Marisela Hernández

Social Axioms: The Search for Universal Dimensions of General Beliefs about How the World Functions

To broaden our conceptual framework for understanding cultural differences, the present article reports two studies that examined whether pancultural dimensions based on general beliefs, or social axioms, can be identified in persons from five cultures. A Social Axioms Survey was constructed, based on both previous psychological research primarily in Europe and North America on beliefs and qualitative research conducted in Hong Kong and Venezuela. Factor analyses of these beliefs from student as well as adult samples revealed a pancultural, five-factor structure, with dimensions labeled as: cynicism, social complexity, reward for application, spirituality, and fate control. In the second study, this five-factor structure, with the possible exception of fate control, was replicated with college students from Japan, the United States, and Germany. The potential implications of a universal, five-factor structure of individual social beliefs were discussed, along with the relation of this structure to indigenous belief systems and to culture-level analyses.

Study of Environmental Factors Associated with Primary Health Care

The objective was to explore the health implications of the environment as observed in poor urban communities and their formal and informal health agents. Data were gathered through photographs, observational guides, and semistructured interviews. A contrast was observed between the housing interior cleanliness. There was an absence of urban environmental components that encourage leisure-time activities and/or cohesion in the community. No mention was made of the necessity for recreational environments. None of the group of informants was aware of how housing components other than those provided by the public services influence peoples health. The people of the communities demonstrated some understanding of the environment/health relationship but focused on the global problems of barrios. Similar results were found among the informal health agents. The formal health team managed problems at the urban level, not at the individual-housing level, although they do present some more specific details.