1
|
Jovanović V, Sarracino F, Lazić M, Gavrilov-Jerković V. Well-Being and the Pandemic: Trust in People Matters More Than Trust in Institutions. Psychol Rep 2023; 126:674-687. [PMID: 34964386 DOI: 10.1177/00332941211061692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Trust is an important correlate of well-being, and it plays an important moderating role against adversity. But does this conclusion also hold during pandemics? We address this question by investigating the role of interpersonal and institutional trust for well-being, as measured by five proxies, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia. We also examined age and gender differences in the relationship between trust and well-being, and tested the protective role of trust among individuals whose well-being might be at risk during the pandemic. The sample included a total of 5776 Serbian adults (Mage = 37.00 years, 75% female). The results showed that interpersonal trust has a small but significant relationship with well-being, whereas institutional trust has negligible effects. We also found some evidence for the protective role of general interpersonal trust on well-being among individuals with poorer self-rated health and in a poorer financial situation. Our findings confirm the role of interpersonal trust for well-being in times of crisis, and support previous evidence indicating that promoting interpersonal trust should be a core goal of public policy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Veljko Jovanović
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, 229705University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Francesco Sarracino
- 9296STATEC Research - National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
| | - Milica Lazić
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, 229705University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Vesna Gavrilov-Jerković
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, 229705University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ren Z, Yue G, Xiao W, Fan Q. The Influence of Subjective Socioeconomic Status on Life Satisfaction: The Chain Mediating Role of Social Equity and Social Trust. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19:15652. [PMID: 36497727 PMCID: PMC9738263 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192315652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Life satisfaction is significantly influenced by social capital, a key sociological term that links people to their social surroundings. Through a survey of 17,217 Chinese residents, this study investigated the probable processes of how subjective socioeconomic status affects life satisfaction within the framework of social capital. The results indicate that there is a positive correlation between subjective socioeconomic status and life satisfaction. Subjective socioeconomic status influences citizens' life satisfaction not only through the independent mediating effects of perceived social equity and social trust, but also through the chain mediation of perceived social equity and social trust. This research advances our knowledge of the mechanisms behind the association between subjective socioeconomic status and life satisfaction. In improving citizens' life satisfaction, we should not only provide sufficient subjective socioeconomic status to improve it, but also focus on the improvement of their social equity perceptions and social trust.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zirong Ren
- College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Guoan Yue
- College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Weilong Xiao
- College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Qinghui Fan
- Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Luo S, Li LMW, Espina E, Bond MH, Lun VM, Huang L, Duan Q, Liu JH. Individual uniqueness in trust profiles and well‐being: Understanding the role of cultural tightness–looseness from a representation similarity perspective. British J Social Psychol 2022; 62:825-844. [PMID: 36357990 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
This paper provides a unique perspective for understanding cultural differences: representation similarity-a computational technique that uses pairwise comparisons of units to reveal their representation in higher-order space. By combining individual-level measures of trust across domains and well-being from 13,823 participants across 15 nations with a measure of society-level tightness-looseness, we found that any two countries with more similar tightness-looseness tendencies exhibit higher degrees of representation similarity in national interpersonal trust profiles. Although each individual's trust profile is generally similar to their nation's trust profile, the greater similarity between an individual's and their society's trust profile predicted a higher level of individual life satisfaction only in loose cultures but not in tight cultures. Using the framework of representation similarity to explore cross-cultural differences from a multidimensional, multi-national perspective provide a comprehensive picture of how culture is related to the human activities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Siyang Luo
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease Sun Yat‐Sen University Guangzhou China
| | - Liman Man Wai Li
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health The Education University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China
| | - Ervina Espina
- Divisont of Social Sciences UP Visayas Tacloban College Tacloban City Leyte Philippines
| | - Michael Harris Bond
- Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong China
| | | | - Liqin Huang
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease Sun Yat‐Sen University Guangzhou China
| | - Qin Duan
- Department of Psychology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease Sun Yat‐Sen University Guangzhou China
| | - James H. Liu
- School of Psychology Massey University Auckland New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
King Li K, Hong Y, Huang B, Tam T. Social preferences before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Judgm decis mak 2022; 17:1313-1333. [DOI: 10.1017/s1930297500009438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
This study compares Chinese people’s trust and trustworthiness, risk
attitude, and time preference before and after the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic in China. We compare the preferences of subjects in two online
experiments with samples drawn from 31 provinces across mainland China
before and after the onset of the pandemic. We test two competing hypotheses
regarding trust and trustworthiness. On the one hand, the outbreak as a
collective threat could enhance in-group cohesion and cooperation and thus
increase trust and trustworthiness. On the other hand, to the extent that
people expect their future income to decline, they may become more
self-protective and self-controlled, and thus less trusting and trustworthy
and more risk averse and patient. Comparing before and after the onset, we
found that the subjects increased in trustworthiness. After the onset, trust
and trustworthiness (and risk aversion and present bias too) were positively
correlated with the COVID-19 prevalence rate in the provinces. Subjects with
more pessimistic expectations about income change showed more risk aversion
and lower discount rates, supporting the speculation concerning
self-control.
Collapse
|
5
|
Liu H, Wang Y, Zhang Q, Jiang J. How Does Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment Respond to Host Country Cultural Tolerance and Trust? Front Psychol 2022; 13:794455. [PMID: 35360612 PMCID: PMC8963205 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.794455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Based on 2010 to 2019 Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) panel data from 39 host countries, this paper studies the relationships between host country cultural characteristics and Chinese OFDI. The OLS regression results show that the cultural tolerance and trust in the host countries are significantly positively correlated with Chinese OFDI, which are robust according to the system GMM tests. Further analysis reveals that cultural tolerance is more positively related to Chinese OFDI in host countries with higher legislation and economic freedom, while cultural trust is positively associated with Chinese OFDI in host countries with lower legislation and economic freedom. In addition, higher cultural tolerance and trust promote Chinese OFDI in countries with greater cultural distance. Unlike traditional studies based on cultural distance in international trade, using more representative cultural characteristics, this paper provides references to Chinese OFDI decision-making based on the root characteristics associated with heterogeneous cultural influences.
Collapse
|
6
|
Li LMW, Lou X, Bond MH. Societal Emphasis on Religious Faith as a Cultural Context for Shaping the Social-Psychological Relationships Between Personal Religiosity and Well-Being. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/00220221221079875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
How does a society’s religious context affect the relationships between personal religiosity and well-being? To explore this question, we used two measures of personal religiosity, the absolute importance of religion, and the importance of religion relative to the importance of six life domains, viz., family, friends, work, politics, leisure, and religion. To test the generalizability of relationships between these two measures of personal religiosity and well-being, we tested them across representative samples of 66,992 persons from 47 societies varying in their emphasis on socializing children for religious faith. Pan-societally, personal religiosity predicted many of the five well-being measures including satisfaction with life, happiness, subjective health, trust of strangers, and trust of known others, but in opposite directions depending on whether the absolute or the relative importance of personal religiosity was used. Controlling for wealth, a societal emphasis on socializing children for religious faith moderated the links of personal religiosity with happiness, trust of strangers, and trust of known others, but most evidence revealed that a societal emphasis on religious faith attenuated the strength of these linkages. We argue that measuring an individual’s religiosity in the context of their daily living yields a more realistic view of religion’s role in personal life and social living and suggest that there are both personal and social costs for investing strongly in religion relative to other domains of daily life. Societal religious context must also be assessed to provide a more nuanced understanding of personal religiosity and its associated correlates.
Collapse
|
7
|
Navarro-Carrillo G, Valor-Segura I, Moya M. The consequences of the perceived impact of the Spanish economic crisis on subjective well-being: The explanatory role of personal uncertainty. Curr Psychol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00506-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
|
8
|
Zhou X, Liu J, Wang W, Jiang C. China says no towards the second large-scale COVID-19 outbreak: voices from the online public. Gen Psychiatr 2021; 34:e100517. [PMID: 34693208 PMCID: PMC8523963 DOI: 10.1136/gpsych-2021-100517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaona Zhou
- Department of Stress Medicine, Faculty of Psychology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Junlan Liu
- Department of Stress Medicine, Faculty of Psychology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Stress Medicine, Faculty of Psychology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chunlei Jiang
- Department of Stress Medicine, Faculty of Psychology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Qiang R, Li X, Han Q. The Relationship Between Social Class and Generalized Trust: The Mediating Role of Sense of Control. Front Psychol 2021; 12:729083. [PMID: 34646212 PMCID: PMC8502873 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The success and well-being theory of trust holds that higher social class is associated with higher generalized trust, and this association has been well documented in empirical research. However, few studies have examined the processes that might explain this link. This study extends this assumption to explore the mediating mechanism in the association. We hypothesized that social class would positively predict generalized trust, and the relationship would be mediated by people's sense of control. Self-report data were collected from 480 adults (160 males, 320 females; ages 18-61) who participated through an online crowdsourcing platform in China. The results of multiple regression and mediation analyses supported the hypothesized model. This research provides further support for the success and well-being theory of trust, and builds on it by identifying greater sense of control as a possible explanation for the link between high social class and generalized trust. Limitations and possible future research are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ruichao Qiang
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.,Department of Psychology, College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.,Tin Ka Ping Moral Education Research Center, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Xiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.,Department of Psychology, College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Qin Han
- Department of Psychology, School of Educational Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, China
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Clench-Aas J, Bergande I, Nes RB, Holte A. Trust Buffers Against Reduced Life Satisfaction When Faced With Financial Crisis. Front Psychol 2021; 12:632585. [PMID: 34248740 PMCID: PMC8264375 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.632585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: In light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its large economic consequences, we used a three-layer nested structural model (individual, community, and country), each with a corresponding measure of income, trust, and satisfaction, to assess change in their interrelationships following a global crisis; which, in this study, is the 2008/2009 financial crisis. Methods: With multilevel techniques, we analyzed data from two waves (2006 and 2012) of the European Social Survey (ESS) in 19 countries (weighted N = 73,636) grouped according to their levels of trust. Results: In high trust countries, personal life satisfaction (LS) was not related to personal, community, or national income before or after the crisis. In contrast, in low trust countries, LS was strongly related to all three forms of income, especially after the crisis. In all country groups, personal, social, and political trust moderated their respective effects of income on LS ("the buffer hypothesis"). Political trust moderated the effects of income more strongly in low trust countries. The moderating effect of political trust increased sharply after the crisis. After the crisis, national-level factors (e.g., political trust, national income) increased their importance for LS more than the factors at the local and individual levels. However, the relative importance of all the three forms of income to LS increased after the crisis, to the detriment of trust. Conclusion: Economic crises seem to influence personal LS less in high trust countries compared with low trust countries. Hence, high trust at a national level appears to buffer the negative impact of a financial crisis on personal satisfaction. Overall, the factors at the national level increased their impact during the financial crisis. When facing a global crisis, the actions taken by institutions at the country level may, thus, become even more important than those taken before the crisis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jocelyne Clench-Aas
- Division of Mental and Physical Health, Department of Public Health Science, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ingrid Bergande
- Faculty of Landscape and Society, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Ragnhild Bang Nes
- Division of Mental and Physical Health, Department of Public Health Science, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Psychology, Promenta Research Center, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Arne Holte
- Division of Mental and Physical Health, Department of Public Health Science, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Alvarez-Galvez J, Suarez-Lledo V, Salvador-Carulla L, Almenara-Barrios J. Structural determinants of suicide during the global financial crisis in Spain: Integrating explanations to understand a complex public health problem. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247759. [PMID: 33647025 PMCID: PMC7920348 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Suicide is a complex public health problem in contemporary societies. Macroeconomic downturns derived from the economic crisis have been found to be associated with growing suicide mortality in the United States and in Europe. The present work is aimed to assess the association between the recent economic downturns and suicide patterns using interrupted time series analysis and, particularly, adjusting this relationship by indicators of social cohesion and community values that might provide additional insights on the complex explanation of suicidal trends. METHODS We combined suicide, social and economic data extracted from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the Eurostat database, and the World Values Survey to assess the association between the socio-economic factors and trends in suicide rates. To study the association between the financial crisis and changes in suicide rates in Spain, we used interrupted time series analysis (ITSA). RESULTS Our findings confirm that suicides increased after the 2011 recession, but remained moderately constant after the 2008 economic downturn. Suicides particularly increased after the 2011 recession in the 10-14, and 45-64 years old intervals between males and females, and apparently in older groups. However, during the 2008-2011 time period suicide rates decreased during working years (specifically among 40-44, 45-49, and 55-59 years old groups). Our results highlight the importance of social protection against unemployment and, to a lesser extent, social protection in disability and family, in reducing suicides, as well as the economic prosperity of the country. CONCLUSION This result corroborates that the economic crisis has possibly impacted the growing suicide rates of the most vulnerable groups, but exclusively during the period characterised by economic cuts after the 2011 recession. This study highlights the need to implement tailored policies that protect these collectives against suicide.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Javier Alvarez-Galvez
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
| | - Victor Suarez-Lledo
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
| | - Luis Salvador-Carulla
- Centre for Mental Health Research, Research School of Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia
| | - Jose Almenara-Barrios
- Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Wang Y, Wai Li LM. Does your trust in strangers or close acquaintances promote better health? Societal residential mobility matters. J Soc Psychol 2020; 160:416-427. [PMID: 31446857 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2019.1658569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Some studies indicated that different types of trust are qualitatively different psychological experiences, which may lead to different health outcomes. The present study examined the effect of two types of trust, i.e., generalized trust and interpersonal trust, on promoting physical health and subjective well-being in regions varying in societal residential mobility. The data from a nationally representative sample, including 10,968 participants from 28 provinces/municipalities in China, were analyzed. The results showed that the negative relationship between generalized trust and depressed mood was stronger in the regions with higher societal residential mobility whereas the positive relationship between interpersonal trust and physical health and the negative relationship between interpersonal trust and depressed mood were stronger in the regions with lower societal residential mobility. These results highlight the importance of socio-ecological characteristics in understanding the adaptive functions of different types of social capital on health outcomes. (143 words; max: 150 words).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yiheng Wang
- Institute of Applied Psychology, Guangdong University of Finance
| | - Liman Man Wai Li
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health, Education University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong, China
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Murray SL, Lamarche V, Seery MD, Jung HY, Griffin DW, Brinkman C. The social-safety system: Fortifying relationships in the face of the unforeseeable. J Pers Soc Psychol 2020; 120:99-130. [PMID: 32406706 DOI: 10.1037/pspi0000245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
A model of the social-safety system is proposed to explain how people sustain a sense of safety in the relational world when they are not able to foresee the behavior of others. In this model, people can escape the acute anxiety posed by agents in their personal relational world behaving unexpectedly (e.g., spouse, child) by defensively imposing well-intentioned motivations on the agents controlling their sociopolitical relational world (e.g., President, Congress). Conversely, people can escape the acute anxiety posed by sociopolitical agents behaving unexpectedly by defensively imposing well-intentioned motivations on the agents controlling their personal relational world. Two daily diary studies, a longitudinal study of the 2018 midterm election, and a 3-year longitudinal study of newlyweds supported the hypotheses. On a daily basis, people who were less certain they could trust their romantic partner defended against acutely unforeseeable behavior in one relational world by affirming faith in the well-intentioned motivations of agents in the alternate world. Moreover, when people were more in the personal daily habit of finding safety in the alternate relational world in the face of the unexpected, those who were initially uncertain they could trust their romantic partner later evidenced greater comfort depending on their personal relationship partners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
|
14
|
Alonso-Ferres M, Navarro-Carrillo G, Garrido-Macías M, Moreno-Bella E, Valor-Segura I. Connecting perceived economic threat and prosocial tendencies: The explanatory role of empathic concern. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232608. [PMID: 32365125 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 04/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research suggests that perceived economic threat constitutes a valid predictor of people’s attitudes and behaviors. While accumulated empirical evidence has mostly underlined the deleterious psychological effects (e.g., reduced psychological well-being) of perceived economic threat in times of economic strain, we postulate that individuals experiencing higher economic threat linked to the Spanish economic crisis are more prone to engage in other-beneficial prosocial behavior. Across two independently collected community samples, we tested this theoretical formulation and examined the potential mediating roles of empathic concern (Studies 1 & 2) and identification (Study 2). Study 1 (N = 306) revealed that participants who descended in the social scale due to the negative national economic context were engaged in a larger number of helping behaviors over the last three months compared to participants who did not descend the social ladder—independently of several sociodemographic and ideological factors. Moreover, our data indicated these effects were driven by increased empathic concern. Study 2 (N = 588), in which two hypothetical helping-behavior scenarios were randomly administered (crisis-related vs. control), showed that participants under high perceived financial threat exhibited an undifferentiated pattern of prosociality. However, moderated-mediation analyses indicated that empathic concern explained the perceived financial threat-helping behavior link in the hypothetical crisis-related scenario but not in the hypothetical control scenario. Together, these findings extend prior literature on the psychosocial effects of perceived economic threat and the determinants of other-oriented behavior. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.
Collapse
|
15
|
Samson K, Zaleskiewicz T. Social class and interpersonal trust: Partner's warmth, external threats and interpretations of trust betrayal. Eur J Soc Psychol 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Samson
- Wroclaw Faculty of Psychology SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities Wroclaw Poland
| | - Tomasz Zaleskiewicz
- Wroclaw Faculty of Psychology SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities Wroclaw Poland
| |
Collapse
|