Developing and Evaluating the Social Axioms Survey in Eleven Countries: Its Relationship With the Five-Factor Model of Personality

Kwok Leung, Ben C.P. Lam, Michael Harris Bond, Lucian Gideon Conway, Laura Janelle Gornick, Benjamin Amponsah, Klaus Boehnke, Georgi Dragolov, Steven Michael Burgess, Maha Golestaneh, Holger Busch, Jan Hofer, Alejandra Carmen Dominguez del Espinosa, Makon Fardis, Rosnah Ismail, Jenny Kurman, Nadezhda Lebedeva, Alexander N. Tatarko, David Lackland Sam, Maria Luisa Mendes TeixeiraSusumu Yamaguchi, Ai Fukuzawa, Jianxin Zhang, Fan Zhou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Based on a deductive, culturally decentered approach, new items were generated to improve the reliability of the original Social Axioms Survey, which measures individuals' general beliefs about the world. In Study 1, results from 11 countries support the original five-factor structure and achieve higher reliability for the axiom dimensions as measured by the new scale. Moreover, moderate but meaningful associations between axiom and Big-Five personality dimensions were found. Temporal change of social axioms at the culture level was examined and found to be moderate. In Study 2, additional new items were generated for social complexity and fate control, then assessed in Hong Kong and the United States. Reliability was further improved for both dimensions. Additionally, two subfactors of fate control were identified: fate determinism and fate alterability. Fate determinism, but not fate alterability, related positively to neuroticism. Other relationships between axiom and personality dimensions were similar to those reported in Study 1. The short forms of the axiom dimensions were generally reliable and correlated highly with the long forms. This research thus provides a stronger foundation for applying the construct of social axioms around the world.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)833-857
Number of pages25
JournalJournal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Volume43
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2012

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project is supported by a research grant provided by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (CityU 1466/05H).

Keywords

  • attitudes
  • beliefs
  • personality
  • social cognition
  • values

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Cultural Studies
  • Anthropology

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