A Global Study of Social
Axioms
Kwok Leung
City University of Hong Kong
Michael Harris Bond
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Social axioms

A social axiom is a generalized belief which
is central in a person's belief system, and
its function is to enhance the survival and
functioning of the person in his/her social
and physical environment.
Why are social axioms useful to
explain cross-cultural differences?


Beliefs are related to a variety of social
behaviors.
Social axioms should demonstrate more
cross-cultural variability than concepts
frequently used in explaining cultural
differences, such as values.
Identification of social axioms


Western psychological literature
Qualitative research in Hong Kong and
Venezuela
 Open-ended questionnaire
 Interview
 Content analysis of popular songs,
newspapers, magazines, and primary and
secondary school textbooks
The Social Axioms Survey


182 items
Administered in Hong Kong and Venezuela
 Both college students and adults in both sites
 Factor analysis
Five factors

Social cynicism
 A negative view of human nature and social
events

Reward for application
 The belief that effort will lead to positive
outcomes

Social complexity
 Multiple solutions to problems and the
uncertainty of events

Fate control
 a deterministic view of social events

Religiosity (Previously named as Spirituality)
 the existence of a supreme being and positive
consequences of religions
Replication in U.S., Japan, and
Germany



60 items short form created
Administered to college students
Confirmatory factor analysis
Round the world study

Over 40 samples
 Students (40 culture)
 Adults (13 cultures)

Factor analysis based on a meta-analytic
procedure
 Normalize the correlation matrix for each
culture
 Average the matrices across cultures
 Transform the average matrix into a
correlation matrix again
Evaluate the factor solution across
the two samples
Highly similar factor structures across the two
samples
High correlations between student and adult
means for each factor
The student data is used as the sample size is
larger
Social Axioms
Factor Structure and
Summary Findings
Item
Social Cynicism (CYN)
Factor
Loading
1. Powerful people tend to exploit others.
.60
2. Power and status make people arrogant.
.59
3. Kind-hearted people usually suffer losses.
.57
4. Kind-hearted people are easily bullied.
.53
5. People will stop working hard after they secure a
comfortable life.
.45
6. Old people are usually stubborn and biased.
.45
7. The various social institutions in society are biased
towards the rich.
.44
8. It is rare to see a happy ending in real life.
.44
9. To care about societal affairs only brings trouble for
yourself.
.42
10. People deeply in love are usually blind.
.39
11. Young people are impulsive and unreliable.
.38
- College student samples from 40 countries
Social Complexity (PLEX)
Item
Factor
Loading
1. People may have opposite behaviors on different
occasions.
.60
2. Human behavior changes with the social context.
.54
3. One’s behaviors may be contrary to his or her true
feelings.
.54
4. One has to deal with matters according to the
specific circumstances.
.48
5. Current losses are not necessarily bad for one’s
long-term future.
.40
6. There is only one way to solve a problem.*
.39
* Reverse item
- College student samples from 40 countries
Reward for Application (RA)
Item
Factor
Loading
1. One will succeed if he/she really tries.
.63
2. Hard working people will achieve more in the end.
.59
3. Adversity can be overcome by effort.
.56
4. Every problem has a solution.
.50
5. Knowledge is necessary for success.
.49
6. One who does not know how to plan his or her
future will eventually fail.
.45
7. Competition brings about progress.
.42
8. Failure is the beginning of success.
.40
9. Caution helps avoid mistakes.
.36
- College student samples from 40 countries
Religiosity (REL)
Item
Factor
Loading
1. Belief in a religion helps one understand the
meaning of life.
.75
2. Religious faith contributes to good mental health.
.72
3. There is a supreme being controlling the universe.
.62
4. Belief in a religion makes people good citizens.
.61
5. Religion makes people escape from reality.*
.59
6. Religious beliefs lead to unscientific thinking.*
.54
7. Religious people are more likely to maintain moral
standards.
.51
* Reverse item
- College student samples from 40 countries
Fate Control (FATE)
Item
Factor
Loading
1. Individual characteristics, such as appearance and
birthday, affect one’s fate.
.60
2. There are many ways for people to predict what will
happen in the future.
.60
3. There are certain ways to help us improve our luck
and avoid unlucky things.
.52
4. Most disasters can be predicted.
.51
5. Fate determines one’s successes and failures.
.48
6. Good luck follows if one survives a disaster.
.48
- College student samples from 40 countries
Citizen Means of 40 Countries
Citizen
Georgian
German
Greek
Taiwanese
Pakistani
Peruvian
Romanian
Thai
Estonian
Japanese
Korean
Hong Kong Chinese
Russian
French
Latvian
Lebanese
Indian
Chinese
Nigerian
Belgian
Hungarian
Turk
Singaporean
Iranian
Spaniard
Malaysian
Portuguese
Filipino
Brazilian
Czech
New Zealander
Finn
Israeli
British
Italian
Indonesian
Norwegian
American (Caucasian)
Canadian
Dutchman
CYN
3.37
3.32
3.32
3.30
3.29
3.29
3.23
3.22
3.16
3.16
3.16
3.13
3.09
3.05
3.05
3.05
3.04
3.03
2.98
2.97
2.96
2.94
2.93
2.89
2.89
2.88
2.87
2.84
2.81
2.77
2.77
2.76
2.76
2.75
2.74
2.72
2.66
2.65
2.63
2.62
Citizen
Norwegian
German
Taiwanese
Canadian
Dutchman
Israeli
New Zealander
Singaporean
Spaniard
Turk
Hungarian
British
Estonian
Lebanese
American (Caucasian)
Czech
Filipino
Chinese
Finn
French
Hong Kong Chinese
Japanese
Belgian
Greek
Latvian
Italian
Brazilian
Korean
Indonesian
Malaysian
Indian
Portuguese
Nigerian
Georgian
Russian
Thai
Iranian
Pakistani
Romanian
Peruvian
PLEX
4.37
4.33
4.22
4.20
4.18
4.16
4.14
4.14
4.14
4.14
4.13
4.11
4.11
4.11
4.10
4.10
4.09
4.08
4.08
4.08
4.08
4.04
4.03
4.02
4.02
4.01
3.98
3.98
3.96
3.93
3.92
3.90
3.89
3.88
3.86
3.80
3.79
3.77
3.72
3.67
Citizen
Malaysian
Indian
Pakistani
Indonesian
Iranian
Nigerian
Filipino
Thai
Turk
Peruvian
Taiwanese
Korean
Russian
Estonian
Singaporean
Lebanese
German
Canadian
Chinese
Romanian
Greek
Hong Kong Chinese
Georgian
American (Caucasian)
Portuguese
Israeli
Finn
New Zealander
Latvian
French
Brazilian
Norwegian
Japanese
Spaniard
British
Hungarian
Belgian
Czech
Italian
Dutchman
RA
4.29
4.19
4.15
4.14
4.12
4.04
4.03
3.98
3.97
3.88
3.87
3.85
3.82
3.81
3.78
3.77
3.76
3.74
3.74
3.74
3.73
3.70
3.69
3.66
3.61
3.60
3.59
3.59
3.58
3.56
3.54
3.53
3.50
3.48
3.46
3.40
3.36
3.29
3.28
3.18
Citizen
Pakistani
Malaysian
Indonesian
Iranian
Nigerian
Georgian
Filipino
Turk
Hong Kong Chinese
Thai
Brazilian
Indian
Romanian
Singaporean
Taiwanese
Peruvian
American (Caucasian)
Greek
Russian
Canadian
Czech
Korean
Latvian
Lebanese
Portuguese
Finn
Hungarian
German
Chinese
New Zealander
British
Dutchman
Italian
Estonian
Japanese
French
Israeli
Belgian
Norwegian
Spaniard
REL
4.40
4.30
4.22
4.15
3.67
3.65
3.52
3.48
3.44
3.43
3.39
3.37
3.29
3.24
3.22
3.21
3.18
3.13
3.12
3.10
3.10
3.10
3.10
3.10
3.09
3.07
2.99
2.93
2.92
2.83
2.81
2.73
2.72
2.70
2.65
2.60
2.60
2.58
2.55
2.40
Citizen
FATE
Pakistani
3.15
Thai
3.14
Nigerian
3.08
Taiwanese
3.01
Georgian
3.00
Korean
2.98
Indian
2.97
Russian
2.97
Malaysian
2.96
Indonesian
2.91
Chinese
2.90
Iranian
2.85
Estonian
2.81
German
2.77
Latvian
2.77
Hong Kong Chinese
2.69
Turk
2.68
Hungarian
2.67
Czech
2.62
French
2.62
Filipino
2.60
Japanese
2.59
Belgian
2.58
Dutchman
2.56
Romanian
2.55
Finn
2.54
Israeli
2.53
Singaporean
2.52
Brazilian
2.49
Peruvian
2.48
Lebanese
2.47
American (Caucasian) 2.46
Canadian
2.43
Portuguese
2.43
Greek
2.37
British
2.35
New Zealander
2.34
Italian
2.29
Spaniard
2.27
Norwegian
2.01
Correlations with Social Indicators
 Social
Cynicism
Life satisfaction (-.69)
View on leadership: Charismatic/value
based (-.65)
Achievement via conformity (-.62)
Correlations with Social Indicators
(Cont’d)
 Social
Complexity
Other-referenced performance motive (-.60)
Percentage of showing interest in politics (.55) )
Percentage of GDP on Health (.41)
Correlations with Social Indicators
(Cont’d)
 Reward
for Application
Mate preference – emphasizing mutual
attraction, deemphasizing financial prospect
(-.74)
Working hours per week (.51)
Sources of guidance - superiors (.49)
Correlations with Social Indicators
(Cont’d)
 Religiosity
Importance of religion in life – percentage of
“very important” (.69)
Hedonic balance (positive – negative affect)
(.47)
Agreeableness (.59)
Correlations with Social Indicators
(Cont’d)
 Fate
Control
Suicide rate (.54)
Heart disease (.52)
Work ethic – enjoyment of working hard (.-54)
Country-level analysis
 Factor
groups
analyze item means of 41 cultural
Item
Belief in a religion helps one understand the meaning of life.
Dynamic Societal
Externality Cynicism
.92
Good deeds will be rewarded, and bad deeds will be punished.
.92
Religious faith contributes to good mental health.
There is a supreme being controlling the universe.
All things in the universe have been determined.
.90
.90
.90
Belief in a religion makes people good citizens.
The just will eventually defeat the wicked.
Religion makes people escape from reality.
.89
.82
.82
One will succeed if he/she really tries.
Hard working people will achieve more in the end.
Every problem has a solution.
Religious people are more likely to maintain moral standards.
.81
.74
.72
.71
Religious beliefs lead to unscientific thinking.
Knowledge is necessary for success.
.70
.67
Failure is the beginning of success.
Ghosts or spirits are people’s fantasy.
Human behavior changes with the social context.
.65
.60
.58
Competition brings about progress.
Caution helps avoid mistakes.
.58
.55
Adversity can be overcome by effort.
.51
To care about societal affairs only brings trouble for yourself.
.81
Kind-hearted people usually suffer losses.
Old people are usually stubborn and biased.
.76
.73
It is rare to see a happy ending in real life.
Old people are a heavy burden on society.
People will stop working hard after they secure a comfortable life.
.69
.61
.63
Kind-hearted people are easily bullied.
.56
Humility is dishonesty.
People deeply in love are usually blind.
Power and status make people arrogant.
.53
.54
.52
Variable
Source
Power Distance
Hofstede (2001)
Individualism-Collectivism
Hofstede (2001),
Ardichvili (2001)
38
Long/Short Term Orientation
Hofstede (2001)
26
Conservatism
Schwartz (1994)
21
.64*
Intellectual Autonomy
Schwartz (1994)
21
-.55*
Egalitarian Commitment
Schwartz (1994)
21
-.53
Harmony
Schwartz (1994)
21
-.45
Loyal vs. Utilitarian Involvement
Smith, Dugan and
Trompenaars (1996)
28
.44
31
.62*
Humane Orientation - the degree to House, Hanges,
Javidan, Dorfman
which a collective rewards
individuals for being fair, altruistic, and Gupta (2003)
generous and caring (Societal
culture practices - how societal
culture is)
N
Dynamic
Societal
Externality Cynicism
37
.51*
-.61*
-.48*
.40
Family Collectivism (Societal
culture practices - how societal
culture is)
House et al. (2003)
31
.59*
Uncertainty Avoidance (Societal
culture values - how societal
culture should be)
House et al. (2003)
31
.56*
Future Orientation (Societal culture House et al. (2003)
values - how societal culture
should be)
31
.51*
Performance Orientation (Societal
culture values - how societal
culture should be)
House et al. (2003)
31
Gender Egalitarianism (Societal
culture values - how societal
culture should be)
House et al. (2003)
31
.42
-.39
-.57*
-.41
66
Georgia
Estonia
Taiw an
Pakistan
Thailand
Greece
Korea
Peru
Japan
Germany Romania
Societal Cynicism Index
Hong Kong
Belgium (Ductch Speaking) Germany WestLatvia
Belgium (French Speaking)Belgium
India
Russia
Lebanon
France
China
Nigeria
Hungary
Venezuela
Iran
Singapore
56
Malaysia
Spain
Czech
Turkey
Portugal
S Africa (Caucasian)
New Zealand Finland
United Kingdom
Brazil
Israel
Netherlands
Italy
Canada
United States
Philippines
Indonesia
Norw ay
46
48
66
Dynamic Externality Index
84
Future directions
Convergent and discriminant validity with similar
concepts
 Origin of social axioms and their acquisition
 Environmental and situational influence on social
axioms
 Behavioral consequences of Social axioms
 Contrast with values its their impact on behaviors
