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Elucidating Evolutionary Principles With The Traditional Mosuo: Adaptive Benefits And Origins Of Matriliny And “Walking Marriages”, Jose C. Yong, Norman P. Li Dec 2022

Elucidating Evolutionary Principles With The Traditional Mosuo: Adaptive Benefits And Origins Of Matriliny And “Walking Marriages”, Jose C. Yong, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Mosuo, arguably the last surviving matrilineal society in China, offers interesting insights into kinship practices that support reproduction. In particular, the modes of courtship and reproduction of the traditional Mosuo revolve around a practice known as walking marriages, which involves no contract or obligations, where the men do not use social status or resources to court women, women do not expect commitment from men, and multiple sexual relationships are permitted for both sexes and seldom incite conflict. Children borne from walking marriages are cared for not so much by fathers but rather their mothers' brothers, and wealth and property …


Exhibiting Transnationalism After Vietnam: The Alpha Gallery In Pursuit Of An Authentic Southeast Asian Art Form, Wen-Qing (Wei Wenqing) Ngoei Sep 2022

Exhibiting Transnationalism After Vietnam: The Alpha Gallery In Pursuit Of An Authentic Southeast Asian Art Form, Wen-Qing (Wei Wenqing) Ngoei

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This essay examines how the Alpha Gallery, an independent artists cooperative established by Malaysians and Singaporeans, curated and staged art shows in the 1970s that advanced its project to unearth and promote an intrinsically Southeast Asian aesthetic. The cooperative pursuit a transnational vision of inter-regional connections between the Bengali Art Renaissance of the early twentieth century and Balinese folk art. It also harbored ambitions of sparking a cultural renaissance in Southeast Asia, though these were ultimately unfulfilled. Importantly, as this essay shows, the cooperative’s transnational vision mirrored the racist thinking and paternalism of Euro-American colonial discourses about civilizing the region’s …


Important To Me And My Society: How Culture Influences The Roles Of Personal Values And Perceived Group Values In Environmental Engagements Via Collectivistic Orientation, Tengjiao Huang, Angela K. Y. Leung, Kimin Eom, Kam Pong Tam Apr 2022

Important To Me And My Society: How Culture Influences The Roles Of Personal Values And Perceived Group Values In Environmental Engagements Via Collectivistic Orientation, Tengjiao Huang, Angela K. Y. Leung, Kimin Eom, Kam Pong Tam

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite extensive works examining the influence of personal values on environmental engagements, scarce research has examined the influence of group values that are perceived as important in the society. To address this lacuna and recent calls for more cross-cultural environmental research, we investigated whether and how culture, via collectivistic orientation, influences the roles of personal values and perceived group values, namely egoistic and biospheric values, in motivating environmental engagements in a Western (the U.S.; N = 469) and an Asian (Singapore; N = 410) country. To highlight a few findings, the study showed that personal values and perceived group values …


Loosening The Definition Of Culture: An Investigation Of Gender And Cultural Tightness, Alexandra S. Wormley, Matthew Scott, Kevin Grimm, Norman P. Li, Bryan K. C. Choy, Adam B. Cohen Nov 2021

Loosening The Definition Of Culture: An Investigation Of Gender And Cultural Tightness, Alexandra S. Wormley, Matthew Scott, Kevin Grimm, Norman P. Li, Bryan K. C. Choy, Adam B. Cohen

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To date, the study of cultural tightness has been largely limited to exploring the strictness of social norms and the severity of punishments at the level of nations or regions. However, cultural psychologists concur that humans gather cultural information from more than just their nationality. Gender is a cultural identity that confers its own social norms. Across three studies using multi-method designs, we find that American women feel the culture surrounding their gender is “tighter” than that for men, and that this relationship is mediated by perceived gender-related threats to the self. However, in a follow-up study in Singapore, we …


The Cost Of Taking Charge At Work, Singapore Management University Mar 2021

The Cost Of Taking Charge At Work, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

CUHK research finds proactive employees have a higher chance of assuming leadership roles but they are also likely to have difficult interactions with co-workers


Religiosity Moderates The Link Between Environmental Beliefs And Pro-Environmental Support: The Role Of Belief In A Controlling God, Kimin Eom, Carmel S. Saad, Heejung S. Kim Jan 2021

Religiosity Moderates The Link Between Environmental Beliefs And Pro-Environmental Support: The Role Of Belief In A Controlling God, Kimin Eom, Carmel S. Saad, Heejung S. Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The current research examines differences in what motivates environmentally sustainable behavior between more and less religious people in the United States. We found that religiosity moderates the extent to which environmental beliefs predict pro-environmental support. Specifically, environmental beliefs predicted pro-environmental support less strongly among more religious people than less religious people (Studies 1 and 2). Using a correlational (Study 2) and an experimental (Study 3) design, we further found that one particular aspect of religiosity—believing in a controlling god—reduced the importance of personally held environmental beliefs in shaping one’s support for pro-environmental actions. Our findings suggest that motivation to act …


Cultural Variability In The Association Between Age And Well-Being: The Role Of Uncertainty Avoidance, Smaranda Lawrie, Kimin Eom, Daniela Moza, Alin Gavreliuc, Heejung S. Kim Jan 2020

Cultural Variability In The Association Between Age And Well-Being: The Role Of Uncertainty Avoidance, Smaranda Lawrie, Kimin Eom, Daniela Moza, Alin Gavreliuc, Heejung S. Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Past research has found a mixed relationship between age and subjective well-being. The current research advances the understanding of these findings by incorporating a cultural perspective. We tested whether the relationship between age and well-being is moderated by uncertainty avoidance, a cultural dimension dealing with society’s tolerance for ambiguity. In Study 1 (N = 64,228), using a multilevel approach with an international database, we found that older age was associated with lower well-being in countries higher in uncertainty avoidance but not in countries lower in uncertainty avoidance. Further, this cultural variation was mediated by a sense of control. In Study …


The Psychology Of Pro-Environmental Support: A Global Problem In Need Of Global Solutions, Kimin Eom, Viki Papadakis, David K. Sherman, Heejung S. Kim Oct 2019

The Psychology Of Pro-Environmental Support: A Global Problem In Need Of Global Solutions, Kimin Eom, Viki Papadakis, David K. Sherman, Heejung S. Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We review research that provides a sociocultural perspective on proenvironmental support. Despite the increasing volume of psychological research on proenvironmental action, there has been a relative dearth of consideration of sociocultural contexts, which poses critical theoretical and practical limitations to understanding and fostering proenvironmental actions across diverse populations. The sociocultural perspective posits that the primary motives driving action are context dependent. Building on this perspective, our research examines significant divergence in key determinants of proenvironmental support, focusing on several sociocultural variables, including national culture (individualism-collectivism), socioeconomic status, and religion. This program of research shows that personal environmental beliefs more directly …


Cultural Variability In The Link Between Environmental Concern And Support For Environmental Action, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim, David K. Sherman, Keiko Ishii Oct 2016

Cultural Variability In The Link Between Environmental Concern And Support For Environmental Action, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim, David K. Sherman, Keiko Ishii

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Research on sustainability behaviors has been based on the assumption that increasing personal concerns about the environment will increase proenvironmental action. We tested whether this assumption is more applicable to individualistic cultures than to collectivistic cultures. In Study 1, we compared 47 countries (N = 57,268) and found that they varied considerably in the degree to which environmental concern predicted support for proenvironmental action. National-level individualism explained the between-nation variability above and beyond the effects of other cultural values and independently of person-level individualism. In Study 2, we compared individualistic and collectivistic nations (United States vs. Japan; N = 251) …


How Do We Adopt Multiple Cultural Identities? A Multidimensional Operationalization Of The Sources Of Culture, Badri Zolfaghari, Guido Mollering, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Graham Dietz Apr 2016

How Do We Adopt Multiple Cultural Identities? A Multidimensional Operationalization Of The Sources Of Culture, Badri Zolfaghari, Guido Mollering, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Graham Dietz

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Given the shortcomings of unidimensional accounts of culture that are based on nationality, this paper builds on and steps beyond current multidimensional conceptualizations of culture in order to provide first empirical evidence for a multidimensional operationalization of culture. It shows the multiple and simultaneous sources of cultural values (i.e., Family, Nationality, Urban/Rural Background, etc.) that individuals draw from in order to behave in accordance with their social setting. This contributes to our understanding of how and when individuals adopt multiple cultural identities. As the first attempt to operationalize the 'mosaic' framework of culture proposed by Chao and Moon (2005), this …


Intersubjective Norms: Cultural And Interpersonal Perspective, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim Nov 2015

Intersubjective Norms: Cultural And Interpersonal Perspective, Kimin Eom, Heejung S. Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Normative perspectives in cultural psychology provide a fresh view to understand the processes of cultural influence on human behavior. Although much of the existing research focuses on individuals’ internalized personal values and beliefs to explain cultural tendencies, the new perspective proposes perceived intersubjective norms as an alternative key component in cultural influence (Chiu, Gelfand, Yamagishi, Shteynberg, & Wan, 2010; Zou et al., 2009). Extending this newly emerging approach, the lead articles in this special issue address some of the important questions and issues of normative perspectives in cultural psychology. The articles provide useful explanations for why individuals vary in the …


A Conclusion, Yet An Opening To Enriching The Normative Approach Of Culture, Chi-Yue Chiu, M. J. Gelfand, J. R. Harrington, Angela K. Y. Leung, Zhi Liu, M. W. Morris, Yan Mu, G. Shteynberg, Kim-Pong Tam, Ching Wan, Xi Zou Nov 2015

A Conclusion, Yet An Opening To Enriching The Normative Approach Of Culture, Chi-Yue Chiu, M. J. Gelfand, J. R. Harrington, Angela K. Y. Leung, Zhi Liu, M. W. Morris, Yan Mu, G. Shteynberg, Kim-Pong Tam, Ching Wan, Xi Zou

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We compile in this article the target article authors’ thoughtful responses to the commentaries. Their responses identify some common threads across the rich contents of the commentary pieces, interlink the observation and theoretical propositions in the commentaries with broader streams of research, present new perspectives inspired by the commentary contributors, and pose provocative questions to further ignite research efforts on the normative analysis of culture.


Cultural Resonance And The Diffusion Of Suicide Bombings: The Role Of Collectivism, Robert Braun, Michael Genkin Oct 2014

Cultural Resonance And The Diffusion Of Suicide Bombings: The Role Of Collectivism, Robert Braun, Michael Genkin

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Why do some terrorist organizations, but not others, adopt suicide bombing as a tactic? Dominant accounts focusing on organizational capacity, ideology, and efficacy leave certain elements of the phenomenon unexplained. The authors argue that a key factor that influences whether a terrorist organization does or does not adopt suicide terrorism is cultural resonance. This is the idea that deep and specific cultural logics, which transcend religion and nationalism, enable and constrain the sorts of instrumental behaviors that can be utilized in the pursuit of group goals. The article investigates the role of a well-established cultural orientation of collectivism, which enables …


Positioning The Booty-Call Relationship On The Spectrum Of Relationships: Sexual But More Emotional Than One-Night Stands, Peter K. Jonason, Norman P. Li, Jessica Richardson Sep 2011

Positioning The Booty-Call Relationship On The Spectrum Of Relationships: Sexual But More Emotional Than One-Night Stands, Peter K. Jonason, Norman P. Li, Jessica Richardson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Most research on human sexuality has focused on long-term pairbonds and one-night stands. However, growing evidence suggests there are relationships that do not fit cleanly into either of those categories. One of these relationships is a ‘‘booty-call relationship.’’ The purpose of this study was to describe the sexual and emotional nature of booty-call relationships by (a) examining the types of emotional and sexual acts involved in booty-call relationships and (b) comparing the frequency of those acts in booty-call relationships to one-night stands and serious long-term relationships. In addition, the manner in which sociosexuality is associated with the commission of these …


Obedience, Schooling, And Political Participation, Davin Chor, Filipe R. Campante Jan 2010

Obedience, Schooling, And Political Participation, Davin Chor, Filipe R. Campante

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper proposes a framework for understanding the joint evolution of cultural norms and human capital investment, and how these affect patterns of political participation. We first present some empirical evidence that cultural attitudes towards obedience systematically influence an individual's propensity to engage in different political activities: obedience discourages more confrontational modes of political activity (such as public demonstrations), while raising participation in non-confrontational civic acts (such as voting). These cultural attitudes further appear to be determined in part by cultural transmission across generations. Motivated by this evidence, we develop a dynamic model in which human capital and obedience are …


Culture, Psyche, And Body Make Each Other Up, Dov Cohen, Angela K. Y. Leung, Hans Ijzerman Dec 2009

Culture, Psyche, And Body Make Each Other Up, Dov Cohen, Angela K. Y. Leung, Hans Ijzerman

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The commentaries make important points, including ones about the purposeful uses of embodiment effects. Research examining such effects needs to look at how such effects play themselves out in people's everyday lives. Research might usefully integrate work on embodiment with work on attribution and work in other disciplines concerned with body–psyche connections (e.g., research on somaticizing versus “psychologizing” illnesses and hypercognizing versus hypocognizing emotions). Such work may help us understand the way positive and negative feedback loops operate as culture, psyche, and body make each other up.


Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong Jun 1996

Ideology, Social Commentary And Resistance In Popular Music: A Case Study Of Singapore, Phua Siew Chye, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Popular music as a site of struggles over meaning is focused upon, where the social and political relations between different groups in Singapore society are mirrored. How ruling elites and everyday people make use of the same cultural form--popular music--for different purposes is examined.


Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong Jan 1996

Popular Music And A Sense Of Place In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper illustrates how popular music written, produced, and performed by Singaporeans provides a means through which the culture and society of Singapore may be understood. Music with English language text conveys a sense of place and reflects a distinctively Singaporean spirit and identity. The paper examines four themes: the portrayal of Singapore's multiracial population which reflects a unique cultural synthesis; the Singaporeans' concept of urbanity, manifested as the simultaneous attraction and repulsion towards the city and the desire for nature and the rustic; the distinctive social engineering in Singapore; and the way in which global issues are imported into …


Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong Jan 1996

Making "Music At The Margins"? A Social And Cultural Analysis Of Xinyao In Singapore, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Formalist critics and aestheticians have argued that music does not possess any kind of "extra-musical" significance, that there is no meaning beyond the form and structural relations of the notes. For them, music exemplifies the laws of mathematical harmony and proportion rather than the social and political contexts within which it is produced, reproduced and consumed. This view has been challenged by a number of social theorists: Max Weber, Theodor Adorno and Edward Said have all argued for an understanding of music within its social, cultural, economic and political contexts. Such analysis of popular music is now unquestioned. Indeed, it …