Climatoeconomic Roots of Survival Versus Self-Expression Cultures

The circumstances under which societies adapt their cultural values to cold, temperate, and hot climates include the availability of money to cope with climate. In a country-level study, collective income, household income, and economic growth were conceptualized as moderators of the climate-culture link because money is primarily used to satisfy homeostatic needs for thermal comfort, nutrition, and health. The results demonstrate that members of societies in more-demanding climates endorse survival values at the expense of self-expression values to the extent that they are poorer ( n= 74 nations), that household incomes in these lower-income societies are lower ( n = 66 nations), and that they face more economic recession ( n = 38 nations). In addition to theoretical implications, the findings have practical implications for the cultural consequences of global warming and the effectiveness of financing for human development.