Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item Performing Identity Entrepreneurship During the Colonisation of New Zealand: A Rhetorical Construction of ‘Loyal Subjects of the Empire’(PsychOpen, Leibniz Institute for Psychology (ZPID), Trier, Germany, 2022-01-01) Choi SY; Liu JH; Belgrave M; Reddy GA thematic analysis of New Zealand’s historical Speeches from the Throne (10 speeches, from 1860-1899) investigated rhetorical strategies used by Governors during colonisation, to mobilise both settler and indigenous people’s participation in the British Empire. Identity leadership (Reicher & Hopkins, 2001, https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00246), augmented by critical theories of emotion (Williams, 1977, Marxism and literature. Oxford University Press) under the cultural framework of hierarchical relationalism (Liu, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12058) was applied to show how unequal but reciprocal relationships were invoked by Governors, as representatives of the Crown and advocates for the general public in New Zealand. Governors attempted to mediate a positive shared identity within the British Empire; but at the same time to isolate those who excluded from subjecthood by their hostility to the Crown. Governors alternated between efforts to mobilise people against indigenous Māori who challenged them, and offers to include Māori who conformed to the conventions required of a hierarchical relationship between Crown and subject. We reflect on how these dynamics of rhetorical performance may still be relevant today, especially in contexts of hierarchy and in the domain of leaderfollower relations more broadly.Item Cross-cultural investigation of the relationship between social identity, trusting the system, COVID-19 vaccine adherence and conspiratorial beliefs(Asian Association of Social Psychology and John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd, 2025-09-01) Valdes EA; Delos Santos JJI; Liu JHUnderstanding how individual beliefs and societal values influence support for measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission and risk is vital to developing and implementing effective prevention policies. Surges in COVID-19 infections continue to be prevalent worldwide, and strategies to address the increase in vaccine hesitancy and related conspiracy theories are enacted globally. Using the lenses of the social identity approach and system justification theory, we examined how individual-level conceptualizations of identity, system legitimacy, conspiracy beliefs and trust in science, government and healthcare influence an uptick in COVID-19 vaccine adherence. Data from an international survey of adults from China, the Philippines and the United States (N = 358; Study 1) and a six-country two-wave stratified online sample (N = 6138; Study 2) allowed the present research to investigate how cultural values and governmental policies intersect with COVID-19 risk perception and vaccine hesitancy. The most robust findings were: (1) identifying with a superordinate global identity was associated with greater vaccine adherence; (2) having a stronger subordinate national identity was associated with greater vaccine hesitancy; and (3) the association between having a strong national identity and the endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories was mediated by system justification. The results presented are used to discuss strategies for increasing vaccine uptake globally for future pandemics.Item A cross-cultural test of competing hypotheses about system justification using data from 42 nations(Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society of Political Psychology., 2024-09-25) Valdes EA; Liu JH; Williams M; Carr SCSystem justification theory (SJT) is a thriving field of research, wherein the primary questions revolve around why individuals and groups are motivated to see the systems they depend on as just, fair, and legitimate. This article seeks to answer how accurate the postulates of SJT are when compared to competing self-interest claims of social identity and social dominance theory. We addressed the ongoing debates among proponents of each theory by identifying who, when, and why individuals decide to system-justify. We used data comprised of 24,009 participants nested within 42 countries. Multilevel models largely supported the competing claims of social dominance and social identity theories over SJT. The most robust findings were: (1) greater objective socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with greater system justification; (2) the consistent positive relationship between subjective SES and system justification was partially mediated by life satisfaction; and (3) both ends of the political spectrum were willing to system-justify more when the political party they favored was in power. The results presented are used to discuss both the current state and the future directions for system justification research.Item Identifying stories of ‘us’: A mixed-method analysis of the meaning, contents and associations of national narratives constructed by Americans(John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., 2024-03-01) Choi SY; Liu JHHow do lay individuals reconstruct, appropriate or resist culturally sanctioned narratives about their nation's past? The current study examined this question through an open-ended survey administered to a US sample, stratified by age and gender (N = 399). We identified three major historical narratives that were popular among Americans. Specifically, we identified positive narratives of the nation's progress over time and glorifying narratives of American exceptionalism, alongside a popular counter-narrative that was critical of the nation as reproducing ongoing cycles of injustice. Representations of national origins were significantly more salient for the narratives of Progress and Glorification, while more recent and lived events were salient for Critical narratives. Progress and Critical narratives were both associated with a constructive orientation to national identity, while Glorifying narratives were associated with blind patriotism. Critical and Glorifying narratives were consistently opposed in their associated political attitudes and in their patterns of endorsement across party affiliations. Overall, it appeared that narratives of progress were most popular and least polarised. We discuss the implications of these findings through the perspective that narratives provide dynamic content for identity construction as well as the means for articulating resistance to hegemony within specific historical and political contexts.Item Behavioral evidence for global consciousness transcending national parochialism.(Springer Nature, 2023-12-04) Liu JH; Choi SY; Lee I-C; Leung AK-Y; Lee M; Lin M-H; Hodgetts D; Chen SXWhile national parochialism is commonplace, individual differences explain more variance in it than cross-national differences. Global consciousness (GC), a multi-dimensional concept that includes identification with all humanity, cosmopolitan orientation, and global orientation, transcends national parochialism. Across six societies (N = 11,163), most notably the USA and China, individuals high in GC were more generous allocating funds to the other in a dictator game, cooperated more in a one-shot prisoner's dilemma, and differentiated less between the ingroup and outgroup on these actions. They gave more to the world and kept less for the self in a multi-level public goods dilemma. GC profiles showed 80% test-retest stability over 8 months. Implications of GC for cultural evolution in the face of trans-border problems are discussed.Item China's collectivist cosmopolitanism: Harmony and conflict with Western conceptualizations of cosmopolitanism rooted in individualistic notions of human rights(SAGE Publications, 2023-08-30) Liu JH; Xie TJust as leading Western countries have begun withdrawing from the neoliberal Washington Consensus that paved the way for economic globalization over the last 40 years, China has proposed an ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, or One Belt One Road, outlining its vision for global development. President Xi's vision of collectivist cosmopolitanism is centered on the principle of sovereign equality between nations, emphasizing civilizational uniqueness rather than universal human rights. In this view, economic and social development are path dependent, and in China's case, prioritize decolonization and national sovereignty. Xi's view in major speeches is cosmopolitan but collectivist, emphasizing economic growth, openness, dynamism, and an “avowed respect” for the integrity of other cultures, while saying nothing about individual human rights or groups within China. This approach positions ancient Chinese traditions like Confucianism as playing a central role in cultivating individuals’ and society's moral qualities so that person, society, and governance are bound together as a mutually beneficial and interconnected whole. It forms the theoretical basis of a Chinese view of cosmopolitanism, which could be the basis of dialogue with Western cosmopolitanists. The challenge is reconciling the different emphasis accorded to human rights versus national sovereignty in the two views. Empirical results of a new measure of Cosmopolitan Orientation that correlates positively rather than negatively with nationalism and religiosity provide insights into the specific basis for this dialogue to become beneficial rather than conflictual.Item Instant Messaging and Relationship Satisfaction Across Different Ages and Cultures(Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies, 2023-06-30) Vauclair C-M; Rudnev M; Hofhuis J; Liu JH; Dedkova LResearch suggests that using IM is generally beneficial for maintaining personal relationships, yet well-being benefits are likely to be conditional on micro- and macro-level variables. This study investigates the link between IM use and relationship satisfaction across age groups using survey data collected from 19 countries (N = 20,358, age range 18-94, Mage = 41.0, SD = 14.6). The multilevel regression results revealed that (1) overall IM use with strong ties is positively related to individuals' satisfaction with their relationships across all countries and (2) this link is weaker among older people compared to younger ones. The hypothesized cross-level interactions were not statistically significant overall, yet comparing individual countries (e.g., Germany and Indonesia), which are on the opposite ends of the autonomy-embeddedness value dimension, suggests that the use of IM might indeed be more important for relationship satisfaction in more embeddedness-oriented cultures and relationship benefits may be more similar across age groups than in autonomy-oriented cultures. More large-scale cross-cultural studies and multilevel theories are needed to arrive at a more contextualized understanding of IM as a global communication phenomenon.Item National parochialism is ubiquitous across 42 nations around the world(Springer Nature Limited, 2021-07-22) Romano A; Sutter M; Liu JH; Yamagishi T; Balliet DCooperation within and across borders is of paramount importance for the provision of public goods. Parochialism – the tendency to cooperate more with ingroup than outgroup members – limits contributions to global public goods. National parochialism (i.e., greater cooperation among members of the same nation) could vary across nations and has been hypothesized to be associated with rule of law, exposure to world religions, relational mobility and pathogen stress. We conduct an experiment in participants from 42 nations (N = 18,411), and observe cooperation in a prisoner’s dilemma with ingroup, outgroup, and unidentified partners. We observe that national parochialism is a ubiquitous phenomenon: it is present to a similar degree across the nations studied here, is independent of cultural distance, and occurs both when decisions are private or public. These findings inform existing theories of parochialism and suggest it may be an obstacle to the provision of global public goods.Item Continuities and discontinuities in the cultural evolution of global consciousness.(The Royal Society, 2024-01-01) Zhang RJ; Liu JH; Lee M; Lin M-H; Xie T; Chen SX; Leung AK-Y; Lee I-C; Hodgetts D; Valdes EA; Choi SYGlobal consciousness (GC), encompassing cosmopolitan orientation, global orientations (i.e. openness to multicultural experiences) and identification with all humanity, is a relatively stable individual difference that is strongly associated with pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, less ingroup favouritism and prejudice, and greater pandemic prevention safety behaviours. Little is known about how it is socialized in everyday life. Using stratified samples from six societies, socializing institution factors correlating positively with GC were education, white collar work (and its higher income) and religiosity. However, GC also decreased with increasing age, contradicting a 'wisdom of elders' transmission of social learning, and not replicating typical findings that general prosociality increases with age. Longitudinal findings were that empathy-building, network-enhancing elements like getting married or welcoming a new infant, increased GC the most across a three-month interval. Instrumental gains like receiving a promotion (or getting a better job) also showed positive effects. Less intuitively, death of a close-other enhanced rather than reduced GC. Perhaps this was achieved through the ritualized management of meaning where a sense of the smallness of self is associated with growth of empathy for the human condition, as a more discontinuous or opportunistic form of culture-based learning. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.Item Dual impacts of coronavirus anxiety on mental health in 35 societies.(Springer Nature Limited, 2021-04-26) Chen SX; Ng JCK; Hui BPH; Au AKY; Wu WCH; Lam BCP; Mak WWS; Liu JHThe spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected both physical health and mental well-being around the world. Stress-related reactions, if prolonged, may result in mental health problems. We examined the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in a multinational study and explored the effects of government responses to the outbreak. We sampled 18,171 community adults from 35 countries/societies, stratified by age, gender, and region of residence. Across the 35 societies, 26.6% of participants reported moderate to extremely severe depression symptoms, 28.2% moderate to extremely severe anxiety symptoms, and 18.3% moderate to extremely severe stress symptoms. Coronavirus anxiety comprises two factors, namely Perceived Vulnerability and Threat Response. After controlling for age, gender, and education level, perceived vulnerability predicted higher levels of negative emotional symptoms and psychological distress, whereas threat response predicted higher levels of self-rated health and subjective well-being. People in societies with more stringent control policies had more threat response and reported better subjective health. Coronavirus anxiety exerts detrimental effects on subjective health and well-being, but also has the adaptive function in mobilizing safety behaviors, providing support for an evolutionary perspective on psychological adaptation.