Workaholism across European and Asian cultures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current cross-cultural study examined the construct of workaholism across European and Asian cultures during the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A total of 2,617 recipients, aged 18-80 years from three Asian countries (China, India, and Indonesia) with higher levels of collectivistic values, and three European countries (Bulgaria, Germany, and Hungary) supposing to have higher individualistic values. The participants completed the online version of the two-dimensional measure, dubbed the Dutch Workaholism Scale (DUWAS). The goal of the study was to demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the cultural context that mediates and influences the way of change in workaholics' attitudes. The results led to the conclusion that the way in which the COVID-19 crisis affects workaholism and workaholics' behavior depends on cultural and sex differences, and stages of the human life cycle. The data analysis revealed that cultural differences and sex affect the configuration of workaholism (excessive/compulsive): in the Asian sample, unlike the European, there was a significant increase in the level of workaholism compulsive; European female participants reported higher levels of workaholism compulsive and workaholism excessive, but the sex difference was not found in Asian sample. Along with cultural context, and sex differences, age also influences the configuration of workaholism. In this case, the separate stages of the human life cycle contribute in different ways to changes in levels of workaholism excessive and workaholism compulsive.

Health locus of control in a pandemic situation: cross-cultural differences between European and Asian respondents.

BACKGROUND: The present cross-cultural study examined the health locus of control construct during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scientific purpose of the study was to determine whether, during the pandemic situation, cultural and sex differences influence the health locus of control construct and change the internal health locus of control (IHLC), powerful others health locus of control (PHLC), and chance health locus of control (CHLC). PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: A total of 2617 recipients aged 18-70 years from Asia (China, India, and Indonesia), and Europe (Bulgaria, Germany, and Hungary) completed a questionnaire about their health. The participants completed an online version of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale - Form A. RESULTS: The survey shows that in a pandemic life-threatening situation, most individuals strive to rely on IHLC and/or PHLC, and fewer of them tend to rely on CHLC. However, there are differences (p < .001) between the two cultural samples: the representatives of Asian collectivistic culture are more dominated by PHLC, compared to the representatives of the European individualistic culture. When the comparison is between individuals from different cultures, sex differentiation affects the health locus of control, and as a result, significant differences in relation to IHLC, PHLC, and CHLC levels (p < .05) appear. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the study indicates that cultural differences influence both the IHLC and PHLC levels, and that Asian participants are dominated by PHLC more than European respondents. Asian females are more likely to seek support from powerful others (PHLC) compared to European women, who perceive themselves as more independent. Asian male participants are prepared to rely on powerful others (doctors or medical institutions), while European male respondents are prone to rely on themselves mainly (IHLC). The results show that sex differences do not significantly affect the health locus of control within the same cultural group.

Framing unauthorized immigrants: the effects of labels on evaluations.

In the U.S. media, unauthorized immigrants are often interchangeably referred to as "illegal aliens," "illegal immigrants," and undocumented immigrants." In spite of formal equivalence, these terms carry different connotations, but the effects of these labels on people's attitudes toward immigrants are not well documented. In this replication study, 274 undergraduate students in psychology responded to one of three randomly distributed versions of a 20-item scale measuring attitudes toward unauthorized immigration. The items in the three scale versions varyingly referred to immigrants using the three terms. Results showed differences in attitudes toward unauthorized immigration between all experimental conditions. The label "illegal immigrants" yielded significantly less positive attitudes compared to the label "undocumented immigrants," and respondents exposed to the label "illegal aliens" showed the most positive attitudes. Furthermore, the effects of the experimental conditions were not moderated by the respondents' patriotism, sex, or own immigrant background.

Scale development to measure attitudes toward unauthorized migration into a foreign country.

This study reports on the development and cross-national utility of a Likert type scale measuring attitudes toward unauthorized migration into a foreign country in two samples from "migrant-sending" nations. In the first phase a pool of 86 attitude statements were administered to a sample of 505 undergraduate students in Bulgaria (22.5% male; M age = 23, SD = 4.8). Exploratory factor analysis resulted in six factors, and a reduction to 34 items. The results yielded an overall alpha of (0.92) and alpha for subscales ranging from 0.70 to 0.89. In the second phase the 34-item scale was administered in a survey of 180 undergraduates from Sofia University in Bulgaria (16.7% male, M age = 23, SD = 4.8), plus 150 undergraduates from Hanoi State University in Vietnam (14.7% male, M age = 19, SD = 1.8). Results yielded a 19-item scale with no gender differences, and satisfactory alpha coefficients for a Vietnamese and Bulgarian sample of 0.87 and 0.89 respectively. This scale, equally applicable in both samples, includes items that reflect salient topics of concept of attitudes towards unauthorized migration. An exploratory principal component analysis of the Bulgarian and Vietnamese version of the 19-item scale yielded three factors accounting for 54% and 47% of the variance respectively. A procrustes analysis indicates high conceptual equivalence in the two samples for factor 1 and 2, and moderate for factor 3. This study lends support to the idea that despite different cultural meanings there is a common meaning space in culturally diverse societies.

Developing attitude statements toward illegal immigration: transcultural reliability and utility.

This is a report on the utility of a scale measuring attitudes toward illegal immigrants in two samples from nations that have more people moving out of the country than moving into the country. The Attitude toward Illegal Immigrants Scale was administered to 219 undergraduates from Sofia University in Bulgaria, and 179 undergraduates from Hanoi State University in Vietnam. Results yielded a scale with no sex differences, and acceptable alpha coefficients. Item analysis identified the most contributory and least contributory items, with considerable overlap in the two samples. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation was carried out to examine the structure.

Structure of attitudes toward illegal immigration: development of cross-national cumulative scales.

This research examined the possibility of developing Mokken cumulative scales measuring attitudes toward illegal immigrants in a 9-nation sample. A total of 1,407 respondents primarily from national and regional universities participated in the surveys including the 20-item Illegal Immigration Scale. The scales displayed acceptable reliability with coefficients alpha ranging from .79 to .93. A Procrustes analysis yielded coefficients of congruence with the previously established three-factor solution. The amount of variance accounted for varied between 33.1 and 54.7%, supporting the presence of other factors in attitudes toward illegal immigrants. Mokken scale analysis yielded robust and economical scales in two clusters of national samples.

Attitudes toward illegal immigration: a cross-national methodological comparison.

This research is an examination of the generalizability of a Likert-type scale originally devised to measure attitudes toward illegal immigrants (IA) in the United States. The current authors administered this scale across 4 national samples using several methodological procedures. Undergraduate students (631) responded to the IA scale (R. Ommundsen & K. S. Larsen, 1997) at the University of Oslo, Oregon State University, the University of Copenhagen, and Vrije University of Amsterdam. The authors' main purpose was to evaluate the adequacy of the 20-item IA scale by examining possible problems with method and translation. A translation study carried out with the Danish, Norwegian, and Dutch samples (N = 299) showed that the various national versions were fairly accurate and contained largely the same meanings. The use of procrustes analysis of the IA scale yielded 3 factors in all 4 national samples. The coefficient of congruence of these 3 orthogonally rotated factor matrices, with the U.S. factor matrix as target, varied from .80 to .95, supporting the cross-national robustness of the scale. In the search for a more economical cumulative scale, a Mokken analysis yielded a 5-item scale that represented the aforementioned 3 factors and was stable across national samples.