Byron G. Adams

Socially desirable responding : enhancement and denial in 20 countries

This article investigated the dimensionality, measurement invariance, and cross-cultural variations of social desirability. A total of 3,471 university students from 20 countries completed an adapted version of the Marlowe–Crowne scale. A two-dimensional structure was revealed in the pooled sample, distinguishing enhancement (endorsement of positive self-description) and denial (rejection of negative self-description). The factor structure was supported in most countries; medium-sized item bias was found in two denial items. In a multilevel analysis, we found that (a) there was more cross-cultural variation in denial than enhancement; (b) females tended to score higher on enhancement whereas males tended to score higher on denial; (c) the Human Development Index, an indicator of country socioeconomic development, was the best (negative) predictor of denial; and (d) both enhancement and denial seemed to be associated with country-level values and personality pertinent to “fitting in.” We conclude that social desirability has a positive and a negative impression management dimension that are meaningfully associated with country-level characteristics, and we argue that social desirability is better interpreted as culturally regulated response amplification.

Americanization in the Rainbow Nation Remote Acculturation and Psychological Well-Being of South African Emerging Adults

This article expands remote acculturation research by exploring the presence, vehicles, and well-being implications of Americanization in a racially diverse group of post-Apartheid emerging adults in Johannesburg, South Africa (N = 370, Mage = 19.8 years: 63% Black, 21% White, 11% Indian, and 5% Coloured). Cluster analyses revealed three Americanized South African clusters constituting 71% of the sample (i.e., African-Americanized, European-Americanized, and Multicultural-Americanized), and one culturally traditional cluster (29%). Receiving U.S. goods and consuming U.S. fast food were the primary vehicles of Americanization. European-Americanized youth had higher life satisfaction than Traditionals and lower psychological distress than African-Americanized youth, after controlling for race. However, remote acculturation was not linked to family values or family conflict. Taken together with prior research, the bicultural and multicultural patterns of remote acculturation profiles appear to be culture universals, although the form (e.g., remote culture targeted) and well-being implications of remote acculturation (i.e., psychological and family) appear to be culture-specific.

Identity in Descriptions of Others Across Ethnic Groups in South Africa

We examined the structure of identity implied in descriptions of others in four South African ethnic groups (Black, Coloured, Indian, and White). We tested the validity of an identity model with attributes, relational orientation, situational aspects, ideology, and valence as constituent dimensions of other-identity, and social distance as a moderator of constituent dimensions. Data were collected from 1,160 participants who provided descriptions of individuals they knew (parents, friends, grandparents, neighbors, and teachers) in semistructured interviews. Results confirmed that relational orientation provides a better conceptual framework of other-identity than individualism–collectivism: Personal orientation (individualism) and collective membership orientation (collectivism) are situated at the endpoints of the relational orientation dimension, with implicit and explicit relational orientation placed in between. We found that ethnic differences are most salient in implicit and explicit relational orientation categories in White and Black South Africans, respectively. We found that the identity of distal individuals was described in less abstract and more norm-regulated terms than the identity of proximal individuals. We concluded that all dimensions of the model are relevant for other-identity.

Measurement Invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale Among Adolescents and Emerging Adults Across 23 Cultural Contexts

There is hardly any cross-cultural research on the measurement invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scales (BMSLSS). The current article evaluates the measurement invariance of the BMSLSS across cultural contexts. This cross-sectional study sampled 7,739 adolescents and emerging adults in 23 countries. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of configural and partial measurement weights invariance models, indicating similar patterns and strengths in factor loading for both adolescents and emerging adults across various countries. We found insufficient evidence for scalar invariance in both the adolescents’ and the emerging adults’ samples. A multi-level confirmatory factor analysis indicated configural invariance of the structure at country and individual level. Internal consistency, evaluated by alpha and omega coefficients per country, yielded acceptable results. The translated BMSLSS across different cultural contexts presents good psychometric characteristics similar to what has been reported in the original scale, though scalar invariance remains problematic. Our results indicate that the BMSLSS forms a brief measure of life satisfaction, which has accrued substantial evidence of construct validity, thus suitable for use in cross-cultural surveys with adolescents and emerging adults, although evaluation of degree of invariance must be carried out to ensure its suitability for mean comparisons.

Identity and acculturation: The case for Africa

Despite the multicultural nature of African societies, there is still very little knowledge about acculturation and its association with identity on this continent. Acculturation processes and outcomes are strongly associated with identity. The objective of this article is to relate different models of acculturation (unidimensional, bi-dimensional, multidimensional) with the tri-dimensional model of identity (personal, relational, and social). Social identity components, such as ethnicity, religion, and culture, suggest a need for modification of Western models of acculturation to embrace the multifaceted realities of non-Western multicultural societies. The social complexity and the continuous transition within African societies provides unique opportunities to examine and further develop the multidimensional acculturation models to take into account the social complexity which informs identity issues both within and across different African nations.

On enhancing the cross-cultural comparability of Likert-Scale Personality and Value Measures: A comparison of common procedures : Enhancing comparability

This study aims to evaluate a number of procedures that have been proposed to enhance cross–cultural comparability of personality and value data. A priori procedures (anchoring vignettes and direct measures of response styles (i.e. acquiescence, extremity, midpoint responding, and social desirability), a posteriori procedures focusing on data transformations prior to analysis (ipsatization and item parcelling), and two data modelling procedures (treating data as continuous vs as ordered categories) were compared using data collected from university students in 16 countries. We found that (i) anchoring vignettes showed lack of invariance, so they were not bias–free; (ii) anchoring vignettes showed higher internal consistencies than raw scores where all other correction procedures, notably ipsatization, showed lower internal consistencies; (iii) in measurement invariance testing, no procedure yielded scalar invariance; anchoring vignettes and item parcelling slightly improved comparability, response style correction did not affect it, and ipsatization resulted in lower comparability; (iv) treating Likert–scale data as categorical resulted in higher levels of comparability; (v) factor scores of scales extracted from different procedures showed similar correlational patterning; and (vi) response style correction was the only procedure that suggested improvement in external validity of country–level conscientiousness. We conclude that, although no procedure resolves all comparability issues, anchoring vignettes, parcelling, and treating data as ordered categories seem promising to alleviate incomparability. We advise caution in uncritically applying any of these procedures. Copyright

Identity experiences of black people in the Netherlands

In this study, we used the tri-dimensional model of identity and acculturation strategies to explore how black people living in the Netherlands define themselves. We used a qualitative survey design in which 14 participants (females = 8; age range 21 to 58) completed open-ended questions about their experiences of being black in the Netherlands. Data was analysed using hermeneutic phenomenology in three steps: naive understanding, structural analysis, and comprehensive understanding. We derived several main themes: Acceptance; Inclusion; Stereotypes; Social membership; Person-specific characteristics; Separation (Contributors); and Social Status. We associated the themes Acceptance, Inclusion, and Separation (Contributors) with acculturation and acculturative strategies. The other themes can be connected to the tri-dimensional identity model. Social membership and Social status are related to the social and relational aspects of identity, while Person-specific characteristics can be linked to personal identity. Lastly, the theme Stereotypes can be related to both acculturation and racism, but also personal identity as it shows how the participants perceive their self-concept to contradict the beliefs that mainstream Dutch society holds about them. We conclude that identity construction among the black respondents was reliant on both their ethnic community membership and their membership of the mainstream Dutch community.

The construct validation of the Relationship Harmony and Soft–Heartedness Scales of the South African Personality Inventory

This study forms part of the South African Personality Inventory project that aims to develop: (a) an indigenous theoretical model of personality; and (b) a unique personality measure that is in line with South African legislation and that can be used fairly to assess personality across different South African language and cultural groups. In line with this mandate, the objectives in this study were twofold: first, to validate the Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness Scales of the South African Personality Inventory and to determine whether these constructs are unique and distinct from the Big Five personality factors, and second, to determine whether Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness are predictive of an external criterion, prosocial behaviour. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design with convenience sampling was used. Data were gathered from students (N = 431) at two tertiary institutions in South Africa, using preliminary Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness Scales, the Basic Traits Inventory (Short form: Research Version), and the Prosocialness Scale. Results indicated that the Relationship Harmony and Soft-Heartedness Scales yielded five and six reliable factors, respectively, and presented good content, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity, adding substantial predictive value for prosocial behaviour over and above the Big Five Model.

The kaleidoscope of language, ethnicity, and identity in Uzbekistan

The historical and political situation of Uzbekistan created a unique context where language and ethnicity do not completely overlap for all groups. The study focused on three groups of Uzbeks: Uzbek Uzbek speakers, Russian Russian speakers, and Uzbek Russian speakers. We explored how national, ethnic, ethnolinguistic, and religious identities are associated with interethnic friendship and romantic relationships in these three groups. Identities that are more inclusive (national and ethnolinguistic) were associated with more positive interethnic attitudes and practices, while the opposite was found for ethnic identity. The national, ethnic, ethnolinguistic, and religious identities were strongest for Uzbek-speaking Uzbeks and weakest for the Russian-speaking Russians. Our study demonstrated the relevance of a profound knowledge of the local history and context to understand the role of the various social identities for the groups in Uzbekistan.

“Get Up, Stand Up, Stand Up for Your Rights!” The Jamaicanization of Youth Across 11 Countries Through Reggae Music?

We investigated whether Reggae preferences are associated with similar values across cultures compared with its culture of origin—Jamaica. Remote acculturation predicts that Reggae listeners across countries will share similar cultural values with Reggae listeners in Jamaica regardless of their cultural or geographical distance from the Caribbean island. We analyzed the correlations between preferences for Reggae music and Schwartz’s 10 value types in university student samples from Jamaica and 11 other societies in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia (total N = 2,561). In Jamaica, preferences for Reggae music were most strongly correlated with openness to change values and self-enhancement values. Across the other cultures, openness to change was the value dimension most strongly correlated with Reggae preference. Results also indicate some variations in Reggae’s value associations and its similarity to the culture of origin. Reggae’s value associations were more similar to Jamaica’s in samples that are closer culturally in terms of Individualism/Collectivism scores, and closer geographically in terms of kilometers. In sum, results provide some support for remote value acculturation via Reggae listening across countries (i.e., “Jamaicanization”) moderated by cultural and geographical proximity.