Alena Slezáčková

Cross-cultural differences on Gunas and other well-being dimensions

Indian perspective of human nature and personality are often viewed through a trigunas perspective-Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The current study investigated the triadic gunas and well-being dimensions across 3 nations India (n=493; 194 males and 299 females; mean age=21.73 years, SD=3.23), USA (n=302; 80 males and 222 females; mean age=22.90years, SD=2.78) and Czech Republic (n=353; 67 males and 286 females; mean age=22.29years, SD=2.29) with a total of 1148 participants. Triguna Personality (Vedic Personality inventory) and well- being dimensions measured by Mental Health Continuum- Short Form, Flourishing scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences (MHC-SF, FS and SPANE) differed across countries. Triguna were correlated with MHC-SF and its clusters, FS and SPANE. Regression analysis revealed that Trigunas accounted significantly for well-being dimensions, for instance, Sattva accounted for 48% variance in Czechs, 56% in Indians and 55% in Americans, Rajas accounted for 21% variance in Czechs, 08% in Indians and 54% in Americans and Tamas accounted for 50% variance in Czechs, 20% in Indians and 64% in Americans. The results reinforce that trigunas personality significantly predict well-being dimensions.

The role of life values in subjective well-being among Czech and Maltese university students

In our cross-cultural comparative study, we aimed to explore the level of subjective well-being and hierarchy of life values among Czech and Maltese university students. The links between life values and cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being were also investigated. The research sample (N = 280, aged 18 to 30 years, M = 21.9 years, SD = 2.5) consisted of 165 Czech and 115 Maltese university students, who completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Happiness Measure, and the Valued Living Questionnaire. The results showed that Czech and Maltese samples did not significantly differ in the levels of life satisfaction and happiness. Differences were revealed in the hierarchy of life values and in their relationship to subjective well-being in the two samples. Our study has shown that cultures might differ in the amount of importance they assign to various life values, and that cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being might be predicted by unique variables in different national samples.

Psychosocial Correlates and Predictors of Perceived Hope Across Cultures: A Study of Czech and Maltese Contexts

The main aim of the chapter is to present the results of a research study exploring the correlates and predictors of perceived hope among Czech and Maltese populations. We examined the levels of perceived hope, optimism, life satisfaction, positive relations, loneliness, generativity, and spirituality, and investigated whether there are any significant differences related to gender, age, family status, education level, religious beliefs, and engagement in voluntary activities. The sample consisted of 177 Czech and 90 Maltese respondents aged between 18 and 79 years. In both samples, the most important significant predictor of perceived hope was dispositional optimism. In the Czech sample, higher perceived hope was also predicted by higher generativity and lower loneliness, while in the Maltese sample an important role was played by spirituality, which was found to be the second independent predictor of perceived hope. An analysis of the effect of demographic factors showed some culture-specific differences.

Chování související se zdravím: determinanty, modely a konsekvence

Monografie shrnuje hlavni výstupy výzkumu podporovaneho agenturou GACR s nazvem Chovani zdravi podporujici a chovani zdravi ohrožujici: determinanty, modely, konsekvence. Integruje pět studii rozdělených do jednotlivých kapitol, ktere řesi problematiku vztahů komponent chovani souvisejiciho se zdravim s vybranými osobnostnimi charakteristikami, konstrukty optimismu a pesimismu, naději, ontogenezi a neuropsychologickými jevy. Prezentovane poznatky a vyvozene zavěry přispivaji nejen k hlubsimu teoretickemu pochopeni sledovaných vztahů, ale take k prakticke podpoře seberegulacnich mechanismů ctenařů vedoucich k peci o jejich vlastni zdravi. Publikace je urcena odborne veřejnosti, tematicky oslovuje předevsim odborniky a studenty v oblasti psychologie, zdravotnictvi, pedagogiky a dalsich socialnich věd, kterým je blizka problematika lidskeho zdravi.

Are virtues national, supranational, or universal?

Many studies investigated cultural differences in values, most notably by Hofstede and Schwarz. Relatively few have focused on virtues, a related and important concept in contemporary social science. The present paper examines the similarities and differences between nations, or blocks of - culturally related - nations on the perceived importance of virtues. Adults (N = 2.809 students) from 14 countries were asked to freely mention which virtues they found important to practice in daily life, and next to rate a list of 15 virtues, which reflect the most frequently mentioned categories in The Netherlands, as found in a previous study. The 14 nations included the United States, Mexico, nine European and three Asian nations. For the free-listed virtues, we compared the top-ten lists of most frequently mentioned virtues across the nations. We used a correspondence analysis on the frequency table to assess the relationships between the virtues and nations. For the 15 virtues ratings, a MANOVA, and follow-up ANOVA’s were used to examine effects of nation, age, gender and religion. We found strong evidence for relationships between nations and blocks of culturally related nations and the importance attached to various virtues. There appear to be some country specific virtues, such as generosity in France, but also some relatively universal virtues, most notably honesty, respect, and kindness.