, and little is known about how environmental attitudes and behaviour change over time following the birth of a child. This pre-registered study uses data from the first seven waves (2009-2015) of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study-a longitudinal national probability study of social attitudes, personality, and health outcomes-with multilevel interrupted time series analysis. Respondents' belief in the reality and causes of climate change, sacrifices to standard of living to protect the environment, and changes in daily routine to protect the environment did not change significantly following the birth of a child; and nor were there changes in the underlying trends of attitudes or pre-birth anticipation effects. The study further found no gender differences in the attitudinal effects of childbirth. Additional exploratory analyses suggest that becoming a parent for the first time may increase beliefs in the reality of climate change but does not appear to change other environmental attitudes. Overall, our findings provide little empirical evidence for parenthood effects on environmentalism

Social Psychological Studies of Latin American Cultures with Particular Reference to Brazil

This paper presents an English language translation of a book chapter that was originally published in Portuguese. It is reproduced here in full, by kind permission of the editors and publishers, in order to make it available to English language speakers. The paper first addresses ways of defining culture and the development of measures of cultural variation. Contrasts between the collectivism that defines East Asian culture and the collectivism of Latin America are then identified. Topics addressed include values, self-construal, life satisfaction, emotion, honour culture, social influence and the phenomenon of jeitinho. Although the text leads toward a consideration of research into Brazilian culture, it does so by way of discussing the distinctiveness of Latin American cultures more broadly. Details of comparative studies that have sampled further Latin American cultures have been added at the end.

Does relational mobility vary across national regions? A within-country examination

Relational mobility is a socio-ecological construct quantifying how much freedom and opportunity a society affords individuals to choose and dispose of interpersonal relationships. Past research has confirmed that relational mobility varies across nations, but no large-scale study has examined the degree to which relational mobility may vary within a single nation. We report two studies (Study 1, N = 647; Study 2, N = 7343) exploring within-country similarity or variability in relational mobility across all 27 states and five geo-socio-political regions in the continent-size country of Brazil. Results confirmed the measurement equivalence of the Relational Mobility Scale across respondents from all Brazilian states. Notably, relational mobility scores were uniform across Brazilian regions and states, indicating a common national culture regarding the amount of opportunities Brazilians have in selecting new relationship partners within their social context. Replicating existing findings, relational mobility was positively associated with pro-active tendencies that help people retain relationships—levels of intimacy and self-disclosure toward a close friend—indicating that friends tend to feel closer intimacy to their close friends, and reveal serious personal information to a larger degree in social contexts where opportunities to find and retain relationships with like-minded others are greater

Public understanding of climate change-related sea-level rise.

Sea-level rise resulting from climate change is impacting coasts around the planet. There is strong scientific consensus about the amount of sea-level rise to 2050 (0.24-0.32 m) and a range of projections to 2100, which vary depending on the approach used and the mitigation measures taken to reduce carbon emissions. Despite this strong scientific consensus regarding the reality of climate change-related sea-level rise, and the associated need to engage publics in adaptation and mitigation efforts, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding people's understanding of the issue. Here we investigate public understanding of the amount, rate and causes of sea-level rise. Data from a representative sample of New Zealand adults showed a suprising tendency for the public to overestimate the scientifically plausible amount of sea-level rise by 2100 and to identify melting sea ice as its primary causal mechanism. These findings will be valuable for scientists communicating about sea-level rise, communicators seeking to engage publics on the issue of sea-level rise, and media reporting on sea-level rise

Female gender but not season of birth is associated with mood seasonality in a near-equatorial Brazilian city

OBJECTIVE: Studies conducted mainly in countries located in the Northern Hemisphere have shown that season of birth influences mood seasonality. Greater mood seasonality has been observed for individuals born during spring/summer months than those born during autumn/winter months. Expanding past research to the Southern Hemisphere, in this study we examine the influence of season of birth on mood seasonality in a sample of 1,247 healthy young Brazilians. METHOD: The Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire was used to compute a global seasonality score as a measure of mood seasonality in a cross-sectional study. RESULTS: Analysis of covariance was conducted to examine the effects of month of birth and gender on mood seasonality, with age entered as a covariate. A main effect of gender was observed, F (1, 1197) = 17.86, p .05. CONCLUSION: The unexpected finding is tentatively explained by differences in geographic location and weather fluctuations between the sampling location in Brazil and other countries where season of birth has been found to influence mood seasonality. Additional studies with larger samples from the Southern Hemisphere are necessary to shed additional light on the possible significant influence of season of birth on mood

National identity and environmentalism: why national narcissism might undermine pro-environmental efforts

The extant literature recognizes national identity as a pivotal factor motivating both individual and collective actions to tackle environmental problems. Yet, prior research shows mixed evidence for the relationship between national identity and environmentalism. Here, we propose a theoretical approach that articulates distinctions between different forms of national identity and their differential associations with environmental attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, we argue that it is key to differentiate national identification, which reflects a positive attachment to one's country and ties to other compatriots, from national narcissism, which reflects viewing one's country as exceptional and deserving of special treatment. In contrast to national identification, national narcissism is consistently associated with lower environmental concern and predicts support for anti-environmental policies. We show that this is likely due to national narcissism being linked to belief in climate-related conspiracy theories, support for policies that challenge external pressures yet present the nation in a positive light (e.g., greenwashing), and focusing on short-term benefits for the nation. Extending past individual-level findings, we report a pre-registered analysis across 56 countries examining whether national narcissism is also linked to objective indices of lower environmental protection at the country level of analysis. Results revealed a negative relationship between countries' environmental performance and country-level national narcissism (while adjusting for national identification and GDP per capita). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our approach and the country-level findings for advancing research in the field