CIS

The first author received funding from the Commission of the European Communities as a Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant (FP/-PEOPLE-2007-4-3-IRG) under grant agreement number PIRG02-GA-224818 for data analysis and write-up. We want to thank our anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions, and Ruth Lamont and Jaimee Stuart for their help with the preparation of the manuscript.Social support takes on a special significance in the context of sojourners. Using the matching/specificity hypothesis we hypothesized that sojourners’ satisfaction is increased if there is an optimal match between type and source of social support. The Index of Sojourner Social Support (ISSS; Ong &Ward, 2005) Scale was used to examine this hypothesis in the context of instrumental and socioemotional support for sojourners on work assignments. The results showed that (a) both types of social support are positively related to satisfaction with the sojourn, (b) socioemotional support is more important in predicting satisfaction with a sojourn than instrumental support, and (c) support from locals is the most important source of social support. Furthermore, we found partial support for the matching/specificity hypothesis: Only the amount of support from locals was a significant moderator and only the relationship between socioemotional support and satisfaction with a sojourn was moderated. We discuss the relevance of source and type of support for cultural adjustment and the importance of contact with locals during international sojourns.Le soutien social prend une signification spéciale dans le contexte d’une résidence à l’étranger. À partir de l’hypothèse de l’accord/spécificité, nous avons fait l’hypothèse que la satisfaction des résidents à l’étranger est plus grande s’il y a un accord optimal entre le type et la source de soutien social. L’Index of Sojourner Social Support Scale (ISSS; Ong et Ward, 2005) a été utilisé pour vérifier cette hypothèse dans le contexte du soutien instrumental et socio-émotionnel pour les résidents à l’étranger en missions de travail. Les résultats ont montré que (a) les deux types de soutien social ont une relation positive avec la satisfaction à l’égard de la résidence, (b) le soutien socio-émotionnel est plus important pour prédire la satisfaction à l’égard de la résidence que le soutien instrumental et (c) que le soutien venant des gens du pays est la source de soutien social la plus importante. De plus, nous avons trouvé une confirmation partielle de l’hypothèse de l’accord/spécificité. Il n’y a que le soutien des gens du pays qui s’est avéré un modérateur significatif et seulement la relation entre le soutien socio-émotionnel et la satisfaction avec la résidence a été modérée. Nous discutons de la pertinence de la source et du type de soutien pour l’adaptation culturelle et l’importance du contact avec les gens du pays lors de résidences à l’étranger internationales.El apoyo social cobra significado especial en el contexto de los residentes extranjeros temporarios. Utilizando la hipótesis de apareamiento/especificidad, se hipotetizó que aumenta la satisfacción del residente extranjero temporario si hay un apareamiento óptimo entre tipo y fuente de apoyo social. Se utilizó la escala Index of Sojourner Social Support (ISSS; Ong & Ward, 2005) para examinar esta hipótesis en el contexto del apoyo instrumental y socioemocional de los residentes extranjeros temporarios al realizar proyectos laborales. Los resultados mostraron que (a) ambos tipos de apoyo social están relacionados de manera positiva con la satisfacción de la estadía, (b) el apoyo socioemocional es más importante que el apoyo instrumental a la hora de predecir la satisfacción con la estadía, y (c) el apoyo de los residentes locales es la fuente más importante de apoyo social. Además, se halló apoyo parcial para la hipótesis de apareamiento/especificidad: Solamente la cantidad de apoyo de parte de los residentes locales fue un moderador significativo, y solamente la relación entre el apoyo socioemocional y satisfacción con la estadía fue moderado. Se analiza la relevancia de la fuente y tipo de apoyo para la adaptación cultural como también la importancia del contacto con los residentes locales durante las estadías internacionales.

Shared values are typically seen as one of the core aspects of culture. The usual procedure for deriving shared cultural values is through analyzing individuals' value priorities at the cultural-level. This paper outlines the conceptual and methodological problems associated with this procedure. Findings from selected empirical studies are presented to corroborate this critique. Alternative ways of measuring cultural values at the individual-level are presented and classified into a value taxonomy. Within this taxonomy past studies have so far focused on measuring values through importance ratings reflecting what individuals or social groups "desire". However, the argument is made that if cultural values are supposed to be shared they should reflect what is "desirable", i.e. what one "ought" to value or to strive for as a goal in life in a certain society. This constitutes a new approach for the measurement of cultural values. It is proposed that cultural values are measurable at the individual-level using the concept of morality. Suggestions are made how moral values could be operationalized referring to either the individual's moral values or those of a social group. The benefits of the value taxonomy for future research are eventually described.

... Predictors of attitudes to age across Europe Dominic Abrams, Christin-Melanie Vauclair and Hannah Swift A report of research carried out by the Centre for the Study of Group Processes, University of Kent on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions Page 2. ...

Despite age-related changes or declines in circumstances, health or income, many older people are able to maintain subjective well-being (SWB) in later life. This is known as the paradox of well-being. To date, much research has focused on either individual- (e.g., age, health, and income) or country-level (e.g., national wealth, inequality) differences in SWB. The present research investigates how these levels combine, and whether the paradox of well-being persists across different economic contexts. This research uses the 2008-2009 European Social Survey to test the multilevel hypothesis that economic circumstances, reflected by a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), affect the paradox of well-being, that is, the relationship between age and SWB. Analyses also account for other relevant psychological, individual, and country differences. Possible avenues by which GDP affects SWB are also explored. The multilevel analysis revealed that GDP disproportionally affects the SWB of older people relative to younger people, and that the paradox of well-being is only observed in countries with higher GDP. The findings clarify the relationship between age and SWB by demonstrating that the paradox of well-being is conditional on the economic context. Implications for individual- and country-level strategies for successful aging are discussed.

ABSTRACT Whether moral conceptions are universal or culture-specific is controversial in moral psychology. One option is to refrain from imposing theoretical constraints and to ask laypeople from different cultures how they conceptualize morality. Our article adopts this approach by examining laypeople’s associations of moral character in individualistic- and collectivistic-oriented cultures. Using correspondence analysis we found that the concept of moral character yielded widely shared associations with justice and welfare concerns. Yet, there were also clear cultural differences with individualistic-oriented samples associating more frequently rights-based features and collectivistic-oriented samples more frequently associating duty-based attributes. When matching freelisted trait categories with Schwartz’s value types, moral value hierarchies were similar across cultures and correlated significantly with explicit moral value ratings. We conclude that imposing constraints through an expert-designed category system can narrow the scope of inquiry to common moral aspects related to problem-solving, promotion of prosocial actions and control of antisocial behaviour.

To test and expand upon modernization theory's account of subjective social status (SSS) of older people in society. It was hypothesized that perceptions of older people's social status should be higher in more modernized countries and that the proportion of older people in employment should moderate the relationship between modernization and SSS of older people. Data were from the "Experiences and Expressions of Ageism" module in the fourth round of the European Social Survey. The sample analyzed included 45,706 individuals from 25 countries in the European region. Multilevel modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The SSS of older people (aged 70 years and older) was perceived to be higher in countries with very high levels of modernization and in countries with a higher proportion of older people in employment. The positive association between modernization and SSS of older people was stronger within countries with a lower proportion of older people in employm...

The relative income hypothesis predicts poorer health in societies with greater income inequality. This article examines whether the psychosocial factors of perceived age discrimination and (lack of) social capital may help explain the adverse effect of inequality on older people's health. Self-rated health, perceived age discrimination, and social capital were assessed in the 2008/9 European Social Survey (European Social Survey Round 4 Data, 2008). The Gini coefficient was used to represent national inequalities in income in each of the 28 European Social Survey countries. Mediation analyses (within a multilevel structural equation modeling paradigm) on a subsample of respondents over 70 years of age (N = 7,819) were used to examine whether perceived age discrimination mediates the negative effect of income inequality on older people's self-rated health. Perceived age discrimination fully mediated the associations between income inequality and self-rated health. When socia...