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Do people’s world views matter? The why and how

Chen, S.X.; Lam, B.; Wu, W.; Ng, J.; Buchtel, E.; Guan, Y.; Deng, H.

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Authors

S.X. Chen

B. Lam

W. Wu

J. Ng

E. Buchtel



Abstract

Over the past decades, personality and social psychologists have extensively investigated the role of self-views in individual functioning. Research on world views, however, has been less well studied due to overly specific conceptualizations, and little research about how and why they impact life outcomes. To answer why and how world views matter, we conducted 7 studies to examine the functions, antecedents, and consequences of generalized beliefs about the world, operationalized as social axioms (Leung et al., 2002). This research focused on 2 axiom factors, namely, social cynicism and reward for application. These axioms were found to explain individual differences in self-views over and above personality traits in Hong Kong and U.S. samples (Study 1) and to explain cultural differences in self-views in addition to self-construals among Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, East Asian Canadians, and European Canadians (Study 2). Endorsement of social axioms by participants, their parents, and close friends was collected from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Canada to infer parental and peer influences on world views (Study 3). World views affected psychological well-being through the mediation of positive self-views across 3 age groups, including children, adolescents, and young adults (Study 4) and over time (Study 5). The mediation of negative self-views was through comparative self-criticism rather than internalized self-criticism (Study 6). Holistic thinking moderated the effect of social cynicism on self-views and psychological well-being (Study 7). These results converge to show that world views as a distal force and self-views as a proximal force matter in people’s subjective evaluation of their lives.

Citation

Chen, S., Lam, B., Wu, W., Ng, J., Buchtel, E., Guan, Y., & Deng, H. (2016). Do people’s world views matter? The why and how. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110(5), 743-765. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000061

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 16, 2015
Online Publication Date Oct 5, 2015
Publication Date May 1, 2016
Deposit Date May 19, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Print ISSN 0022-3514
Electronic ISSN 1939-1315
Publisher American Psychological Association
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 110
Issue 5
Pages 743-765
DOI https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000061
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1412071

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© 2016 APA, all rights reserved. This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.





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