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Description
The aim of the proposed project is to investigate societal development processes by examining the role of psychological and cultural determinants shaping the desired directions of societal development and ideal well-being. In a large cross-cultural scheme (i.e., data collection will cover at least fifty countries), combined with experimental studies and advanced linguistic analyses of qualitative materials and artifacts, we will: (1) build models of folk theories of societal development, and ideal types of well-being, (2) investigate the consequences of fit between and individual and his or her cultural context in viewing these phenomena, (3) seek antecedents of the two main variables of our interest in macro-social and psychological variables - our particular interest will be directed towards regulatory focus (Higgins, 1997), psychological motives (Ryan & Deci, 2000), and cultural models of selfhoods (Vignoles et al., 2016). Crucially, (4) because we theorize that ideals about well-being and preferences towards societal development are interdependent, we will study how they interact with each other. Reaching the above aims will be especially relevant in international cooperation with Norway: this country repeatedly occupies top positions in various well-being rankings. We plan (5) to study the influence of historically anchored and cultural traditions on the ideas of good life in Nordic countries.
Summary of project results
Scientists and policy-makers discuss the limitations of an approach that links societal development purely with economic growth, especially after the financial crisis that took place in 2008. There is a call for new potential compasses for societal development. What should these directions be? The basic assumption of the project was that people across cultures hold substantially different ideals about what constitutes a good life, and how to achieve it. Yet, little is known about how lay people view these directions and what are their ideals about "happy life". The aim of the project was to investigate societal development processes and understand it from culturally sensitive perspective.
Our project will result in conceptualizing culturally sensitive models of societal development that will be prepared in an interdisciplinary effort of psychologists and societal development experts. Our findings may become a novel and important contribution to the public and scientific debate on future paradigms of societal development. Such knowledge may be used to inform policy-makers, and country leaders who could include these perspectives into their strategic goals. This approach could allow countries to go beyond economic paradigms of societal development.
Most of research has been carried out in collaborative effort of three institutions. However, research tasks had leaders, therefore, below we present the deliverables in the division for the leading institutions.Under the lead of Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences:
o Mapping societal development aims across seventy cultures.
o Mapping ideal types of well-being across seventy cultures.
o Creating profiles of ideal subjective well-being.
o Understanding of the differences between components of subjective well-being:
happiness, meaning, harmony and spirituality.
o Understanding of the association between power-construals, societal development
aims and subjective well-being.
o Understanding of the role of hierarchies’ structures and societal development aims.
o Understanding of cultural universals and differences.
o Mapping happiness mechanisms globally.
o Understanding of the link between societal emotional environments and societal
development aims.
o Discovering and describing the subjective well-being pyramid.
o Understanding of folk theorising on three different types of modernization:
economic, technological and social.
o Preparation of the methodology for the culturally sensitive measure of happiness.
o Preparation of the methodology for the culturally sensitive measure of societal
development.Additional (beyond the scope of the project; however, a consequence of project’s meetings):
o Discovering and describing the WEIRD-Confucian bias in psychological science.
Under the lead of USWPS:
o Mapping of societal development directions with motivational concerns, allowing to
understand the links between regulatory foci as individual motivational orientations
and prioritization of societal development directions.
o Development and validation of a lexical instrument to measure regulatory focus in
writing patterns.
o Development of a construct and validation of a scale to measure Shared Reality in
a Nation, linking congruence in perceptions of the importance of societal
development goals between an individual and other nationals with well-being and
willingness to pursue these goals
o Understanding the impact of (in)congruence in perceptions of country’s
development directions in society for individual well-being and willingness to act to
reach them
o Explaining when and why individuals engage in behaviours supporting societal
development goals.
Under the lead of Oslo University:
o Developing a synergic approach to well-being anchored in positive psychology and
evolutionary science.
o Investigating and comparing different cultural approaches to altruism.
o Exploring cultural economic and political mainsprings of the "well-being society"
such as Norway.
o Identifying the role of prosociality, cooperation and altruism as key factors in wellbeing.
o Showing the prosocial sources of well-being that are more likely to lead to national
well-being progress.
o Stimulating public debate on the well-being challenges currently faced by Norway.
o Identifying the deeper causes of young people''s current increased ill-being.
o Drawing historical lines to show how altruistic contributions are a universal for
human well-being pursuits.
This project has significantly impacted the development of psychology by:
• Expanding the Scope of Inquiry: Traditionally, cross-cultural research has focused on a limited set of cultures, primarily WEIRD societies. Our project widens the lens by mapping societal development aims and subjective well-being across seventy cultures.
This data provides a richer understanding of human behavior and challenges the universality of existing psychological theories.
• Deepening our Understanding of Well-being: We have created profiles of ideal subjective well-being, explored cultural variations in its components (happiness, meaning, harmony, spirituality), and mapped happiness mechanisms globally. These findings offer a more nuanced perspective on well-being, moving beyond a purely Westernized view.
• Novel Frameworks: Our research delves into the relationships between power structures, societal development, and subjective well-being. We have developed a novel "subjective well-being pyramid" framework and explored the understudied area of folk theories on modernization. These frameworks provide new tools for future research in cross-cultural psychology.
• Culturally Sensitive Measures: The project created methodologies for culturally sensitive measures of happiness and societal development. These instruments will be invaluable for future cross-cultural research, ensuring data collection that is accurate and meaningful across diverse populations.
The project''s findings extend beyond psychology and have the potential to inform other disciplines:
• Economics and Public Policy: By understanding the links between societal development goals, cultural values, and well-being, policymakers can design more effective interventions interventions – in education, health, care, social services and in immigration policy - to promote economic development and societal well-being.
• Sociology and Anthropology: Our research on cultural universals and differences, societal emotional environments, and folk theories of modernization provides valuable insights for these fields. It can inform their understanding of cultural variations in social structures, values, and change processes.
Evolutionary Insights and Positive Psychology
• The project has also significantly contributed to critically developing evolutionary insights and models for understanding human flourishing. For positive psychology, the project has provided insights into the mechanisms of the altruistic, interpersonal
sources of well-being. A key finding regarded the difference in altruistic strategies based on the cultural history and experience of the community in which our informants grew up. We showed how different communities offer distinct opportunities for voluntarism and other altruistic work, which explains some of the difference between diverse societies'' ideals of well-being.
• Our evolutionary approach bridges positive psychology and the evolutionary sciences. Some work has been done on well-being by evolutionary scholars, but little and far apart. In the past few years, there has been a tendency for greater activity at this
intersection of disciplines. Our work contributes to this renewal of interdisciplinarity and will hopefully inspire additional research within what is known as evolutionary positive psychology.
Summary of bilateral results
The project was designed as international, so that it is highly multi-cultural: both in terms of methodology and international collaboration. Thus, this apsect is a trully strong point of the project, and number of international collaboratirs is impressive. The results were published internationally and presented on international conferences.