Social Ecology

A consulting room with a view: Psychotherapy and the ecological context

BACKGROUND

The field of psychotherapy is witnessing a lively debate today. The literature on the efficacy of psychological interventions has grown exponentially, but the assumptions of the prevailing research paradigms have been criticised from many points of view. One of the main concerns is that of a too often simplistic conception of psychotherapy, viewed as a set of specific methods for the treatment of point-like problems or symptoms.

LITERATURE REVIEW ON MENTAL HEALTH AND THE ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT

Instead, emerging perspectives are trying to promote a more complex view on psychotherapy, as a process based on the therapeutic potential of relationships, which takes place in relevant social and cultural contexts. Even the ecological context is taken in greater consideration, as growing evidence exists about the detrimental effects of ecological threats-such as climate change and other environmental challenges-on mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychotherapists and psychotherapy associations are now paying due attention to such issues, as well as to social justice and other dimensions that no longer can be thought of as mere elements of the scenario in which psychotherapy is practiced. Rather they are dimensions that exert a strong influence on psychological well-being, and thus must be properly acknowledged and assessed to connect clinical work with the communities and ecological contexts in which people live.

The Dark Side of Safety: A Call for a More Thorough Consideration of Racism and Collective Power Motivations in the Social Psychology of Firearms

This paper situates current social psychological research on the symbolic use of firearms (e.g., as a source of personal safety) in broader historical context to motivate a more thorough consideration of collective power motives. Historically, firearms have been used to dominate racial outgroup members (e.g., White Americans use of firearms and firearm laws to dispossess indigenous people of land or control free and enslaved Black people) or, at times, attempt to resist group-based oppression (e.g., Black Americans use of firearms to struggle against White Jim Crow terrorism). Given most gun owners report self-protection as their primary reason for firearm ownership and yet anti-Black attitudes are still a consistently important predictor of firearm ownership among dominant group members (e.g., White Americans), this paper examines how guns may function as a perceived source of personal safety and collective power. I center the persistent role of White supremacy and anti-Blackness in original U.S. firearm psychology and policy to illuminate the interrelatedness of personal safety and collective power perceptions, and how perceived threats to in-group power may motivate the use of guns and policies that selectively regulate gun access to mitigate associated safety concerns. Seeking to nudge social psychology to more thoroughly examine firearms' potential function as a symbolic source of collective power, I end by discussing how considering collective power can help us better understand how historically dominant and historically marginalized groups view firearms today while also illuminating some barriers to the pursuit of gun safety for all.

Multilevel analysis of COVID-19 vaccination intention: the moderating role of economic and cultural country characteristics

BACKGROUND

Predictors of COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccination have been extensively researched; however, the contextual factors contributing to understanding vaccination intention remain largely unexplored. The present study aimed to investigate the moderating role of economic development (Gross domestic product - GDP per capita), economic inequality (Gini index), the perceived corruption index and Hofstede's measurements of cultural values-index of individualism/collectivism and power distance index-in the relationship between determinants of satisfaction with the healthcare system, trust in political institutions, conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 vaccination intention.

METHODS

A multilevel modelling approach was employed on a sample of approximately 51 000 individuals nested within 26 countries. Data were drawn from the European Social Survey Round 10. The model examined the effect of individual- and country-level predictors and their interaction on vaccination intention.

RESULTS

Satisfaction with the healthcare system had a stronger positive effect on intention to get vaccinated in countries with lower perceived corruption and more individualistic countries. Trust in political institutions had a stronger positive effect on vaccination intention in countries with higher economic development and lower perceived corruption, while a negative effect of conspiracy beliefs on vaccination intention was stronger in countries with lower economic development, higher perceived corruption and a more collectivistic cultural orientation.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the importance of considering individual and contextual factors when addressing vaccination intention.

The lay of the land: Associations between environmental features and personality

OBJECTIVE

Personality traits cluster across countries, regions, cities, and neighborhoods. What drives the formation of these clusters? Ecological theory suggests that physical locations shape humans' patterns of behaviors and psychological characteristics. Based on this theory, we examined whether and how differential land-cover relates to individual personality.

METHOD

We followed a preregistered three-pronged analysis approach to investigate the associations between personality (N = 2,690,878) and land-cover across the United States. We used eleven land-cover categories to classify landscapes and tested their association with personality against broad physical and socioeconomic factors.

RESULTS

Urban areas were positively associated with openness to experience and negatively associated with conscientiousness. Coastal areas were positively associated with openness to experience and neuroticism but negatively associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness. Cultivated areas were negatively associated with openness. Landscapes at the periphery of human activity, such as shrubs, bare lands, or permanent snows, were not reliably associated with personality traits.

CONCLUSIONS

Bivariate correlations, multilevel, and random forest models uncovered robust associations between landscapes and personality traits. These findings align with ecological theory suggesting that an individual's environment contributes to their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.

Interdependent culture and older adults' well-being: Health and psychological happiness in Japanese communities

This review article examined perspectives on the well-being and health of older adults in Japan, a nation renowned for its longevity. We emphasized the impact of social capital and social relationships in local communities, considering both individual and societal factors. The prevailing values in Japanese culture tend to foster a sustained and stable form of interdependent happiness among older adults, suggesting that communal support systems play an important role. This article highlights the value of multi-level datasets, such as the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) dataset, for understanding the influence of social participation on the health and well-being of older adults. A growing body of evidence underscores the central role of social relationships in the health and well-being of older adults.

Homo temporus: Seasonal Cycles as a Fundamental Source of Variation in Human Psychology

Many animal species exhibit seasonal changes in their physiology and behavior. Yet despite ample evidence that humans are also responsive to seasons, the impact of seasonal changes on human psychology is underappreciated relative to other sources of variation (e.g., personality, culture, development). This is unfortunate because seasonal variation has potentially profound conceptual, empirical, methodological, and practical implications. Here, we encourage a more systematic and comprehensive collective effort to document and understand the many ways in which seasons influence human psychology. We provide an illustrative summary of empirical evidence showing that seasons impact a wide range of affective, cognitive, and behavioral phenomena. We then articulate a conceptual framework that outlines a set of causal mechanisms through which seasons can influence human psychology-mechanisms that reflect seasonal changes not only in meteorological variables but also in ecological and sociocultural variables. This framework may be useful for integrating many different seasonal effects that have already been empirically documented and for generating new hypotheses about additional seasonal effects that have not yet received empirical attention. The article closes with a section that provides practical suggestions to facilitate greater appreciation for, and systematic study of, seasons as a fundamental source of variation in human psychology.

Different Interpretations of "Honor Your Parents": Implications for Obligation of Parental Caregiving

OBJECTIVES

Many religious and cultural settings embrace the principle to "honor your parents." However, how individuals understand and enact this mandate varies by cultural context and community. The different understanding of "honor your parents" draws attention to motivations for parental caregiving across cultural contexts. This study investigates how individuals in 3 different cultural settings conceptualize "honoring your parents" and how these conceptualizations affect their perceptions of obligations to care for an older parent.

METHODS

Semistructured interviews with 153 individuals in the United States, Ghana, and Nigeria explored the concept of "honor your parents," how it is understood, and its relationship to the perceived obligation to care for one's parents. A content analysis was applied to all transcripts and analyzed for discussion.

RESULTS

Among individuals in the United States, "honor your parents" is less likely to be conceived as providing material and instrumental care to a parent, and more in terms of emotional care. In contrast, individuals in Nigeria and Ghana closely associated "honor your parents" with providing material and instrumental care to a parent.

DISCUSSION

Understanding how different conceptions of "honor your parents" translate to expectations for and modes of parental caregiving can illuminate how caregiving needs can be met for the aging populations of the United States, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Motivated Categories: Social Structures Shape the Construction of Social Categories Through Attentional Mechanisms

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

Social categories like race and gender often give rise to stereotypes and prejudice, and a great deal of research has focused on how motivations influence these biased beliefs. Here, we focus on potential biases in how these categories are even formed in the first place, suggesting that motivations can influence the very categories people use to group others. We propose that motivations to share schemas with other people and to gain resources shape people's attention to dimensions like race, gender, and age in different contexts. Specifically, people will pay attention to dimensions to the degree that the conclusions produced from using those dimensions align with their motivations. Overall, we suggest that simply examining the downstream effects of social categorization like stereotyping and prejudice is not enough, and that research should look earlier in the process at how and when we form the categories on which those stereotypes are based.

Four Misconceptions About Nonverbal Communication

Research and theory in nonverbal communication have made great advances toward understanding the patterns and functions of nonverbal behavior in social settings. Progress has been hindered, we argue, by presumptions about nonverbal behavior that follow from both received wisdom and faulty evidence. In this article, we document four persistent misconceptions about nonverbal communication-namely, that people communicate using decodable body language; that they have a stable personal space by which they regulate contact with others; that they express emotion using universal, evolved, iconic, categorical facial expressions; and that they can deceive and detect deception, using dependable telltale clues. We show how these misconceptions permeate research as well as the practices of popular behavior experts, with consequences that extend from intimate relationships to the boardroom and courtroom and even to the arena of international security. Notwithstanding these misconceptions, existing frameworks of nonverbal communication are being challenged by more comprehensive systems approaches and by virtual technologies that ambiguate the roles and identities of interactants and the contexts of interaction.

Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: An integrative perspective

Informed by socio-ecological psychology and the conservation of resources model, the present study proposes an integrative perspective on the association between psychological distress and a constellation of factors, during the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel. Our sample, comprised of 991 adult participants, was measured for psychological distress, locus of control (internal/ external), resilience, loneliness, social support, dimensions of citizens' trust in government organizations (perceived competence, benevolence, and integrity), and demographic characteristics. The findings showed that women, non-religious people, and the unemployed reported higher levels of psychological distress. Internal locus of control, resilience, social support, and the extent to which citizens perceive government organizations as benevolent were negatively associated with psychological distress. Self-reported loneliness and external locus of control positively predicted the level of respondent psychological distress. No association was detected between age, competence and integrity and psychological distress. An overview of the research findings indicates that individuals with greater resources were less likely to suffer from psychological distress during the COVID-19 outbreak. These findings call upon mental health care practitioners to help as well as to enable clients to attain resources in order to lower their levels of psychological distress. Policies developed by policymakers during periods of acute crisis should consider the specific needs and vulnerabilities of certain population groups, including women and the unemployed who may be more susceptible to psychological distress. It is also important for policymakers to be aware that the perception of democratic governments as benevolent can serve as a buffer against psychological distress during times of crisis.

Subjective socioeconomic status and income inequality are associated with self-reported morality across 67 countries

Individuals can experience a lack of economic resources compared to others, which we refer to as subjective experiences of economic scarcity. While such experiences have been shown to shift cognitive focus, attention, and decision-making, their association with human morality remains debated. We conduct a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between subjective experiences of economic scarcity, as indexed by low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, and various self-reported measures linked to morality. In a pre-registered study, we analyze data from a large, cross-national survey (N = 50,396 across 67 countries) allowing us to address limitations related to cross-cultural generalizability and measurement validity in prior research. Our findings demonstrate that low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, are associated with higher levels of moral identity, higher morality-as-cooperation, a larger moral circle, and increased prosocial intentions. These results appear robust to several advanced control analyses. Finally, exploratory analyses indicate that observed income inequality at the national level is not a statistically significant moderator of the associations between subjective socioeconomic status and the included measures of morality. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding human morality under experiences of resource scarcity.

Enriching Psychology by Zooming Out to General Mindsets and Practices in Natural Habitats

Psychology has been "zooming in" on individuals, dyads, and groups with a narrow lens to the exclusion of "zooming out," which involves placing the targeted phenomena within more distal layers of influential context. Here, we plea for a paradigm shift. Specifically, we showcase largely hidden scientific benefits of zooming out by discussing worldwide evidence on inhabitants' habitual adaptations to colder-than-temperate and hotter-than-temperate habitats. These exhibits reveal two different types of theories. Clement-climate perspectives emphasize that generic common properties of stresses from cold and hot temperatures elicit similar effects on personality traits and psychosocial functioning. Cold-versus-heat perspectives emphasize that specific unique properties of stresses from cold and hot habitats elicit different effects on phenomena, such as speech practices and intergroup discrimination. Both zooming-out perspectives are then integrated into a complementary framework that helps identify explanatory mechanisms and demonstrates the broader added value of embedding zooming-in approaches within zooming-out approaches. Indeed, zooming out enriches psychology.

The Profiles, Predictors, and Intergroup Outcomes of Cultural Attachment

The recent backlash against cultural globalization has raised a conundrum regarding how individuals should navigate their relationship with their cultural groups to both meet their basic need for belongingness and embrace diversity to fully leverage the benefits of globalization. Here we take an attachment perspective to tackle this issue. Employing both person- and variable-centered approaches in two studies (n1 = 328; n2 = 1,317), we verify that people can develop different cultural attachment styles toward their cultural groups (i.e., secure, preoccupied, dismissing, and fearful), which are influenced by various societal, interpersonal and intrapersonal factors. People who securely attach to their cultures will perceive less out-group threat, exhibit more identity inclusiveness, hold less intergroup biases and excessive collective self-esteem, display a greater willingness to engage in intergroup contact, and demonstrate better psychological functioning. All these effects of cultural attachment are independent from and incremental to those of general and place attachment.

How much cultural variation around the globe is explained by ecology?

How much cultural variation is explained by the physical and social ecologies people inhabit? Here, we provide an answer using nine ecological variables and 66 cultural variables (including personality traits, values and norms) drawn from the EcoCultural Dataset. We generate a range of estimates by using different statistical metrics (e.g. current levels, average levels across time, unpredictability across time) of each of the ecological variables. Our results suggest that, on average, ecology explains a substantial amount of human cultural variation above and beyond spatial and cultural autocorrelation. The amount of variation explained depended on the metrics used, with current levels and average levels of ecological conditions explaining the greatest amounts of variance in human culture on average (16% and 20%, respectively).

Body social models of disability: Examining enactive and ecological approaches

Autistic philosopher and neurodiversity proponent Robert Chapman (2021) argues that disability may be best understood by utilizing an ecological functional model where the focus is on the intersection and overlaps between relational contributions to collectives and group functioning with individual functionality. This presents an alternative to both social-relational models of disability advocated by other neurodiversity proponents and the orthodox medical model of disability. While enactivists such as Michelle Maiese and Juan Toro, Julian Kiverstein and Erik Rietveld have also offered relational models of disability that challenge the orthodox medical model, I argue that unlike the ecological functional model, these enactivist models remain problematically committed to an individualist methodology. Drawing on what Miriam Kyselo has labeled the body social problem, I show that the enactivist models not only face theoretical issues, but also practical issues in terms of their recommended intervention strategies for disability. I argue that for these reasons, if enactivists want a relational model of disability, then they should adopt both a neurodiversity paradigm approach and Chapman’s ecological functional model.

The prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation among cancer patients in mainland China and its provinces, 1994-2021: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 201 cross-sectional studies

To evaluate the national prevalence depression of Chinese cancer patients and clarify its potential associated factors. Twelve databases were searched from database inception through October 31, 2022 for relevant studies published in English (PubMed MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Cochrane and Web of Science) and Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Weipu, Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System, Duxiu) that estimated point or period prevalence of depression, depressive disorder, or suicidal ideation as assessed by self-report scale or structured interview. 201 studies were eligible for inclusion in our meta-analyses. We found the national pooled prevalence rates of depression and suicidal ideation were 44.63 % (95 % CI 42.24 %-47.01 %) and 24.95 % (95 % CI 10.96 %-38.95 %), respectively. The pooled prevalence of depression was associated with study location, cancer type, comorbid chronic disease, and female sex (all P < 0.05). The distribution of the depression prevalence among cancer patients in mainland China was characterized by significant geographical variation and clustering. The highest pooled prevalence of depression was among gynecologic oncology patients. We recommend that more attention and resources be given to mental health problems such as depression and suicidal ideation among Chinese cancer patients, and that prevention programs be developed, especially in areas with a high prevalence of depression.

Association between relational mobility, brain structure, and prosociality in adolescents

Trust plays a vital role in human society. Previous studies have suggested that trust comprises general trust and caution. General trust is a belief that others, in general, are trustworthy, and caution is a belief in the importance of vigilance in dealing with others. Adolescence is a critical period for establishing these psychological traits. It is a period of physical and mental development, and the social environment during this period influences adolescents' psychology, including their brain structures. In this study, we focus on relational mobility as a socio-environmental factor that influences the development of adolescents' psychology and the brain. Relational mobility refers to the degree of freedom to choose and replace social relationships and consists of two subfactors (the degree of freedom to choose and replace social relationships and the number of opportunities to meet new people). Accordingly, we analyzed each subfactor separately. Results showed that the degree of freedom to choose and replace social relationships was only negatively associated with caution and left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) volume in adolescents. Furthermore, the effect of the freedom to choose and replace social relationships on caution was significantly relevant to the left pSTG volume. In contrast, the degree of opportunities to meet new people was associated with neither general trust nor caution, whereas it was positively associated with the right supramarginal gyrus volume. This study suggests that the social environment during adolescence influences brain structures related to prosociality.

Effective Maps, Easily Done: Visualizing Geo-Psychological Differences Using Distance Weights

Psychologists of many subfields are becoming increasingly interested in the geographical distribution of psychological phenomena. An integral part of this new stream of geo-psychological studies is to visualize spatial distributions of psychological phenomena in maps. However, most psychologists are not trained in visualizing spatial data. As a result, almost all existing geo-psychological studies rely on the most basic mapping technique: color-coding disaggregated data (i.e., grouping individuals into predefined spatial units and then mapping out average scores across these spatial units). Although this basic mapping technique is not wrong, it often leaves unleveraged potential to effectively visualize spatial patterns. The aim of this tutorial is to introduce psychologists to an alternative, easy-to-use mapping technique: distance-based weighting (i.e., calculating area estimates that represent distance-weighted averages of all measurement locations). We outline the basic idea of distance-based weighting and explain how to implement this technique so that it is effective for geo-psychological research. Using large-scale mental-health data from the United States ( N = 2,058,249), we empirically demonstrate how distance-based weighting may complement the commonly used basic mapping technique. We provide fully annotated R code and open access to all data used in our analyses.

Smaller Hippocampal Volume Among Black and Latinx Youth Living in High-Stigma Contexts

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether structural and individual forms of stigma are associated with neurodevelopment in children.

METHOD

Stigma related to gender, race, and Latinx ethnicity was measured at the structural level using objective state-level indicators of social policies and prejudicial attitudes and at the individual level using self-reports of perceived discrimination. Respective associations of stigma with hippocampal volume and amygdala reactivity to threat were examined using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (N = 11,534, mean age 9.9 years), the first multisite neuroimaging study that provided substantial variability in sociopolitical contexts and that included individual-level measures of stigma among youth.

RESULTS

In a preregistered analysis, Black (B = -58.26, p = .023) and Latinx (B = -40.10, p = .044) youths in higher (vs lower) structural stigma contexts were found to have smaller hippocampal volume, controlling for total intracranial volume, demographics, and family socioeconomic status. This association was also observed at a trend-level among girls (p = .082). The magnitude of the difference in hippocampal volume between high and low structural stigma states was equivalent to the predicted impact of a $20,000 difference in annual family income in this sample. As hypothesized, structural stigma was not associated with hippocampal volume in nonstigmatized youths, providing evidence of specificity. Perceived discrimination was unrelated to hippocampal volume in stigmatized groups. No associations between perceived discrimination or structural stigma and amygdala reactivity to threat were observed.

CONCLUSION

This study provides novel evidence that an objective measure of structural stigma may be more strongly related to hippocampal volume than subjective perceptions of stigma, suggesting that contextual approaches to stigma could yield new insights into neurodevelopment among marginalized youth.

Experiments make a good breakfast, but a poor supper

Cesario's analysis has three key flaws. First, the focus on whether an effect is "real" (an "effects flaw") overlooks the importance of theory testing. Second, obsession with effects (a "fetishization flaw") sidelines theoretically informed questions about when and why an effect may arise. Third, failure to take stock of cultural and historical context (a "decontextualization flaw") strips findings of meaning.

Abundance Causes Greed in Appropriation from Common Resources

Three experiments investigated the possibility that greed is not just a consequence of scarcity but may also result from abundance of common resources. It was predicted that abundance causes greed not through increasing competition but because it reduces social concerns for the outcomes of others, resulting in resource waste. Consistent with these predictions, we found that people take and waste more from common resources if these resources are more—rather than less—abundant. These findings were robust to different types of resources (chocolates and money). Implications of these findings for attempts at sustainable resource use are discussed.

Harmony and Aversion in the Face of a Pandemic 1

While the survival function of culture against infectious disease has been investigated, little is known about its psychological processes under the real‐world threat of infection. Here, we compare the subjective COVID‐19‐related symptoms of Japanese and French adults during the spring of 2021. We tested two regression models describing the downregulation of symptoms by germ aversion, and by interdependent happiness, together with relational mobility and demographics. We regard germ aversion as an individualized fending‐off process marked by discomfort with the general other in the face of possible infection. We regard interdependent happiness as a relational safeguarding process against possible infection. Results suggest that the effect of germ aversion differed across nations, negatively explaining symptoms in Japan but not in France, and that the effect of interdependent happiness was shared. A possible psychological mechanism whereby collectivist culture suppresses infection in the face of the pandemic is discussed.

Cooperation and conflict in romantic partners' personal projects: the role of life domains

Personal projects represent a person's pursuits in different life domains. The present study examines the orientations of adults' personal projects and how these orientations are embedded in the dynamics of romantic relationships. Cross-sectional data from 249 married or cohabitating Hungarian heterosexual couples were collected (mean age 42 ± 10.76 and 39.64 ± 10.21 years for male and female partners, respectively). An adapted version of the Personal Project Assessment procedure was completed by both partners individually. Four of their chosen projects were evaluated based on perceived cooperation and conflict regarding these projects and other predefined aspects. First, after applying a person-oriented approach, four meaningful content domains emerged from the thematically coded data using cluster analysis: (1) Practical, (2) Work-Life Balance, (3) Relationships, and (4) Learning and Growth orientations. For both genders, people with Learning and Growth orientation were younger than those with Practical orientation, and among women, the Work-Life Balance orientation group was older. Second, we linked the content domains to relationship experiences on the dyadic level. Both partners with Learning and Growth orientation goals perceived less cooperation. Female partners whose spouses had Work-Life Balance or Learning and Growth orientation goals perceived less conflict regarding their own goals. Overall, Learning and Growth-oriented goals can be considered more distant from the dynamics of romantic relationships because they involve fewer joint experiences and less cooperation and conflict.

Effect of Implicit Theory on Effort Allocation Strategies in Multiple Task-Choice Situations: An Investigation From a Socio-Ecological Perspective

Implicit theories refer to two assumptions that people make about the malleability of one's ability. Previous studies have argued that incremental theorists (who believe that ability is malleable) are more adaptive than entity theorists (who believe that ability is fixed) when facing achievement setbacks. In the present research, we assumed that the adaptive implicit theory would be different when people could choose from a wider range of tasks. It was hypothesized that incremental theorists would sustain their efforts in the first task even when it was difficult, whereas entity theorists would try to find the most appropriate task. In a pair of laboratory experiments, participants had to maximize their outcomes when allowed to choose a task to engage in, from two options. When participants were allowed to practice the two tasks (Study 1), incremental theorists tended to allocate their effort solely to the first task, whereas entity theorists tended to put equal effort into both. When participants were informed that they could switch from the assigned task (Study 2), incremental theorists tended to persist in the first task regardless of its difficulty, whereas entity theorists tended to switch more quickly if the task was difficult. These results supported our hypothesis of two effort allocation strategies and implied that, in certain situations, entity theorists could be more adaptive than incremental theorists. Based on these findings, we conducted a social survey on the difficulty of switching tasks with a real-life setting as an environmental factor that determines the adaptive implicit theory (Study 3). It was revealed that the academic performance of incremental and entity theorists was moderated by the difficulty of switching tasks in their learning environment at school. Cultural differences in implicit theories may be explained by differences in the difficulty of switching tasks in education and career choices in each society.

Entrepreneur-Region Fit and Entrepreneurial Success in China: The Effect of "Confucian" Personality

The personality of entrepreneurs is associated with their entrepreneurial success, and the regional personality plays a crucial role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Recently, scholars have called for an indigenous personality perspective and combining the personality of entrepreneurs with the regional personality. The current study aimed to investigate the indigenous Confucian personality (e.g., interpersonal relatedness [IR]) and taking an entrepreneur-regional personality fit perspective, allowing testing how entrepreneurs interact with the local ecosystem. Using the personality data of entrepreneurs (N = 1,386) from a representative sample across 42 major cities in China, we found that (1) city-level IR is curvilinearly correlated with the annual income of entrepreneurs, with moderate IR associates with the highest income; and (2) the entrepreneur-regional fit analysis further revealed substantial interplay between an entrepreneur and the city. Specifically, entrepreneurs who have moderate IR and run their business in the city also with moderate IR are most likely to have the highest income. This study highlights the usefulness of investigating indigenous personality and the fit perspective in entrepreneurship research.

A Tale of Peaks and Valleys: Sinusoid Relationship Patterns Between Mountainousness and Basic Human Values

Mountains—mythic and majestic—have fueled widespread speculation about their effects on character. Emerging empirical evidence has begun to show that physical topography is indeed associated with personality traits, especially heightened openness. Here, we extend this work to the domain of personal values, linking novel large-scale individual values data ( n = 32,666) to objective indicators of altitude and mountainousness derived from satellite radar data. Partial correlations and conditional random forest machine-learning algorithms demonstrate that altitude and mountainousness are related to increased conservation values and decreased hedonism. Effect sizes are generally small (| r| < .031) but comparable to other socio-ecological predictors, such as population density and latitude. The findings align with the dual-pressure model of ecological stress, suggesting that it might be most adaptive in the mountains to have an open personality to effectively deal with threats and endorse conservative values that promote a social order that minimizes threats.

How Migration Policy Shapes the Subjective Well-Being of the Non-immigrant Population in European Countries

Existing studies show that there is a positive association between pro-migrant integration policies and the subjective well-being of immigrants. However, there is a lack of research elucidating the relations between migrant integration policies and the subjective well-being of the host (i.e., non-migrant) population. This study is based on European data and uses multilevel analysis to clarify the relations between migrant integration policy (both as a whole and its eight separate components such as: Labor market mobility and Family reunion) and the subjective well-being of the non-immigrant population in European countries. We examined relations between the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) for 22 countries in Europe and subjective well-being, as assessed by the European Social Survey (ESS) data. The results demonstrated that there is a positive relation between the MIPEX and subjective well-being for non-immigrants. Considering different components of the MIPEX separately, we found most of them being positively related to the subjective well-being of non-immigrants. As no negative relationship was identified between any of the eight MIPEX components and subjective well-being, policies in favor of immigrant integration also seem to benefit the non-immigrant population.

Neurodiversity and the Social Ecology of Mental Functions

In psychiatry, mental dysfunction is typically framed in relation to models that seek to be continuous with physiology or evolutionary biology and that compare individual fitness to a broader functional norm. Proponents of the neurodiversity movement, however, challenge the pathologization of minority cognitive styles and argue that we should reframe neurocognitive diversity as a normal and healthy manifestation of biodiversity. Neurodiversity proponents have thus far drawn on social-relational models of disability to challenge the medical model of disability, but they have not developed an alternative functional analysis to replace conceptions of neurological dysfunction or impairment. Here I clarify and defend the neurodiversity perspective by drawing on ecological functional models that take relational contributions to collectives, and group functioning, into account alongside individual functionality. Using the example of autism as well as recent developments in the study of cognitive diversity, I apply these models to human mental functioning and argue that what I call the ecological model has greater utility for research and practice than the leading psychiatric functional analyses of mental functioning.

The changing sociocultural context of wildlife conservation

We introduced a multilevel model of value shift to describe the changing social context of wildlife conservation. Our model depicts how cultural-level processes driven by modernization (e.g., increased wealth, education, and urbanization) affect changes in individual-level cognition that prompt a shift from domination to mutualism wildlife values. Domination values promote beliefs that wildlife should be used primarily to benefit humans, whereas mutualism values adopt a view that wildlife are part of one's social network and worthy of care and compassion. Such shifts create emergent effects (e.g., new interest groups) and challenges to wildlife management organizations (e.g., increased conflict) and dramatically alter the sociopolitical context of conservation decisions. Although this model is likely applicable to many modernized countries, we tested it with data from a 2017-2018 nationwide survey (mail and email panel) of 43,949 residents in the United States. We conducted hierarchical linear modeling and correlational analysis to examine relationships. Modernization variables had strong state-level effects on domination and mutualism. Higher levels of education, income, and urbanization were associated with higher percentages of mutualists and lower percentages of traditionalists, who have strong domination values. Values affected attitudes toward wildlife management challenges; for example, states with higher proportions of mutualists were less supportive of lethal control of wolves (Canis lupus) and had lower percentages of active hunters, who represent the traditional clientele of state wildlife agencies in the United States. We contend that agencies will need to embrace new strategies to engage and represent a growing segment of the public with mutualism values. Our model merits testing for application in other countries.

Rising Ethnic Diversity in the United States Accompanies Shifts Toward an Individualistic Culture

We investigate the relationship between ethnic diversity and the rise of individualism in the United States during the 20th and 21st centuries. Tests of the historical rates of ethnic diversity alongside individualistic relational structures (e.g., adults living alone, single-/multi-child families) from the years 1950 to 2018 reveal that societal and regional rates of ethnic diversity accompanied individualistic relational structures. These effects hold above and beyond time-series trends in each variable. Further evidence from experimental studies ( N = 707) suggests that the presence of, and contact with, ethnically diverse others contributes to greater individualistic values (e.g., the importance of uniqueness and personal achievement). Converging evidence across societal-, regional-, and individual-level analyses suggests a systematic link between ethnic diversity and individualism. We discuss the implications of these findings for sociocultural livelihood in light of the rising rates of ethnic diversity across the globe.

Does the Relation Between Humor Styles and Subjective Well-Being Vary Across Culture and Age? A Meta-Analysis

An earlier review (Schneider et al., 2018) examined the connection between humor styles and mental health. The present article supplements and extends Schneider et al.'s review by surveying a broader concept, subjective well-being (SWB), and investigating the moderating effects of culture and age. To this end, we collected data from 85 studies, with 27,562 participants of varying ages and cultures. Meta-analysis results indicate that affiliative and self-enhancing humor enhances SWB, whereas aggressive and self-defeating humor damages SWB. Culture and age do not moderate the relation between humor styles and SWB. We discuss implications for better understanding of the relationships among culture, age, humor, and SWB.

Physical topography is associated with human personality

Regional differences in personality are associated with a range of consequential outcomes. But which factors are responsible for these differences? Frontier settlement theory suggests that physical topography is a crucial factor shaping the psychological landscape of regions. Hence, we investigated whether topography is associated with regional variation in personality across the United States (n = 3,387,014). Consistent with frontier settlement theory, results from multilevel modelling revealed that mountainous areas were lower on agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism and conscientiousness but higher on openness to experience. Conditional random forest algorithms confirmed mountainousness as a meaningful predictor of personality when tested against a conservative set of controls. East-west comparisons highlighted potential differences between ecological (driven by physical features) and sociocultural (driven by social norms) effects of mountainous terrain.

Socio-Ecological Hypothesis of Reconciliation: Cultural, Individual, and Situational Variations in Willingness to Accept Apology or Compensation

The main goal of the present research is to examine socio-ecological hypothesis on apology and compensation. Specifically, we conducted four studies to test the idea that an apology is an effective means to induce reconciliation in a residentially stable community, whereas compensation is an effective means in a residentially mobile community. In Studies 1, 2a, and 2b, American and Japanese participants (national difference in mobility; Study 1) or non-movers and movers (within-nation difference in mobility; Studies 2a and 2b) imagined the situations in which they were hurt by their friends and rated to what extent they would be willing to maintain their friendships upon receipt of apology or compensation. The results showed that compensation was more effective in appeasing residentially mobile people (i.e., Americans and movers) than stable people (i.e., Japanese and non-movers), while apology was slightly more effective appeasing residentially stable people than residentially mobile people (significant in Study 1; not significant in Studies 2a and 2b). In Study 3, by conducting an economics game experiment, we directly tested the hypothesis that mobility would impair the effectiveness of apology and enhance the effectiveness of compensation. The results again partially supported our hypothesis: In the high mobility condition, compensation increased one's willingness to continue the relationship with the offender, when compared to willingness in the low mobility condition. The importance of socio-ecological perspective on the forgiveness literature is discussed.

A New Empirical Approach to Intercultural Comparisons of Value Preferences Based on Schwartz's Theory

Empirical tests of Schwartz’s theory of culture-level value priorities have predominantly been performed using an averaging approach–as values of the average individual in a culture. However, from a theory of measurement standpoint such an approach seems inadequate. We argue that the averaging approach is an insufficiently accurate methodology in capturing the compatibilities-incompatibilities between values of individuals within cultures. We propose an approach based on the distribution of values of individuals in a given culture–the distribution approach. Using data from two rounds of the European Social Survey, we show how frequencies of specific individual value priorities in a culture can be used toward the description of culture-level value preferences. We recommend a re-conceptualization of Schwartz’s culture-level value theory to an orthogonal two-dimensional structure, namely as Alteration vs. Preservation and Amenability vs. Dominance, which we explain based on heterogeneity in socioecological indicators across countries. We conclude that societal challenges may influence the cultural value climate across countries.

Predicting mortality from 57 economic, behavioral, social, and psychological factors

In our prospective study using nationally representative data from 13,611 adults in the US Health and Retirement Study, we used traditional and machine-learning statistical approaches to reveal the most important factors across the behavioral and social sciences that predict mortality in older adults. In the study, we found that top predictors of mortality spanned all investigated domains, opening up opportunities for future hypothesis generation in observational and clinical studies and the identification of potential new targets for screening and policy.

Behavioral and social scientists have identified many nonbiological predictors of mortality. An important limitation of much of this research, however, is that risk factors are not studied in comparison with one another or from across different fields of research. It therefore remains unclear which factors should be prioritized for interventions and policy to reduce mortality risk. In the current investigation, we compare 57 factors within a multidisciplinary framework. These include (i) adverse socioeconomic and psychosocial experiences during childhood and (ii) socioeconomic conditions, (iii) health behaviors, (iv) social connections, (v) psychological characteristics, and (vi) adverse experiences during adulthood. The current prospective cohort investigation with 13,611 adults from 52 to 104 y of age (mean age 69.3 y) from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study used weighted traditional (i.e., multivariate Cox regressions) and machine-learning (i.e., lasso, random forest analysis) statistical approaches to identify the leading predictors of mortality over 6 y of follow-up time. We demonstrate that, in addition to the well-established behavioral risk factors of smoking, alcohol abuse, and lack of physical activity, economic (e.g., recent financial difficulties, unemployment history), social (e.g., childhood adversity, divorce history), and psychological (e.g., negative affectivity) factors were also among the strongest predictors of mortality among older American adults. The strength of these predictors should be used to guide future transdisciplinary investigations and intervention studies across the fields of epidemiology, psychology, sociology, economics, and medicine to understand how changes in these factors alter individual mortality risk.

Behaviour change interventions in breast and cervical cancer screening promotion

To encourage women to participate in breast and cervical state-paid screening programs, an experiment was conducted, during which easy access was provided to the screening and each woman who had not used the state-paid screening opportunity was addressed through direct communication. Screening coverage after the experiment improved up to 288%, demonstrating the importance of a behavioural economics nudge approach and tailored communication in the overall health communication process provided within the socio-ecological model.

Where You Are Is Who You Are? The Geographical Account of Psychological Phenomena

Geographical psychology aims to study the spatial distribution of psychological phenomenon at different levels of geographical analysis and their relations to macro-level important societal outcomes. The geographical perspective provides a new way of understanding interactions between humankind psychological processes and distal macro-environments. Studies have identified the spatial organizations of a wide range of psychological constructs, including (but not limited among) personality, individualism/collectivism, cultural tightness-looseness, and well-being; these variations have been plotted over a range of geographical units (e.g., neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries) and have been linked to a broad array of political, economic, social, public health, and other social consequences. Future research should employ multi-level analysis, taking advantage of more deliberated causality test methods and big data techniques, to further examine the emerging and evolving mechanisms of geographical differences in psychological phenomena.