This article examines how men and women respond to social change proposed by radical pro-environmental sources of influence. Recent literature reports recurring lower pro-environmentalism in men, potentially due to the systemic changes it implies. Moreover, radical pro-environmental social change is perceived as a threat, more so by men than women. Theories describing opposition to such change predict that individuals outright oppose threatening stimuli to resist radical change. Therefore, in responding to radical pro-environmental policies proposed by a radical source, we hypothesise that men are more likely than women to oppose these policies to cope with perceived threat. Study 1 (N = 235) tested whether men's higher opposition to such policies is associated with their heightened threat perception; Study 2 (N = 536) extended this by examining whether men's lower pro-environmental attitudes and intentions are associated to anticipating radical pro-environmental change as a threat. Results from both studies show that the gender gap in both specific and general operationalisations of pro-environmental attitudes is associated with men’s (relative to women’s) higher perception of radical pro-environmental social change as a threat. The implications of considering threat as a cog in psychosocial underpinnings of pro-environmental gender differences are discussed considering status quo maintenance theories.
This study explored how cultures shape emotional contexts and tested whether immigrant minorities' fit with majority contexts relates to their (mis)fit in emotions. We analyzed interview data collected between 2020 and 2022 from Turkish newcomers in Belgium (N = 101) and Dutch-speaking Belgians (N = 100), who described and rated recent emotional events. Using topic modeling, we identified themes representing recurrent contexts. Qualitative comparisons revealed systematic cultural contrasts in how emotional experiences were contextualized, even when both groups referred to similar life domains (e.g., family, work, education). Turkish narratives centered on migration and structured interdependence, characterized by social obligations, support, and emotional expressiveness, whereas Belgian narratives emphasized daily logistics and communication, with a focus on mutual understanding and emotional control. We then quantified how closely individuals' contextual and emotional patterns resembled those typical of their cultural group, which we refer to as fit in context and fit in emotions. Quantitative comparisons of fit scores confirmed that each group fit better with their own culture's contextual pattern than with that of the other, reflecting culturally distinct emotional ecologies. However, fit in context was unrelated to fit in emotions, suggesting that people may share emotional patterns yet inhabit distinct emotional worlds. Thus, cultural fit extends beyond what people feel to where and when those feelings arise. By integrating natural language methods with cross-cultural emotion research, this study offers conceptual and methodological advances.
Deaths of despair (DoD; i.e., suicide, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related deaths) have drastically increased among non-Hispanic Whites since 1999. Beyond the established honor-suicide association, there are several reasons to suspect that U.S. honor cultures also exhibit higher DoD rates given similarities in the socioecological factors underlying both outcomes and that substance use increases risk for suicide. We examined this possibility at both the state and individual levels. Using two indices of honor culture, Study 1 examined statewide differences in DoD rates among non-Hispanic Whites and non-Whites between 1999-2019 by age group and sex. Among non-Hispanic Whites, we found honor- (v. dignity-) oriented states exhibited significantly higher overall DoD rates, suicide rates, drug overdose rates (only among females), and alcohol-related death rates, and that rates typically peaked in middle-age. The collective pattern of evidence indicated that honor culture is not related to DoD among non-Whites. Using a large sample of non-Hispanic Whites (paralleling the target population from Study 1), Study 2 (N = 1686) examined associations between individual-level endorsement of gendered honor norms and thoughts and behaviors that might precipitate despair-related deaths. Results indicated that honor endorsement significantly predicted suicidal ideation, but not binge drinking or illicit drug use. However, the effect of honor endorsement on these latter two outcomes was significant among men but not women. Collectively, this work extends prior research on the honor-suicide association by showing that the cultural ideology of honor affects a wider range of death outcomes. We discuss theoretical, health, and policy implications.
This study synthesizes evidence on whether children’s and adolescents’ socioeconomic status (SES) relates to distributive justice preferences, and when contextual SES cues shape allocation and fairness judgments. A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis (searches: Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC; July 30, 2025) screened 2096 records. To be included, articles needed to be published in English, peer-reviewed, include participants between the ages of 3–18, and report empirical data with an association between distributive justice preferences and socioeconomic backgrounds; 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. Random-effects models were fit to Fisher’s z correlations. The pooled association was essentially zero (r = –.001, 95% CI [−.090, 0.087]), with high heterogeneity (I² = 83.2%). Moderator tests by continent, SES assessment (objective vs. subjective), distributive justice assessment (behavior vs. judgment), and age were non-significant. Narrative synthesis highlighted context sensitivity: need salience, structural attributions, and social proximity increased equity-oriented responses, whereas ownership/merit cues reduced redistribution; subjective SES tended to align more with judgments than objective SES. SES shows no robust main effect on distributive justice, but associations seem context-dependent and should be further analyzed.
Despite its global prevalence, intimate partner violence is often framed narrowly as an individual or dyadic issue. This reflects a proximal bias that emphasizes immediate causes while overlooking the broader cultural, economic, and natural contexts in which the violence occurs. The present study adopts a socio-ecological perspective, examining how societal culture, national wealth, and the biotic and abiotic features of natural habitats relate to intimate partner violence against women in a supplementary manner. Using the most recent World Health Organization data, we analyzed the geographical patterns and contextual predictors of intimate partner violence across 157 countries. Our geographical analysis reveals a striking latitudinal gradient: physical and sexual violence against women by intimate partners is highest near the Equator, declines toward the poles, and varies minimally along the east-west axis. This gradient reflects a statistical pathway, beginning with natural fluctuations in daylength, temperature, and daily precipitation (habitat variability). Greater habitat variability predicts greater variability in pathogen prevalence and increased societal flexibility, reflected in greater structural flexibility, higher national wealth, weaker cultural collectivism, reduced male supremacy, and ultimately, lower rates of intimate partner violence. These results highlight the potential importance of cultural, economic, and natural factors for strategies to mitigate violence against women. To advance progress toward the United Nations goal of eliminating intimate partner violence by 2030, we illustrate our findings with nine contextual domains, organized across nested layers of context, that may inform efforts to foster safety in intimate partnerships worldwide.
The environmental impact of digital technologies is growing, contributing significantly to global carbon emissions and e-waste. Individual digital behaviors, such as reliance on Cloud storage, play an important role. We hypothesize that combining dynamic norm and autonomy-support interventions may enhance Green IT behaviors' adoption. A pilot study (N = 286) identified storing data locally rather than on the Cloud as a low-adoption, high-impact behavior among students. 2 experimental studies (N = 375; 368) tested the effects of dynamic norm messages, with and without autonomy-support, on intention and self-reported behavior 2 weeks later. An integrative data analysis (N = 743) combined results from both studies. The messages increased intentions, mediated by pre-conformity, while the combination of dynamic norm and autonomy-support enhanced autonomous motivation. However, none had a significant impact on self-reported behavior adoption. This study offers initial insight into the effectiveness of combined dynamic norm interventions on Green IT behavior.
Individuals experiencing economic stress demonstrate lower cognitive control and higher intergroup bias. The present research extends beyond individuals to investigate relationships among regional economic conditions, regional cognitive control, and intergroup bias. We aggregated 2.9 million US-based participants' geolocated responses on the Black/White Implicit Association Test, then applied the Process Dissociation Procedure to estimate state-level cognitive control and racial evaluations across the years 2005 to 2019. Black populations' cognitive control was weaker in states where Black residents faced more adverse economic conditions, but stronger in states where White residents faced more adverse economic conditions. White populations' cognitive control was weaker in states where more Black residents faced unemployment. Black populations' outgroup biases were more negative in states where more White residents lived in poverty, and White populations' ingroup biases were more positive in states where more White residents were unemployed. By understanding how economic conditions relate to regional cognition, this research can inform policies to better support economically-vulnerable populations.
We test one of the classic job crafting scales in Russia (N = 285), Germany (N = 200), and Croatia (N = 192). Job crafting describes work behaviors employees engage in to create a better fit between their preferences and their jobs, typically by modifying existing norms, rules, and practices. We set out to highlight the importance of different invariance testing methods by using the example of job crafting and its well-documented relationship with work engagement. We use (a) strict invariance testing (MGCFA), assessing metric, configural, and scalar invariance, (b) more flexible invariance testing via the alignment methodology, and (c) Bayesian approximate measurement invariance testing (BAMI). The three investigated contexts differ systematically in features related to job crafting (e.g., hierarchy sensitivity), but we did not find that this moderated relations at the individual level. MGCFA indicated that only the job crafting subdimensions (increasing challenging job demands and increasing structural job resources) achieved metric invariance. The other two dimensions (increasing social job resources and decreasing hindering job demands) failed to reach even configural invariance. This questions the cross-cultural equivalence of the full four-factor structure. Alignment optimization further supported this conclusion. The results indicated that nearly half of the items within each non-invariant job crafting dimension displayed non-invariance. In contrast, the remaining two dimensions demonstrated stable factor loadings and an acceptable proportion of non-invariant parameters, including factor loadings and intercepts/thresholds. The different analytic approaches converged in showing that increasing challenging job demands and increasing structural job resources achieved scalar invariance in MGCFA, whereas decreasing hindering job demands and increasing social job resources failed to establish configural invariance. The consistency of this pattern across MGCFA, alignment optimization, and BAMI provide complementary evidence for the cross-cultural robustness of the former two dimensions only. On this basis, we discuss problematic items of job crafting as well as items that can be considered workable across cultural groups. We conclude that at its cross-cultural core, job crafting may be fundamentally about proactive, growth-oriented self-development (more than social negotiation or demand reduction), and highlight the benefits of multiple invariance testing methods to advance the theorizing on job crafting.
As climate change progresses, environmental movements become more radical. Environmental social media influencers increasingly support radical environmental measures such as blocking traffic or destroying art on social media. Yet, it is unclear what effects radical environmental influencers on social media have on young adults' perceptions of environmental polarization within society. Moreover, based on the theory of identity in intractable conflict and the Elaboration Likelihood Model, hate comments against environmental influencers, and young adults' environmental knowledge might play a role in perceived environmental polarization triggered by radical environmental influencers. Results of a 2 & times;2 experimental study with a quota-based sample of N = 776 young adults in Germany indicated that radical environmental influencers increased perceived environmental polarization and decreased collective environmental action intentions. Independent of radical environmental influencers, hate comments, and environmental knowledge heightened perceptions of environmental polarization, which was associated with feelings of environmental hopelessness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The last decade has seen a growing number of social movements campaigning for action on climate, and some of this collective action has involved radical behaviours. Despite this, little research has identified the individual difference profiles of people who engage in conventional versus radical collective action for the climate. In two studies with supporters of climate action (Study 1, N = 494; Study 2, N = 498), latent profile analyses found that a well-adjusted profile (i.e., higher agreeableness, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness and identification) is associated with higher conventional action intentions. Another profile, threat-sensitive ambivalents, was characterised by lower identification, conventional intentions, and inconsistent support for radical intentions. Finally, a hierarchy enhancers profile, characterised by higher social dominance orientation, was associated with radical action intentions. The data illuminate the associations of individual differences and group identification and speak to the importance of the power motive for a subset of radical actors.
Experiences of migration can elicit various emotions, including feelings of regret about leaving their country of origin. Building on theorizing about distinct features of refugeehood, we examined whether and how migration perils (hardship encountered before and during migration) and perceived forcedness influence regret among Arabic-speaking refugees (N = 388). To illuminate underlying psychological processes, we assessed counterfactual thinking (CFT). We found that regret was negatively associated with forcedness and with perils (before and during migration) but positively with post-arrival stressors. Downward CFT (things could have been worse if not having left one’s country) was positively associated with migration perils and perceived forcedness but negatively with regret. Upward CFT (things could have been better), which increased with higher post-arrival stressors, was positively associated with regret. A moderated mediation analysis indicated that perceived forcedness attenuated the effect of perils on downward CFT and the indirect effect of perils via downward CFT on regret. This finding may indicate that, after arrival in the receiving society and under lower perceived forcedness, regret is reduced to the extent that past experiences of perils are justified through downward CFT; under high forcedness, however, these processes are triggered to a lesser extent. Our study offers insights into the cognitive-emotional processes underlying refugees’ responses to migration, while highlighting the role of ongoing stressors in post-migration adjustment.
There is growing interest in the possibility of harnessing positive emotional experiences associated with acting sustainably in order to reinforce pro-environmental behaviors. However, most research to date has been based on cross-sectional data or hypothetical scenarios. We conducted a pre-registered longitudinal intervention study relating positive emotions (feeling happy, satisfied, and good) to real-life clothing-related behaviors (repair, acquisition, and disposal). We also measured boredom and frustration, as they may reduce sustainable clothing-related behaviors. 62 participants attended a hands-on clothing repair workshop; 51 others in a control group did not. Across both groups, individuals who anticipated more positive emotions from repairing clothes reported higher repair intentions after the intervention period and four weeks later. In the workshop group, anticipated positive emotions also predicted more repair behaviors four weeks later. In addition, people who experienced more positive emotions from participating in the workshop reported higher repair intentions immediately afterwards and four weeks later. Regarding negative emotions, anticipated boredom reduced repair intentions over time in both groups, and experienced boredom was associated with fewer repairs four weeks later in the workshop group. No significant effects were observed for frustration. Overall, repair intentions increased over time, but several behavioral outcomes did not change (e.g., clothing acquisition). This finding emphasizes the need to measure real-life behaviors rather than only intentions. These data demonstrate that positive emotions are associated with sustainable clothing behaviors over time. Such skilled-based group interventions could potentially help combat the negative impact of the fast fashion industry on climate change.
Climate change is among the leading global concerns and tackling it will require significant changes on various levels of society, including the individual level, where a better understanding of the factors influencing individuals’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is needed. Motivated by limited research on integrated models that involve mechanisms and boundary conditions, we explored the complex relationships among subjective norms, environmental awareness, environmental self-efficacy, and PEB through a moderated mediation model. The study was conducted through an online survey of 447 Slovene students and 680 Slovene employees (overall N = 1127). We found that subjective norms, environmental awareness, and self-efficacy positively predicted PEB. Moreover, environmental awareness partially mediated the association between subjective norms and PEB, whereas environmental self-efficacy did not significantly moderate these associations. Our study offers valuable insights into determinants of pro-environmental behavior by highlighting the important role of subjective norms, environmental awareness, and self-efficacy. It also contributes to a better understanding of the intricate dynamics underlying PEB by pointing out that environmental awareness helps translate perceived social pressures into personal action. These findings may inform future interventions aimed at promoting environmentally responsible behavior.
Communicating concrete solutions can help mitigate climate change. However, such messaging may trigger psychological reactance if recipients perceive their autonomy threatened. This might impact trustworthiness perceptions of different information sources. Using a 2 x 2 experimental design, we examined how information source (climate scientist vs. activist) and type of appeal (individual vs. policy) affect reactance and trustworthiness perceptions in a written text on sustainability in the transport sector. Dependent measures were individuals' psychological reactance and evaluation of epistemic trustworthiness. Findings indicate that climate scientists were perceived as more competent but not as having more integrity or being more benevolent. Communicating individual-level solutions led to higher perceived freedom threat and higher psychological reactance. Exploratory evidence indicates that perceived freedom threat and psychological reactance serially mediate the relationship between type of appeal and epistemic trustworthiness. Theoretical and practical implications for processing written climate change information in science communication and education are discussed.
Measurement invariance (MI) is often treated as a statistical prerequisite for meaningful comparisons of constructs across groups or time points. However, this perspective overlooks the substantive implications (a lack of) MI can have for psychological theories of constructs. In this paper, we frame MI as a causal concept with theoretical significance. We present a causal framework based on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) that allows researchers to reason about potential causes of non-invariance and include them in their modeling strategy. We argue that non-invariance should not be seen as prohibitive for further exploration and analyses but as an opportunity to generate new insights about constructs and their measurement. That is, under non-invariance, data need a different treatment than simply comparing means between groups and causal reasoning can guide researchers in this regard. We demonstrate the opportunities of the causal framework through an application to the cross-sectional study of acquiescent response style. We further discuss an extension of the causal framework to longitudinal designs. When investigating the invariance of measurements over time, the framework can help to take into account expected or desired non-invariance; for example, when constructs evolve over time or when interventions change measurement models. By showing that MI has substantive theoretical implications, we bridge the gap between methodological rigor and applied research reality.
We test Saroglou's four-dimensional framework of religiosity in Brazil. The presence of religious traditions that vary in their formalization of institutional structures offers an important context for testing the scale. Using recent advances in invariance testing, we conducted two studies (total N = 3091) with adherents from five religious groupings as well as spiritual but not religious individuals compared to non-religious individuals. Overall, the four-factor scale showed good psychometric properties in the total sample. However, for followers of Afro-Brazilian religions as an example of non-institutionalized traditions a simpler single-factor structure was found. We obtained partial scalar invariance across a subset of religious groups. Explorations of the noninvariant item intercepts suggested that some items carried group-specific interpretations, especially those related to ritual practices and emotional experiences (Bonding dimension). Latent means were overall highest for Believing and lowest for Belonging, with Evangelicals scoring highest on all dimensions. Both the invariance and latent mean patterns were replicated and further differentiated in a replication study. Our study demonstrates the utility of within-cultural invariance analysis and highlights the importance of statistical replications for exploring cognitive dimensions underlying survey responses. Considering bases of religiosity, our invariance results suggest both a shared cognitive structure of religiosity and group-specific interpretations of motivations around ritual practices and emotions across religions varying in their level of institutionalization.
Evidence for measurement invariance across groups is regarded as a prerequisite for administering a personality measure in diverse samples and an important criterion for generalizability. However, popular statistical techniques for establishing measurement invariance focus predominantly on broad, scale-level constructs, and there is growing recognition among personality psychologists of the value of item-level assessment. This poses a challenge: while the higher degree of precision offered by more narrowly defined constructs can be beneficial for advancing our scientific understanding of topics studied in personality psychology, it can come at the expense of conducting culturally diverse and inclusive studies. This paper explores the role of measurement invariance evidence in studies that focus on narrower personality constructs––particularly at the item-level––using a sample from the Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment (SAPA) project consisting of participants (N=1,025,954) residing in 13 culturally and geographically diverse nations. We address the overall lack of available statistical techniques for addressing invariance-related questions at the item-level and demonstrate an approach that compares the item-level empirical cumulative distribution functions (ECDFs) of two groups using 2,623 items from the International Personality item Pool (IPIP). Findings point to nations and items with the most significant differences in ECDFs, which may reflect true cultural differences or potential psychometric challenges. ECDF-based tests capture distribution-wide differences that similar, more standard tests cannot detect, making them potentially useful for addressing a variety of research questions.
