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Accents are an important differentiator between groups which influence social perception and interaction, especially in a diverse country like Singapore. Social identity theory suggests that individuals would exhibit favoritism towards their own accents. However, the accent prestige theory demonstrates instances whereby foreign accents are perceived as more prestigious than one's own accent and are associated with more positive characteristics. This paper sought to explore which of these two theories is more prevalent in Singapore by comparing the perceptions of American English accents and local Singaporean English accents along the competence‐warmth paradigm of the Stereotype Content Model. Further, the current research also sought to examine the mediating effect of competence/warmth on the relationship between accents and social influence. Study 1 showed that Singaporeans perceived American‐accented speakers as significantly more competent (but not warmer) than local accented speakers. Furthermore, increased perceived competence significantly mediated the relationship between American accents and social influence. Study 2 further investigated perceived threat as a potential moderator in this mediating relationship. The findings replicated the accent‐competence‐social influence relations in Study 1 but found no effect of perceived threat. Taken together, the findings supported accent prestige towards American accents within Singapore. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue that one of the variables that may influence perceived inequality in everyday life is cultural differences in relational mobility. We examined this research question across two cross‐cultural studies in Japan (Study 1, N = 196; Study 2, N = 214) and Spain (Study 1, N = 199; Study 2, 199), two countries that differ in their relational mobility levels. In Study 1, we contrasted two competing hypotheses: On the one hand, it could be predicted that individuals in countries with high relational mobility perceive greater inequality due to increased exposure to diverse social networks. On the other hand, it is also plausible that in contexts of high relational mobility, people perceive less inequality as they selectively choose to interact with individuals who share similar social backgrounds. Results supported the former hypotheses and showed that people in a country high in relational mobility (i.e. Spain) tend to perceive more economic inequality (vs. Japan, a country low in relational mobility). Moreover, we found an indirect effect of this cross‐cultural difference through the cultural affordances for meeting new people (i.e. one of the dimensions of relational mobility). In Study 2, we preregistered and replicated these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1965, Japan has issued numerous apologies to Korea, which however failed to resonate with the Korean public. To investigate this puzzle, this paper analyses the structure of these apologies and empirically examines their reception in Korea. Blatz et al.'s (Political Psychology, 2009, 30, 219) classification of components of political apologies was applied to conduct a qualitative analysis of 63 official apology statements by Japan to Korea and identify the most frequently used components (Study 1). Korean participants (N = 210) were randomly presented with an experimental vignette consisting of a major apology component to examine their psychological responses, and they also ranked the importance of each major apology component (Study 2). Results showed that while Koreans viewed admission of wrongdoing as an essential and the most demanded component of apology, it was paradoxically the least frequent component offered by Japan in reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of authoritarianism has a long history in the field of psychology; however, much of this research focuses on Western countries, especially the United States. In effort to better understand authoritarianism cross‐culturally, we explore the current state of authoritarianism in an important cultural context: Russia. Thus, the current paper reports on large‐scale research of right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation in the modern Russian context. Six studies (total N = 1,358) included personality traits, basic human values, social beliefs, and intergroup attitudes that allowed us to comprehensively consider authoritarian attitudes in Russia. The results showed that personological profile and pattern of reaction to threat among Russian authoritarians is similar to Western authoritarians. However, economic views inherited from Soviet ideology make Russians differ in their view of economic conservatism from that supported by Western authoritarians. These data provide insight into the psychology of authoritarianism as well as explore novel aspects of Russian culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross‐cultural research into body image often takes for granted the cultural differences in body ideals that may account for variations in body image experience. Male body image across cultures is also poorly understood. Applying methods of cognitive anthropology to cross‐cultural male body ideals, this paper tests whether universalist or particularist approaches to body image better account for cultural variation. Results suggest that Americans and South Koreans draw from different cultural models in determining which features of male bodies warrant attention, as predicted by a particularist approach. Moreover, elements important for Korean male body image were found to lack emic validity among Americans, and vice‐versa. Considering significant variations in the elements of male bodies attended to, cross‐cultural body image research should more closely examine the cultural assumptions about bodies implicit in measurements to ensure that measurements are not just translated correctly, but also emically meaningful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of institutionalist and communitarian views of social capital accumulation is increasingly advocated in order to analyse civil society dynamics, in particular in transitional countries such as former socialist states. The present paper is an attempt at reconciling the two views through a micro level‐focused approach. Such a perspective allows investigating linkages between institutional perception, civic engagement, and trust in society, with the support of social cognition frameworks (social categorization and shared agency). The approach emphasizes the linkages existing between trust toward institutions and perceptions of civic empowerment on the one hand, and civic engagement and trust in society on the other, while also taking into account the role of interpersonal (informal) networking. The analysis, carried out through structural equation modelling, is based on more than 2,000 observations from two federal districts of the Russian Federation. The results show a relevant positive correlation between institutional perception and social capital, and a moderate correlation between bonding (personal networking) and trust in society; on the other hand, civic engagement and trust in society appear to be uncorrelated with each other and with different forms of institutional perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess an overall correlation between emotional intelligence (EI) and subjective well‐being (SWB) within Chinese culture, accounting for possible moderating factors, we conducted a meta‐analysis of 119 correlations obtained from 62 studies with a total sample size of 29,922. The results uncovered a moderately positive correlation, r =.32, 95% CI [0.29, 0.36], p <.001, between EI and SWB. The strength of the correlation was moderated by EI stream, SWB component, participant's age, and participant's employment status. Specifically, this association was stronger when EI was measured as self‐report mixed EI, r =.49, and self‐report ability EI, r =.32, than when it was measured as performance‐based ability EI, r =.08. In addition, EI was more strongly associated with the cognitive components of SWB, r =.32, than with the affective component of SWB, r =.29, and the EI–SWB association was stronger in adults, r =.33, than in adolescents, r =.25. Furthermore, EI was more closely related to SWB in working adults, r =.43, compared to students, r =.29, and EI was almost equally associated with SWB across males and females, β = −.08, p =.55. The results, as well as their theoretical and practical implications, are discussed in detail with reference to relevant cross‐cultural theories and comparative empirical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the cross‐cultural validity of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Two samples of university students were recruited: 504 from a Nepali university and 260 from a UK university. In relation to culture, structural equation modelling analyses provided support for the scale's configural invariance and the configural, metric, and scalar invariance of two if its subscales. Evidence for measurement invariance was also found in relation to gender in both samples. Tentative analyses suggested that the correlation between self and other emotion appraisal was stronger among UK participants and that UK participants scored higher on the Other Emotion Appraisal subscale. No gender differences on emotional intelligence were found in the Nepali sample, while among UK students, males scored higher on Regulation of Emotion and lower on Other Emotion Appraisal than females. In the Nepali sample, science students scored lower on various aspects of emotional intelligence than humanities students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though many people loathe celebrities and their lifestyles, celebrities can also be perceived as being available to provide community support. The purpose of this study was to establish the psychometric properties of the Perceived Celebrity Support Inventory. The scale was developed to capture three aspects of perceived celebrity support to the community: instrumental (i.e., providing tangible and concrete assistance), informational (i.e., advice, explanation, and information), and emotional (i.e., empathizing, encouraging, listening, and comforting) support. Factor and item analyses have revealed robust psychometric properties in samples drawn from the United States (US) and Iran. The US sample perceived higher community support from celebrities than the Iranian sample. In the Iranian sample, perceived celebrity support for the community was associated with more positive attitudes and less hatred of celebrity culture. In the US, perceived celebrity support was associated with negative attitudes and elevated hatred towards celebrities. The findings advance the literature by providing an instrument with which to measure positive aspects of celebrity influence across cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian Americans are lauded as the model minority who are intelligent and industrious. Simultaneously, they are deemed as perpetual foreigners. The current research examines how racial microaggressions expressed by a White American source toward an Asian American target affect perceptions of the perpetrator and target. White Americans and Asian Americans read about an interaction between two college students, where the racial microaggression made was either an ambiguous expression of the model minority myth (MMM; all studies), an ambiguous perpetual foreigner stereotype (all studies), an unambiguous MMM (all studies), or no racial bias (Studies 2 and 3). Findings indicate that both Whites and Asian Americans respond differently—when exposed to the aforementioned conditions—regarding perceived racism of the White perpetrator and appropriateness of response by the Asian American target; however, they respond similarly regarding perceived legitimacy of collective action by the target. Nevertheless, Whites and Asian Americans deemed the ambiguous microaggression against the target as a model minority not racist relative to unambiguous MMM. Our findings show that ambiguous forms of bias toward Asian Americans go "under the radar" of both Whites and Asian Americans as being racist and contribute to the maintenance of the racial status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of collective memory (CM) forms a platform for dialogue between top‐down (CM as publicly available symbols) and bottom‐up approaches (CM as aggregated across individuals), and between the idiographic (case specific) and nomothetic (universal) approaches across the social sciences and humanities. The availability of symbolic resources from history to serve as foundations for systems of belief is critical for defining human science as an open system involving synchronic and diachronic analyses that theorize about the making and breaking of political culture: including concepts, processes, and organizations coming into being, or disappearing, and as they do so, changing what phenomena can be observed and why. This Special Issue contains ten articles, one cluster of which centering around Europe, and the collective remembering of World War II. This contributed to the making of the European Union, but national structures also limit popular identification with this supranational structure. Despite the best efforts of states, the bottom‐up surveys reported here demonstrate the heterogeneity of CM, as mediated by mass communications, and age cohorts. In contexts ranging from memory of the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines, to protest movements in Hong Kong, Japanese occupation of Korea, and social representations of the histories of Singapore, Morocco, and Egypt, the papers collected here show consistently that CM is heterogeneous, and different CMs are associated with different political attitudes and behavior. History as a symbolic resource is best conceptualized as something that can be mobilized by an identity entrepreneur, not as something fixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerned about a lack of legitimacy, European Union (EU) institutions have increasingly engaged in memory politics to enhance European identity. Yet, memory of the EU is still closely connected to the collective identity formation of nation‐states, especially in the field of education, the focus of this study. Inspired by this dilemma, the present paper examines the representations of European unification in textbooks of six countries: Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Hungary, and Estonia. By focusing on countries on the margins of Europe, the present study explores shared and diverse narratives of the European unification process and asks whether or not a shared historical charter of European unification exists. All together 86 history textbooks used in upper secondary school were analysed by adopting a three‐step multi‐method approach. The results suggest that the representation of European unification is more diverse than it is homogenous. It can be narrated as a political value community or as a community based on utilitarian interests, or it can be represented from a unified European or from a more national perspective. Exploring representations of European unification is crucial to understanding how they can be used as legitimizing charters to navigate through the European challenges of the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two cross‐sectional studies were conducted with undergraduate and graduate students (mean age = 22 years) in two university campuses in different regions of Turkey to investigate confrontations between conservative religious people and secular‐liberal people and the roles of fundamentalism and authoritarianism for these groups. Study 1 investigated the connections between traditional religiosity and liberties and the impact of religious fundamentalism with a sample of 482 participants. Using hierarchical multiple linear regression and bootstrapping analysis, religiosity was seen as negatively connected to three components of liberties. It was shown that religious fundamentalism had an indirect effect on this connection. In Study 2, with a sample of 260 participants, the negative connection between traditional religiosity with liberties was confirmed. Further, it was found that particularly the conservatism dimension of right‐wing authoritarianism played an explanatory role in this connection. In addition, as an extension of the two studies, it was observed that secular‐liberal participants supported civil liberties in general, but they expressed opposition to freedom of religion in particular, indicating that the antagonism between religious and secular people may also stem from secular‐liberal people. It was found that dimension of aggression of left‐wing authoritarianism played an explanatory role in connection to this aspect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status‐legitimacy hypothesis proposes that those who are most disadvantaged by unequal social systems are even more likely than members of more advantaged groups to provide ideological support for the very social system that is responsible for their disadvantages. Li, Yang, Wu, and Kou (2020, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin) sought to expand the generalizability of this hypothesis by testing it in China, addressing inconsistencies surrounding the empirical support for this hypothesis by postulating that the construct of status should be separated into an objective and subjective status marker. They reported that objective socioeconomic status (SES; income and education) negatively predicted system justification, while subjective SES positively predicted system justification. In the present study we attempt to replicate and extend the work of Li et al. in a cross‐cultural comparison of demographic stratified quota online samples in China and the United States. We test the status‐legitimacy hypothesis using objective and subjective SES to predict system justification using cross‐sectional and cross‐lagged regression analyses. We received partial support for Li et al.'s findings. Specifically, subjective SES positively predicted system justification for both societies during cross‐sectional and cross‐lagged longitudinal analyses. However, we failed to replicate Li et al.'s findings surrounding objective SES in China during cross‐sectional and cross‐lagged analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the introduction of commercial video games in the 1970s, video game players have attracted the perhaps undeserving but negative stereotype of being unpopular and socially dysfunctional. However, with gamers increasing in numbers that now reach billions worldwide, the contents of gamer stereotypes may be in flux. The current study investigated the content of gamer stereotypes along the dimensions of physical/social attractiveness, warmth, competence, and morality as a function of genre violence level and gamer identity. Male and female participants (656 U.S. and 428 Indian) completed an online survey on the MTurk platform, rating social stereotypes of gamers in high‐violence and low‐violence genres on 22 adjective pairs and answering questions about gamer identity. Results revealed positive gamer stereotypes, especially in the low‐violence genres in both the United States and India. Low‐identifiers' stereotypes were less favourable in the high‐violence than in the low‐violence genres; this tendency diminished among high‐identifiers. This study suggests that, whereas once gamers were seen negatively, they are now seen remarkably positively. The implications of such positive views of those engaging in violent gaming are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People in different social statuses have different perceptions due to differences in cognition. Combined with the characteristics of public behaviour and cognition, this study examined the impact of the widespread cognitive biases in social status on performance perception. This study used the ordinary least squares model to verify that the cognitive bias in social status has a significant positive impact on the perception of social governance performance. At the same time, a moderated mediation model was constructed to verify that social trust plays a partial mediating role in the influence mechanism of cognitive bias in social status on the perception of social governance performance. The use of the Internet significantly inhibited the influence of cognitive bias in social status on the perception of social governance performance. Although it also weakened the influence of cognitive bias in social status on social trust, the moderating effect on the mediating effect is not obvious. This study verifies and analyses the internal relationship and mechanism of social status cognition deviation and perception of social governance performance from multidisciplinary dimensions, which enriches the social cognition theory of social status, and expands the research on the perception of social governance performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional labour strategies have a significant impact on job burnout. However, current research results are controversial and unclear. A meta‐analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between emotional labour strategies (surface acting and deep acting) and job burnout. A total of 84 empirical studies that included 28,242 participants were selected. The meta‐analysis of the relationships between job burnout and surface acting and deep acting included 84 and 75 independent samples respectively. The results show that surface acting had a positive association (r = 0.25) with job burnout, whereas deep acting (r = −0.27) had a negative association with job burnout. Occupational types and measures of emotional labour strategies moderated the relationship between emotional labour strategies and job burnout, but this relationship was not moderated by measures of job burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental communication is still relatively meaningful in Asian families with hierarchical, vertical, and authoritative relationships. Meanwhile, children's pro‐environmental behaviour in emerging Asian nations tends to be passive, leading to a need for intervention from the closest parties, often the parent, whose familial role in green communication has not been examined. This study uses social learning theory to examine the interplay of parent‐like spokespeople and message appeals in affecting young adults' cognitive and emotional responses, which is expected to influence the ad liking and believability of green advertisements and switching intention to green products, such as eco‐friendly straws. A laboratory experiment was conducted with 240 subjects. The results showed that the frame of a father‐like figure conveying a hope appeal generated the greatest enthusiasm and argument quality for young adults. Mother‐like figures speaking a fearful message frame were the best generator for young adults' anger and threat appraisal. Ad liking was significantly impacted only by a mother‐like spokesperson who spoke a fearful appeal mediated by anger and a father‐like spokesperson who delivered a hope appeal mediated by argument quality. Young adults' willingness to switch to eco‐friendly straws was indirectly influenced by the interaction effect of a mother‐like spokesperson and fear appeal type mediated by ad believability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐transcendent emotions are positive emotions that arise out of other‐focused appraisals. These emotions shift attention from the self to the needs and concerns of others. Limited work, however, focuses on self‐transcendent emotions and the underlying cognitive and behavioural mechanisms by which they benefit organizations. We review the disparate streams of research on self‐transcendent emotions and detail the thought‐action repertoires of four self‐transcendent emotions (compassion, gratitude, inspiration, and awe), explaining how each contributes to effective organizational functioning. Central to achieving this aim is the broaden‐and‐build theory. We show how the four self‐transcendent emotions broaden cognitive processes and build the necessary resources leading to specific positive organizational outcomes. We conclude our review with four themes: (a) the importance of delineating levels of analysis in self‐transcendent emotion research, (b) acknowledging contextual and cross‐cultural differences shaping the experience of self‐transcendent emotions, (c) addressing measurement concerns, and (d) the examination of other self‐transcendent emotions. In effect, we synthesize the positive psychology and organizational behaviour literature, generating a framework that prompts theoretical and practical considerations for the role of self‐transcendent emotions in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies on Western cultures have suggested a strong linkage between authenticity and mental health. However, little is known about whether such an association can be generalized to Eastern cultures. This study aimed to conduct a cross‐cultural comparison on the association between three dimensions of authenticity (authentic living, self‐alienation, and accepting external influence) and two factors of mental health (negative and positive) across Western and Eastern cultures. Measurement invariance tests were carried out and multigroup structural regression models developed on two college samples from the US (n = 392) and China (n = 281). Results suggested that the associations between authenticity and the negative factor of mental health were consistent across cultures, where both self‐alienation and accepting external influence were positively associated with anxiety. However, the associations between authenticity and the positive factor of mental health were different in the US and Chinese samples. Specifically, both authentic living and accepting external influence were significantly associated with life satisfaction in the US sample but not in the Chinese sample. Findings stress that having a nondistorted perception of the true self is critically related to lower levels of anxiety across cultures and highlighted the need to identify culture‐specific promotive factors for life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of social class on prosocial behaviour has long been a focus of intense research interest. The present research involved four studies that covered four moral exemplars (villains, victims, heroes, and beneficiaries) to test whether people of different social classes are treated equally in moral judgements. We described moral events experienced by different agents of varying social classes and asked participants to rate the morality of the events and their emotional responses. The results revealed that compared with the low‐class condition, high‐class individuals had an overall moral disadvantage when they were regarded as villains, victims, and beneficiaries. For the exemplar of hero, the high‐class condition was no different from the low‐class condition except that high‐class heroes evoked less elevation than low‐class heroes. The results reveal that people hold a biased moral attitude toward individuals in different social classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of people leave their religion every year. Such defection often results in religious persecution, ostracism, and heightened intergroup conflict. Yet little is known about the underlying perceptions of religious defectors and what intergroup processes predict hostility toward them. In two pre‐registered studies (N = 512), we investigated how religious group members' thoughts and feelings about defectors may lead to ostracism and a lack of dialogue. In both studies, group members rated defectors as unlikeable and irrational. Further, the strength of group members' religious group identification (but not religious belief conviction) predicted dislike and unwillingness to relate wisely with defectors (Study 2). Implications for intergroup research and improving the experience of religious defectors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that debt pressure impairs people's subjective well‐being and social functioning, but few studies have examined its moral consequences. To explore the relationship between debt pressure and unethical behaviour intention, we conducted three studies and obtained aggregate‐level (Study 1) and individual‐level evidence (Studies 2 and 3). Study 1 analysed data on quarterly search volumes related to unethical behaviour intention on Baidu and quarterly measures of debt pressure in China, demonstrating that increased debt pressure predicted subsequent greater levels of unethical behaviour intention. Study 2 found that, compared with the control condition, individuals in the debt pressure condition exhibited greater unethical behaviour intention. Study 3 further tested the mediating role of self‐control and showed that individuals under high debt pressure evinced diminished self‐control and, in turn, displayed more unethical behaviour intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who consider themselves moral sometimes use self‐serving justifications to rationalize their selfish behaviours. Previous studies have tested the role of ambiguity in justifying wrongdoings, but it remains unclear whether ambiguity also plays a role in justifying promise‐breaking behaviour and whether heterogeneity exists. To investigate justification in promise‐breaking, we introduced a new experimental paradigm called the card‐guessing task and used hierarchical cluster analysis to classify participants based on their promise‐breaking decisions in unambiguous and ambiguous conditions. Experiment 1 revealed three clusters of solutions: Cluster 1 always kept their promises (i.e., keepers); Cluster 2 only exploited the vague promises and broke their promises in the ambiguous condition (i.e., intermediates); Cluster 3 tended to take advantage of vague promises and broke their promises irrespective of ambiguity (i.e., breakers). Experiment 2 confirmed that participants in the three clusters differed in their norm‐abiding preferences and social value orientations. Keepers were more altruistic and had a stronger sense of norm compliance than intermediates and breakers. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that self‐serving justifications were more likely to be employed by people who are moderately sensitive to deviation from social norms, which has implications for strategic interventions and policy formulation concerning unethical behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does COVID‐19 affect people of all classes equally? In the current research, we focus on the social issue of risk inequality during the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using a nationwide survey conducted in China (N = 1,137), we predicted and found that compared to higher‐class individuals, lower‐class participants reported a stronger decline in self‐rated health as well as economic well‐being due to the COVID‐19 outbreak. At the same time, we examined participants' beliefs regarding the distribution of risks. The results demonstrated that although lower‐class individuals were facing higher risks, they expressed lesser belief in such a risk inequality than their higher‐class counterparts. This tendency was partly mediated by their stronger endorsement of system‐justifying beliefs. The findings provide novel evidence of the misperception of risk inequality among the disadvantaged in the context of COVID‐19. Implications for science and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on contribution made by the publication Asian Journal of Social Psychology (AJSP) in the field of social psychology which is circulated in Asia. It talks about the submission of the manuscripts by the editorial team of the publication consisting of associate editors. It tells about the periodical AJSP aiming towards understanding Asian cultures.

Social anxiety or the fear of being evaluated by others in social settings has been shown to contribute to impairments in interpersonal functioning. One way in which such impairments may arise is through biased perceptions of others during social interactions. The present study examined how social anxiety relates to the perception of interpersonal warmth from others within a relationship initiation context, and whether this relationship differs in men and women. Participants were 69 men and 69 women, aged 20.62 years on average (SD = 1.97), who identified as heterosexual. After completing a questionnaire pack online, participants engaged in a laboratory‐based interaction with a previously unacquainted participant of the other sex. After the interaction, participants reported their perception of their partner's warmth. Results revealed a negative association between men's degree of social anxiety and their perception of their partner's warmth. This association was not found in women. The moderation of sex on the role of social anxiety in interpersonal perceptions may reflect sex differences in social cognitive abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural sensitivity in societal development has been advocated for since at least the 1960s but has remained understudied. Our goal is to address this gap and to investigate folk theories of societal development. We aimed to identify both universal and culturally specific lay beliefs about what constitutes good societal development. We collected data from 2,684 participants from Japan, Hong Kong (China), Poland, Turkey, Brazil, France, Nigeria, the USA, and Canada. We measured preferences for 28 development aims. We used multidimensional scaling, analysis of variance, and pairwise comparisons to identify universal and country‐specific preferences. Our results demonstrate that what people understand as modernization is fairly universal across countries, but specific pathways of development and preferences towards these pathways tend to vary between countries. We distinguished three facets of modernization—foundational aims (e.g., trust, economic development), welfare aims (e.g., poverty eradication, education), and inclusive aims (e.g., openness, gender equality)—and incorporated them into a folk meta‐theory of modernization. In all nine countries, the three facets of modernization were preferred more than conventional aims (e.g., military, demographic growth). We propose a method of implementing our findings into a culturally sensitive modernization index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kiasu (fear of losing out, FoLO) is considered the single most defining adjective that captures Singapore identity, and it is well‐observed in other Asian cultures as well. Despite the widespread endorsement of kiasu in Singapore, there is limited empirical research on the theoretical conception of kiasu as a psychological construct. To empirically investigate kiasu, we validated the construct and measurement of the FoLO mindset in Study 1. In Study 2, we hypothesized and found a negative association between FoLO and Singaporeans' self‐esteem, which was mediated by a higher tendency of conformity. In addition, we hypothesized and found that individuals' need for cognitive closure (NFCC) moderated the negative link between conformity and self‐esteem such that high NFCC accelerated the negative impact of conformity on self‐esteem. Whereas FoLO is often described as a form of competitiveness, the moderated‐mediation model of FoLO and self‐esteem can be replicated with competitiveness but in an opposite direction. This demonstrated that FoLO and competitiveness are two distinct psychological constructs. Implications of FoLO in Singapore as well as in other Asian contexts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core idea of the find‐remind‐and‐bind theory articulated by (Algoe, 2012, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 455) is that receiving expressed gratitude facilitates positive attitudes toward the expressor such as increased prosocial behaviour. The current study tries to observe the phenomena in Japan where apologies are sometimes used when people express gratitude. In this experimental study, 671 Japanese participants received expressions of gratitude, apologies, both, or neither (control condition) in exchange for their help. The results showed that expressed gratitude had the most positive effect compared to the control, apology and both conditions; that is, expressed gratitude most strongly facilitated the message receiver's prosocial behaviour, self‐disclosure, predicted outcome values, and social worth. Expressed apologies showed a limited positive effect. A structural equation model further indicated that predicted outcome values and social worth functioned in unique ways to mediate the link between expressed gratitude and prosocial behaviour as well as self‐disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose that part of the problem in combatting prejudice lies in people's dynamic understandings of what prejudice is. To examine this, we asked participants to rate the degree to which they perceived specific group‐relevant attitudes as prejudice. In Study 1, White participants perceived the attitudes as more prejudiced when the attitudes were targeted at Asian people than at White people and when expressed by an Anglo‐European speaker than by an Asian speaker. Study 2 was a direct replication but expanded the sample to include Asian participants. The Study 1 results were partially replicated in Study 2, although the target main effect was stronger among White than Asian participants. Together, the data suggest a normative legitimacy process in which injunctive norms dictate appropriate and inappropriate speakers and targets of specific group‐relevant attitudes. The data also confirm the original proposition of dynamic understandings of prejudice. Prejudice is understood by people not only by what is said but also by who is saying it and whom it is about. To the degree that these latter two variables are dynamic, then prejudice judgements themselves will remain so. We conclude by considering the implications of our data for both psychological theory and applications in prejudice‐reduction efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coming out of the closet refers to the self‐disclosure of one's sexual orientation to other people. A majority of gay men in mainland China are hesitant about coming out. Considerable research in Western contexts has demonstrated that coming out can alleviate gay men's psychological distress. The current study thus aims to understand the psychological impacts of coming out for gay men in mainland China. We employed a serial mediation model to examine the relationship between overall outness and psychological distress, with internalized homonegativity as the first‐order mediator and perceived discrimination based on same‐sex sexual orientation (hereafter "perceived discrimination") as the second‐order mediator. An online sample of 251 Chinese adult gay men (Mage = 25.25 years, SD = 5.28 years) completed self‐report measures of outness, internalized homonegativity, perceived discrimination, and psychological distress. Results showed that the negative association between overall outness and psychological distress was partially mediated by internalized homonegativity (indirect effect = −0.057, bias‐corrected 95% confidence interval [−0.153, −0.011]), and serially mediated by internalized homonegativity and then perceived discrimination (indirect effect = −0.019, bias‐corrected 95% confidence interval [−0.048, −0.007]), controlling for age. Additionally, we did not find the simple mediating effect of perceived discrimination between overall outness and psychological distress, which may be because coming out reduced oversensitivity and perception bias but increased the probability of actual discriminatory experiences. These results contribute to our understanding of how coming out affects psychological distress among Chinese gay men. Furthermore, this study may illuminate the design of psychological crisis intervention focusing on this group in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many studies have been conducted on emotional labour, the empirical evidence regarding the effect of deep acting on employees' emotional exhaustion remains mixed. Scholars adopting the person‐focused approach have supposed that deep acting is beneficial for employees' well‐being because it reduces the discrepancy between felt and expressed emotions—emotional dissonance. However, the mixed results of previous empirical studies indicate that a more balanced approach including an alternative mechanism that offsets the effect of emotional dissonance seems to be required. Drawing upon the job‐focused perspective, which stresses the psychological costs of emotional labour, we posited difficulty maintaining display rules as an alternative mechanism representing the ego‐depleting process of emotional labour. We tested the mediating effects of emotional dissonance and difficulty maintaining display rules on the relationship between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion. Our research model was tested using data collected from 211 salespeople over a 4‐week period. Using multilevel path analysis, we find that emotional dissonance and difficulty maintaining display rules mediate the effects of surface acting on emotional exhaustion. Difficulty maintaining display rules mediates the relationship between deep acting and emotional exhaustion. Our findings suggest that emotional labour strategies impact employees' emotional exhaustion via different mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative effects of the habitual use of suppression on psychosocial adjustment were usually attenuated in Eastern samples compared to Western samples. However, culture is dynamic and constantly changing, and it has rarely been directly assessed in empirical studies. Further, within‐culture variations have usually been ignored. In the current study, we involved a Confucian concept of Zhong Yong mode of thinking, assessed individual differences in Zhong Yong thinking, and examined the main effects of Zhong Yong thinking and whether Zhong Yong moderated the association between suppression and psychosocial adjustment within two samples of Chinese young adults. Sample 1 included 431 young college students and sample 2 included 477 college students with more diverse backgrounds. Results showed that suppression was negatively associated with psychosocial well‐being (i.e., peace of mind, perceived social support, and positive affect), and positively with adjustment problems (negative affect), whereas Zhong Yong thinking showed the opposite effects. Further, Zhong Yong thinking weakened the associations between suppression and perceived social support and negative affect. Our findings indicate that Zhong Yong mode of thinking is salient for psychosocial well‐being among Chinese young adults and the habitual use of suppression may become negative for Chinese people in contemporary China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian social psychology has often focused on East/West comparisons. However, a latitudinal psychology perspective suggests that cultures will vary in predictable ways along north/south (latitudinal) gradients, rather than along east/west (longitudinal) gradients. We apply this perspective to better understand the geographical placement of literacy rates across the world. We find across 206 nations that latitude shows no linear relationship with worldwide literacy rates, but a significant curvilinear relationship, such that as one moves north from the equator, higher latitudes are associated with more literacy, whereas this relationship reverses as one moves south from the equator. No such curvilinear relationship consistently emerged for longitude. To better understand the geography of literacy, we included four potential explanatory socioecological variables (pathogens, climate, national tightness, and wealth). These analyses revealed that increases in literacy as one moves towards the North and South Poles was partially accounted for by all four variables, but a larger portion of the variance was due to pathogens. These results suggest that latitude—which, taken on its own, is just a set of abstract lines on a map—can help us organize and understand global literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to study queen bee syndrome in China. Results from a nationwide survey (Chinese General Social Survey) revealed that female managers are less likely to defend the existing gender hierarchy. We also found that female managers are analogous to men in many other aspects, such as hobbies and values. Female managers adopt a mixed strategy to deal with social identity threats. Individual characteristics, such as educational attainments and the speed of career development, are significant predictors of queen bee traits. The results refute the claim that queen bees syndrome is common in the workplace. It is also important to note that different dimensions of queen bee syndrome are not always interrelated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As with other cognitively determined emotional experiences, regret is shaped by and expressed in a particular cultural milieu. However, past research on regret has primarily been conducted in Western cultures, especially the United States, and cross‐cultural research has been limited. In three studies, we employed various methods (survey, social media data, and experiment) to examine how regret is experienced differently in South Korea (a collectivistic culture) and in the United States (an individualistic culture). We discovered that regret experiences were dependent on the life domain in the collectivistic culture—individuals in this culture were more likely to be prevention‐oriented and regretful about actions (what they have done) in social domains but more promotion‐oriented and regretful about inactions (what they have failed to do) in personal domains. In comparison, those in the individualistic culture were more likely to regret inactions regardless of life domains, a tendency associated with a promotion focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present studies examined whether and how individuals from the East and West would express themselves differently in their drawings of personal success and failure. Across two studies, Euro‐Canadian and Chinese participants drew a picture depicting their personal success versus failure in the past (Study 1) or future (Study 2). Compared to the Chinese, Euro‐Canadians were more likely to express high‐arousal positive and negative affect in their drawings of personal success and failure, respectively. Replicating previous research, Euro‐Canadians also depicted a bigger "self" and were more likely to draw a face on their "self" in their drawings. Together, these findings not only demonstrated cultural differences in Euro‐Canadian and Chinese representations of their self and affective responses to personal success and failure but also suggested that pictorial representations of emotionally rich personal events can be an indirect, informative, and engaging tool for assessing cultural influences on one's self and feelings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ingroup/outgroup categorisation is a repeatedly found phenomenon. Given the long‐standing caste system, the Indian societal structure provides a unique perspective on such social categorisation. The Indian caste system contains hereditarily inherited identity roles defining profession and status‐based hierarchies. In this preregistered experiment, we investigate the influence of caste‐based identity on cooperation using a (hypothetical) Prisoner's Dilemma. Specifically, Indian participants (N = 685) were paired with a (hypothetical) other in a Prisoner's Dilemma, whose last name reflected either a general caste (i.e., a "high" caste) or a backward ("lower") caste including the scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, and other backward classes. Because participants indicated belonging to a general or a backward caste themselves, they thus played the (hypothetical) Prisoner's Dilemma with either a member of the same or a different caste group. We did not find that the partner's caste group membership in terms of stemming from an ingroup (same caste) or outgroup (different caste) influenced participants' cooperation. Further, we found participants from the general caste to be more cooperative when paired with (hypothetical) backward caste others (outgroup), compared to backward caste participants when paired with (hypothetical) general caste participants (outgroup); however, this difference disappeared once controlling for other demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on achievement motivation has mostly focused on the importance of the proximal context. As a result, the roles of more distal sociocultural and ecological factors have been neglected. However, motivation does not occur within a social vacuum; it is embedded within pervasive environments, including the broader culture (values, beliefs, and norms) and social ecology (economic and political systems, interpersonal environments, and physical environment). This article argues for the critical need to include sociocultural and ecological perspectives in motivation research. More specifically, the aims are to (a) justify why cultural and ecological perspectives are needed, (b) present a tentative conceptual framework that could account for the critical roles of sociocultural and ecological factors that underpin motivation and learning, and (c) proffer recommendations on how to study culture and ecology within the field of achievement motivation research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐compassion has been associated with a host of psychological benefits, including subjective happiness. It appears that gender may affect the association between self‐compassion and subjective happiness, although this relationship is not well understood. This study aimed to culturally adapt versions in Sinhala of the Self‐Compassion Scale and Subjective Happiness Scale, to create validated instruments for measuring these constructs in Sri Lankan undergraduates, and to explore the moderating role of gender on the relationship between self‐compassion and subjective happiness. As part of a larger study, the scales were administered to 1,331 undergraduates at a state university in Sri Lanka. The results indicated that self‐compassion is high among the study participants, for which the potential psycho‐socio‐cultural reasons are discussed. The results also indicated the importance of self‐compassion in subjective happiness, and that gender plays a significant and nuanced role—where the association between a lack of self‐compassion and subjective happiness was greater for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does power increase a person's tendency to punish or forgive norm violators? Given that existing studies report mixed findings, we examined whether power contributes to both, as a function of person and situation. In four studies employing various designs, we tested the prediction that power facilitates the circumstantially dominant response, either punishment or forgiveness, determined by the person's dispositional trait or a contextual cue (e.g., apology). In Study 1, high chronic power predicted stronger punitive attitudes toward a criminal perpetrator, especially if one is unforgiving by nature, while it also predicted forgiveness when people envisioned the perpetrator being repentant. Study 2 further confirmed the pattern with a simulated workplace scenario where we manipulated people's experience of power and the absence/presence of an apology. In Studies 3 and 4, we tested the prediction using different indicators of aggressive behaviour. People primed with high power exhibited greater aggression toward an unapologetic target and lesser aggression toward an apologetic target, and this effect was especially salient among people who held a strong belief about justice. Reconciling mixed findings of existing literature, the results highlight how an interplay of power and other factors systematically determines people's decisions and actions in cases of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study describes the development and validation of a new instrument to measure the well‐being of Indonesian people. Items were generated by taking into account the recent cross‐cultural developments in the literature. Participants (N = 1,028) from a number of provinces in Indonesia completed an online or a paper questionnaire containing a battery of measures, including the new well‐being instrument. The total sample was randomly split into two equal groups. An exploratory factor analysis (n = 516) was conducted on one half to explore the factor structure of the new scale, which resulted in a 24‐item scale with a four‐factor solution. The four factors were (a) Basic Needs, (b) Social Relation, (c) Acceptance, and (d) Spirituality. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the second half (n = 516), which confirmed the four‐factor structure with 20 items emerging as the best and most parsimonious fit of the data. The psychometric properties of the final scale were tested on the whole sample. The new scale displayed sound internal consistency, test‐retest reliability, and divergent, convergent, and discriminant validity. The scale has the potential to be used in future research which examines well‐being in the Indonesia context. Future directions and limitations of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether and how young adults disclose their political views to a parent who supports a candidate from an opposing party during election season. Using politeness theory, the study identified predictors of young adults' political disclosure decisions and the amount of face‐saving efforts they will make during the disclosure to influence the voting of their parent. How their face‐saving efforts predict strategic attitude disclosure and postdisclosure outcomes was also examined. An online survey was administered to 176 South Korean young adults 10 days before the 2017 presidential election. Results showed that frequent political talks in a parent–child dyad predicted more disclosure attempts. Consistent with politeness theory, an increased perception of power difference in the parent–child relationship predicted more face‐saving efforts made by young adults for their parent. Contrary to politeness theory, a greater political difference in the parent–child relationship was associated with fewer face‐saving efforts. Parental solicitation of disclosure moderated the effect of power difference in an unexpected way; young adults made more face‐saving efforts for their parent who was perceived to have more power over them and have solicited a political disclosure. Young adults presented an attitude toward the parent's preferred candidate more favourable than the actual attitude. Despite the compromised truthfulness, more face‐saving efforts were associated with a perceived narrowing of the political difference and an increased willingness to engage in political talk with the parent in the future. The findings are discussed from psychological and societal perspectives, with implications for cross‐cutting political conversations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated how residential moves with versus without the companionship of significant others would affect people's motivation to make new friends. Studies 1a and 1b showed that the companionship of significant others predicted fewer new friends among university students who moved within the same country (Study 1a) and to a different country (Study 1b), suggesting that the companionship of significant others was associated with a lower level of motivation to make new friends. In Study 2, the results of an experiment demonstrated that the companionship of a significant other reduced movers' motivation to make new friends, and this was explained by positive affect but not negative affect. Specifically, the companionship of a significant other, compared with the companionship of an acquaintance or no companionship, led to stronger positive affect, which, in turn, reduced motivation to make new friends. Taken together, these findings call for more nuanced theory on the influence of residential mobility on well‐being and social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic similarity often generates positive interactions between host‐country nationals (HCNs) and co‐ethnic expatriates in multinational corporations (MNCs), but the potential causes of conflict between these groups are under‐studied. In two studies, we tested whether Chinese HCNs' attitudes towards expatriates are associated with the implicit theories of ethnicity held by HCNs—essentialism (i.e., believing ethnicity has an immutable essence) versus constructivism (i.e., believing ethnicity to be malleable/socially constructed)—as well as expatriates' ethnicity, which we operationalised as Chinese (co‐ethnic) versus Scottish (other‐ethnic), and expatriates' cultural upbringing, operationalised as Chinese (local) versus American (foreign). In Study 1, HCNs who endorsed an essentialist perspective of ethnicity expected co‐ethnic (vs. other‐ethnic) expatriates to demonstrate greater ingroup identification and favouritism towards them irrespective of the expatriates' cultural upbringing. In Study 2, HCNs primed with the essentialist view expected co‐ethnic (vs. other‐ethnic) expatriates to demonstrate greater ingroup identification and favouritism towards them irrespective of the expatriates' upbringing, whereas those primed with the constructivist view expected expatriates with local (vs. foreign) upbringing to demonstrate greater ingroup identification and favouritism towards them irrespective of their ethnicity. These findings advance international management literature by providing a nuanced understanding of the interactions between HCNs and co‐ethnic expatriates that are influenced by essentialist beliefs about ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although bribery has unethical connotations, it can be considered as an instrumental behavioural strategy to achieve goals. Because individuals with high residential mobility often focus more on self‐interest to adapt to the changing environment, we hypothesise that residential mobility will increase intention to bribe to achieve one's goals. We measured actual residential mobility in a self‐reported survey (pilot study) and manipulated it using experiments (Experiments 1–3). We measured intention to bribe using hypothetical scenarios (pilot study, Experiments 1 & 2) and captured actual bribe‐giving using a behavioural game (Experiment 3). We consistently found that residential mobility was positively associated with bribe‐giving intention and actual bribery. This effect was mediated by concern for self‐interest when bribe‐giving was perceived as means to influence the outcome. Implications for research on bribery, residential mobility, and moral behaviours are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has examined the multiple meanings of hijab among Muslim women, but a quantitative scale to examine such meanings has yet to be developed. The present study was designed to develop and validate a new scale, Meanings Of The Hijab (MOTH), for measuring multiple meanings associated with wearing a headscarf for Muslim women living in countries where the majority of the population is non‐Muslim. The initial 64‐item scale was employed to 442 Canadian Muslim women, along with the Social Axiom Survey and the Cultural Identity Scale. An exploratory factor analysis led to the development of the MOTH scale with 35 items and five factors. The factors reflect meanings of the hijab in terms of: Expression of Faith Without Hijab, Expression of Modesty and Religiosity, Expression of Personal Identity, Challenges of Wearing Hijab, and Negative Symbolism of the Hijab in the West. The MOTH scale was found to have high internal validity and discriminant validity. In addition, convergent and discriminant validity of MOTH subscales were established by examining their relations with social axioms, ethnic identity, and national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new scale to measure core social motives was developed based on the BUC(K)ET framework (Belong, Understand, Control, Esteem, and Trust). The scale was completed by 1,516 university students from seven countries: Australia, the United States, New Zealand, the Philippines, Malaysia, China (Macao), and Austria. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis supported the scale's full scalar invariance between Australia and the United States and between Australia and Austria. Partial scalar invariance was established for all countries after omitting the Understand motive, suggesting that the remaining four subscales can be used to compare levels of social motives across diverse cultural groups with caution. We further established the scale's construct validity by examining its correlations in the nomological networks involving several individual difference variables. The profile of social motives was remarkably similar across countries and gender groups, although three Asian groups showed higher motives to belong than non‐Asian groups, and women showed generally stronger core social motives than men, especially the Belong motive. Implications and possible directions of research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we report a cross‐cultural study on how different types of social transgressions are moralised by Chinese, Americans, and Lithuanians. We hypothesised that given the continuing influences of Confucian worldview on contemporary Chinese societies, the Chinese will not make a distinction between moral (daode 道德) and conventional cultural norms (wenming 文明). Following Turiel's moral/conventional task, we characterised moral transgressions in terms of two dimensions: Their wrongness is perceived to be independent of any authorities' opinion and general in scope. The results indicate that Chinese participants were slightly more "moralising" than Americans and Lithuanians in the typical (Haidtean) moral domains. More importantly, unlike Americans and Lithuanians, the Chinese strongly moralised uncultured (wenming 文明) behaviour. Results also indicate that explicit considerations about purity were quite important across all three cultural groups. These mixed results are discussed in the light of recent debates about the scope of morality and the moral/conventional distinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]