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Cultural Differences in Strength of Conformity Explained Through Pathogen Stress: A Statistical Test Using
Yutaka Horita1, Masanori Takezawa2
1Department of Psychology, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Frontiers in Psychology
|October 27, 2018
Summary
Environmental pathogen stress and institutional effectiveness may not significantly explain regional differences in collectivism and conformity. These factors
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary psychology
- Cultural psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Environmental severity, particularly pathogen prevalence, is linked to human behavioral and psychological development.
- Cultural variations in collectivism and conformity are hypothesized to stem from pathogen stress.
- Alternative theories suggest institutional effectiveness, not pathogen stress, drives these psychological variations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether regional pathogen stress or government effectiveness influences collectivism and conformity.
- To address statistical limitations (Galton's problem) in previous cross-national studies.
- To reevaluate the impact of environmental factors on group-oriented psychological mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Utilized hierarchical Bayesian estimation to adjust for global regions.
- Analyzed regional variation in pathogen stress and government effectiveness.
- Measured collectivism and conformity to social norms across different regions.
Main Results:
- Overall effects of pathogen stress and government effectiveness on conformity were largely non-significant.
- Pathogen stress showed significance in only one conformity index.
- Significant regional effects for both factors were found but lacked cross-measurement stability.
Conclusions:
- The direct impact of pathogen stress and government effectiveness on collectivism and conformity requires further investigation.
- Previous findings linking pathogen stress to cultural differences may need reevaluation.
- The stability and generalizability of these environmental and institutional effects are questionable.
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