Role of moral beliefs in aggression: an investigation across two cultures

The overarching aim of this thesis was to contribute to the understanding of specific moral-cognitive processes and mechanisms and their association with aggressive behaviour across age groups and across two cultures. A review of the literature identified the key questions for present research. There is extensive evidence that the normative acceptability of aggression is associated with aggressive behaviour. However the acceptability for retaliation in specific situations and discernment between justified and unjustified retaliation has not been thoroughly researched. Secondly the role of self-censure and self-reflection 'in the regulation of aggressive behaviour needs to be examined further. Finally hostility between groups and its association with beliefs has not been investigated in Muslim samples. Eight empirical studies addressed these specific questions. Study one investigated the component structure of Normative Beliefs about aggression Scale using samples from Pakistan and the UK. Beliefs about equal retaliation, excessive retaliation and beliefs about general aggression were found to be distinct components, were endorsed differentially and had different level of association with aggressive behaviour across both countries. Study two established the discriminant validity of this distinction by comparing a group of violent adolescents with a matched group of non-violent adolescents on acceptability of these types of retaliation. Study 3 examined the association of self-censure with aggressive behaviour and normative beliefs about aggression and retaliation. Self-censure was negatively associated with aggressive behaviour as well as with beliefs indicating that higher the endorsement of aggression, lower would be the expected self-censure as a result of aggression. Study four using retrospective accounts of real aggressive episodes found that private self-consciousness predicted self-censure as well as thinking about one's own aggressive actions. Both thinking and self-censure were negatively associated with frequency of aggressive acts. The beliefs about direct and indirect aggression among Pakistani adolescents were tested in Study five and a reliable measure was developed and found to have convergent validity. Study six examined moral reasoning among children and explored at a preliminary level a possible intervention for changing beliefs about victimization in school. Study seven and eight extended investigation of beliefs to intergroup context (anti-Semitic beliefs) and found that extreme beliefs were related to hostile intentions. An educational intervention was carried out which showed that beliefs could be influenced through creating empathy and stressing intergroup similarity

Role of moral beliefs in aggression : an investigation across two cultures

The overarching aim of this thesis was to contribute to the understanding of specific moral-cognitive processes and mechanisms and their association with aggressive behaviour across age groups and across two cultures. A review of the literature identified the key questions for present research. There is extensive evidence that the normative acceptability of aggression is associated with aggressive behaviour. However the acceptability for retaliation in specific situations and discernment between justified and unjustified retaliation has not been thoroughly researched. Secondly the role of self-censure and self-reflection 'in the regulation of aggressive behaviour needs to be examined further. Finally hostility between groups and its association with beliefs has not been investigated in Muslim samples. Eight empirical studies addressed these specific questions. Study one investigated the component structure of Normative Beliefs about aggression Scale using samples from Pakistan and the UK. Beliefs about equal retaliation, excessive retaliation and beliefs about general aggression were found to be distinct components, were endorsed differentially and had different level of association with aggressive behaviour across both countries. Study two established the discriminant validity of this distinction by comparing a group of violent adolescents with a matched group of non-violent adolescents on acceptability of these types of retaliation. Study 3 examined the association of self-censure with aggressive behaviour and normative beliefs about aggression and retaliation. Self-censure was negatively associated with aggressive behaviour as well as with beliefs indicating that higher the endorsement of aggression, lower would be the expected self-censure as a result of aggression. Study four using retrospective accounts of real aggressive episodes found that private self-consciousness predicted self-censure as well as thinking about one's own aggressive actions. Both thinking and self-censure were negatively associated with frequency of aggressive acts. The beliefs about direct and indirect aggression among Pakistani adolescents were tested in Study five and a reliable measure was developed and found to have convergent validity. Study six examined moral reasoning among children and explored at a preliminary level a possible intervention for changing beliefs about victimization in school. Study seven and eight extended investigation of beliefs to intergroup context (anti-Semitic beliefs) and found that extreme beliefs were related to hostile intentions. An educational intervention was carried out which showed that beliefs could be influenced through creating empathy and stressing intergroup similarity.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceAnnemarie Schimmal Scholarship (ASS)Pakistan. Higher Education Commission (HEC)GBUnited Kingdo

Contrasting Computational Models of Mate Preference Integration Across 45 Countries

Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these ideal preferences to guide the choice of actual romantic partners, human mating psychology must possess a means to integrate information across these many preference dimensions into summaries of the overall mate value of their potential mates. Here we explore the computational design of this mate preference integration process using a large sample of n = 14,487 people from 45 countries around the world. We combine this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets. Across cultures, people higher in mate value appear to experience greater power of choice on the mating market in that they set higher ideal standards, better fulfill their preferences in choice, and pair with higher mate value partners. Furthermore, we find that this cross-culturally universal pattern of mate choice is most consistent with a Euclidean model of mate preference integration.The work of Truong Ti Khanh Ha was supported by grants 501.01–2016.02 from the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED). Anna Oleszkiewicz was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (#626/STYP/12/2017). Tis study was conducted in line with project NIR No. 01201370995 “Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary researches. Biosocial and cross-cultural analysis of models of tolerance and basic values of culture in modern society” (Marina Butovskaya and Daria Dronova). Agnieszka Sorokowska and Piotr Sorokowski were supported by the National Science Center—Poland (2014/13/B/HS6/02644). Petra Gyuris, András Láng, and Norbert Meskó were supported by the Hungarian Scientifc Research Fund — OTKA (K125437). Feng Jiang was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China, grant No. 71971225

Reasons for facebook usage: Data from 46 countries

Seventy-nine percent of internet users use Facebook, and on average they access Facebook eight times a day (Greenwood et al., 2016). To put these numbers into perspective, according to Clement (2019), around 30% of the world\u2019s population uses this Online Social Network (OSN) site. Despite the constantly growing body of academic research on Facebook (Chou et al., 2009; Back et al., 2010; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010; McAndrew and Jeong, 2012; Wilson et al., 2012; Krasnova et al., 2017), there remains limited research regarding the motivation behind Facebook use across different cultures. Our main goal was to collect data from a large cross-cultural sample of Facebook users to examine the roles of sex, age, and, most importantly, cultural differences underlying Facebook use

Affective interpersonal touch in close relationships: a cross-cultural perspective

Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during the week preceding the study. We then examined a range of hypothesized individual-level factors (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity, and preferred interpersonal distance) and cultural-level factors (regional temperature, parasite stress, regional conservatism, collectivism, and religiosity) in predicting these affective-touching behaviors. Our results indicate that affective touch was most prevalent in relationships with partners and children, and its diversity was relatively higher in warmer, less conservative, and religious countries, and among younger, female, and liberal people. This research allows for a broad and integrated view of the bases of cross-cultural variability in affective touch

Identifying and changing the normative beliefs about aggression which lead young Muslim adults to join extremist anti-semitic groups in Pakistan

Two studies investigated the role of beliefs about the acceptability of aggression ("normative beliefs") against Jews in determining who would join an extremist group. In Study 1, students in a university in Pakistan (N=144) completed self-report attitude measures, and were subsequently approached by a confederate who asked whether they wanted to join an extremist anti-Semitic organization. Normative beliefs about aggression against Jews were very strong predictors of whether participants agreed to join. In Study 2, participants (N=92) were experimentally assigned to either a brief educational intervention, designed to improve inter-group relations, or to a control group. They also filled in self-report attitude measures pre and post intervention. Participants in the intervention group were much less likely to agree to join the extremist group, and this effect of the intervention on joining was mediated by changes in normative beliefs about aggression against Jews. The results have implications for theories of inter-group aggression and interventions to prevent people from being recruited into extremist groups

Aggressive acts, thinking, remorse and private self-consciousness - an examination of real life aggressive episodes

The link between remorse, reflection and tendency for selfconsciousness has not been established in context of actual aggressive episodes. The present study aimed at examining retrospectively reported aggression episodes in everyday life, how individuals feel and think about their own acts afterward and the association between private self-consciousness (PSC) and post aggression feeling and reflection. The sample consisted of 62 high school students (age range 14-18 years) from West Midlands, United Kingdom. Participants provided brief descriptions of aggressive acts (shouting, insulting, and hitting), answered three questions about frequency of acts, feeling and reflection after the acts as well as completed Private Self-consciousness Scale (Scheier and Carver, 1985). The descriptions were content analysed by two raters along pre-decided dimensions; target of aggression and triggering situation. Inter-rater agreement was satisfactory. Analyses showed that young persons shouted at siblings, friends, peers, mothers and other adults in this order of frequency. Hitting occurred between peers, siblings, other adults and friends. Verbal provocation, physical provocation, norm violation and indirect aggression were most frequent triggering situations for aggressive acts. Paired sample t-test showed that participants reported significantly higher remorse after being aggressive to someone who had not provoked them as compared to when provoked. Correlation analyses revealed remorse, reflection and private self-consciousness relating negatively to aggression frequency whereas PSC, reflection and feeling relating positively. Reflection predicted frequency of aggressive acts and one component of private self-consciousness, internal state awareness, predicted reflection. Findings and implications of the study are discussed with special focus on youth

Universality of the triangular theory of love: Adaptation and psychometric properties of the triangular love scale in 25 countries

The Triangular Theory of Love (measured with Sternberg\u27s Triangular Love Scale - STLS) is a prominent theoretical concept in empirical research on love. To expand the culturally homogeneous body of previous psychometric research regarding the STLS, we conducted a large-scale cross-cultural study with the use of this scale. In total, we examined more than 11,000 respondents, but as a result of applied exclusion criteria, the final analyses were based on a sample of 7332 participants from 25 countries (from all inhabited continents). We tested configural invariance, metric invariance, and scalar invariance, all of which confirmed the cultural universality of the theoretical construct of love analyzed in our study. We also observed that levels of love components differ depending on relationship duration, following the dynamics suggested in the Triangular Theory of Love. Supplementary files with all our data, including results on love intensity across different countries along with STLS versions adapted in a few dozen languages, will further enable more extensive research on the Triangular Theory of Love