On the relationship between valence and arousal in samples across the globe

Affect is involved in many psychological phenomena, but a descriptive structure, long sought, has been elusive. Valence and arousal are fundamental, and a key question-the focus of the present study-is the relationship between them. Valence is sometimes thought to be independent of arousal, but, in some studies (representing too few societies in the world) arousal was found to vary with valence. One common finding is that arousal is lowest at neutral valence and increases with both positive and negative valence: a symmetric V-shaped relationship. In the study reported here of self-reported affect during a remembered moment (N = 8,590), we tested the valence-arousal relationship in 33 societies with 25 different languages. The two most common hypotheses in the literature-independence and a symmetric V-shaped relationship-were not supported. With data of all samples pooled, arousal increased with positive but not negative valence. Valence accounted for between 5% (Finland) and 43% (China Beijing) of the variance in arousal. Although there is evidence for a structural relationship between the two, there is also a large amount of variability in this relation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Comparability and reliability of the positive and negative affect scales in the European Social Survey

This study examined the measurement invariance of the positive and negative affect scales in the European Social Survey (ESS) in 2006 and 2012. We employed Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis with an estimator for ordinal data, allowing us to test threshold invariance, which had not been previously investigated for these scales. A 3-item measure of Positive Affect and a 5-item measure of Negative Affect showed that configural, threshold and metric (loading) and partial scalar (intercept) invariance held across almost all countries and between the two ESS Rounds. Our results provide cross-cultural validity to a broader measure of negative affect than past research using the ESS and examine these scales across more countries than any past study. Besides providing valuable insights for researchers interested in well-being and the ESS, our study also contributes to the ongoing discussion about diverging analytical choices in invariance testing.

Polarization in the wake of the European refugee crisis – A longitudinal study of the Finnish political elite’s attitudes towards refugees and the environment

We investigated political polarization among the 28284 candidates in the Finnish municipal election who ran for municipal council in 2012, 2017, or both, and had responded to a Voting Advice Application. Our results revealed political polarization in terms of both conversion (longitudinal analysis, n = 6643) and recruitment (cross-sectional comparison of first-time candidates, n = 13054). The populist radical-right Finns Party became even more anti-refugee, and the pro-refugee Green League became even more pro-refugee. The Finns Party, in particular, has constructed the Green League as their enemies, which could explain why the Finns Party moved in an anti-environmental direction, as well as the increased issue-alignment between refugee-attitudes and environmental attitudes. We also observed increased within-party homogeneity in almost all parties. In the discussion, we focus on the nature of the association between refugee and environmental attitudes.

Gendered Pathways Toward STEM Careers: The Incremental Roles of Work Value Profiles Above Academic Task Values

Drawing on Eccles' expectancy-value model of achievement-related choices, we examined how work values predict individual and gender differences in sciences, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) participations in early adulthood (ages of 25/27, 6 or 8 years after postsecondary school), controlling for subjective task values attached to academic subjects in late adolescence (11th grade, age 18). The study examined 1,259 Finnish participants using a person-oriented approach. Results showed that: (a) we could identify four profile groups based on five core work values (society, family, monetary, career prospects, and working with people); (b) work-value profiles predicted young adults actual STEM participation in two fields: math-intensive and life science occupations above and beyond academic task values (e.g., math/science) and background information; (c) work-value profiles also differentiate between those who entered support- vs. professional-level STEM jobs; and (d) gender differences in work value profiles partially explained the differential representation of women across STEM sub-disciplines and the overall underrepresentation of women in STEM fields.

Changes in Young Europeans’ Values During the Global Financial Crisis

We investigate the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC) on the personal values of youth and young adults (age 16–35 years) from 16 European countries. Using time series cross-sectional data from seven waves (2002–2014) of the European Social Survey, we examined (1) whether the GFC led to value shifts between cohorts of young people and (2) whether welfare state provision moderate the expected value shifts. Multilevel analyses showed that, following the GFC, the importance of security, tradition, benevolence, and, to a lesser extent, conformity values increased. In contrast, hedonism, self-direction, and stimulation values decreased. In line with our moderation hypothesis, power, and, to a lesser extent, achievement values increased following the GFC in countries low on welfare expenditures but decreased in countries high on welfare expenditures. Contrary to expectations, increases in tradition and benevolence values were more pronounced in high-welfare countries.

Values that Underlie and Undermine Well–Being: Variability across Countries

We examined relations of 10 personal values to life satisfaction (LS) and depressive affect (DEP) in representative samples from 32/25 countries ( N = 121 495). We tested hypotheses both for direct relations and cross–level moderation of relations by Cultural Egalitarianism. We based hypotheses on the growth versus self–protection orientation and person–focus versus social–focus motivations that underlie values. As predicted, openness to change values (growth/person) correlated positively with subjective well–being (SWB: higher LS, lower DEP) and conservation values (self–protection/social) correlated negatively with SWB. The combination of underlying motivations also explained more complex direct relations of self–transcendence and self–enhancement values with SWB. We combined an analysis of the environmental context in societies low versus high in Cultural Egalitarianism with the implications of pursuing person–focused versus social–focused values to predict how Cultural Egalitarianism moderates value–SWB relations. As predicted, under low versus high Cultural Egalitarianism, (i) openness to change values related more positively to SWB, (ii) conservation values more negatively, (iii) self–enhancement values less negatively and (iv) self–transcendence values less positively. Culture moderated value–SWB relations more weakly for DEP than for LS. Culture moderated value–LS relations more strongly than the socio–economic context did. This study demonstrates how the cultural context shapes individual–level associations between values and SWB. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

Personal Value Priorities and Life Satisfaction in Europe

The present study examined the relations of personal values to life satisfaction (LS) across 25 European nations. Multilevel statistics with country-level Human Development Index (HDI) as a contextual moderator tested its effect on the individual-level relations between personal values and LS. HDI moderated the relations between LS and 8 of the 10 basic values identified by Schwartz’s values theory. Across countries, high benevolence and hedonism values were associated with heightened LS, whereas high power and security values were related to lower LS. Achievement was positively related to LS in low HDI countries, but negatively in high HDI countries, whereas the opposite pattern occurred for universalism values and LS. Our results emphasize the importance of considering the broader context in which personal values are pursued when examining their implications for LS.