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Publications (10 of 146) Show all publications
Eriksson, K. & Simpson, B. (2025). Is the Welfare State Bad for Citizens' Moral Character?: Beliefs and Evidence. SOCIUS, 11, Article ID 23780231251315788.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Is the Welfare State Bad for Citizens' Moral Character?: Beliefs and Evidence
2025 (English)In: SOCIUS, ISSN 2378-0231, Vol. 11, article id 23780231251315788Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Conservative thinkers have long warned that the welfare state may weaken society's moral fiber. But this claim has not been empirically examined. The authors link publicly available data on the sizes of welfare states with behavioral data from a recent study in which thousands of lost wallets were distributed in 40 countries to measure how often they were returned to their owners. A preregistered study (n = 194) confirmed that U.S. Republicans perceive returning lost wallets as a good indicator of moral character and believe that people's moral character is worse in countries where the welfare state is larger. Contrary to this belief, the linked data indicate a strong positive relationship between the size of welfare states and moral character: rates of returned wallets were higher in countries with historically large welfare states, net of economic prosperity and economic inequality. The authors conclude with tentative implications and suggestions for further work.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2025
Keywords
welfare states, political ideology, morality, social responsibility, prosocial behavior
National Category
Economics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-70124 (URN)10.1177/23780231251315788 (DOI)001412080100001 ()2-s2.0-85216800142 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2025-02-12 Created: 2025-02-12 Last updated: 2025-02-12Bibliographically approved
Eriksson, K., Vartanova, I. & Strimling, P. (2024). A cultural evolution theory for contemporary polarization trends in moral opinions. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), Article ID 1652.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A cultural evolution theory for contemporary polarization trends in moral opinions
2024 (English)In: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, E-ISSN 2662-9992, Vol. 11, no 1, article id 1652Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

While existing theories of political polarization tend to suggest that the opinions of liberals and conservatives move in opposite directions, available data indicate that opinions on a wide range of moral issues move in the liberal direction among both liberals and conservatives. Moreover, some political scientists have hypothesized that this movement follows an S-shaped curve among liberals and a similar, but later, S-shaped curve among conservatives, so that polarization on a given issue first increases (as opinions at an initial stage move faster among liberals) and then decreases (as opinions at a later stage move faster among conservatives). Here we show that these dynamics are explained by Moral Argument Theory, a cultural evolution theory positing that opinion shifts on moral issues arise from a certain content bias in social opinion transmission. This theory also yields several other specific predictions about trends and polarization in moral opinions, which we test against longitudinal data on 55 moral issues from the General Social Survey (sample sizes between 1798 and 57,809 per issue). The predictions are generally confirmed. We conclude that a cultural evolution perspective can provide valuable insights for social science in understanding contemporary societal changes.

National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-69364 (URN)10.1057/s41599-024-04194-9 (DOI)001370664600005 ()2-s2.0-85211610734 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-12-09 Created: 2024-12-09 Last updated: 2024-12-18Bibliographically approved
Eriksson, K., Sorjonen, K., Falkstedt, D., Melin, B. & Nilsonne, G. (2024). A formal model accounting for measurement reliability shows attenuated effect of higher education on intelligence in longitudinal data. Royal Society Open Science, 11(5), Article ID 230513.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A formal model accounting for measurement reliability shows attenuated effect of higher education on intelligence in longitudinal data
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2024 (English)In: Royal Society Open Science, E-ISSN 2054-5703, Vol. 11, no 5, article id 230513Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The effect of higher education on intelligence has been examined using longitudinal data. Typically, these studies reveal a positive effect, approximately 1 IQ point per year of higher education, particularly when pre-education intelligence is considered as a covariate in the analyses. However, such covariate adjustment is known to yield positively biased results if the covariate has measurement errors and is correlated with the predictor. Simultaneously, a negative bias may emerge if the intelligence measure after higher education has non-classical measurement errors as in data from the 1970 British Cohort Study that were used in a previous study of the effect of higher education. In response, we have devised an estimation method that used iterated simulations to account for both classical measurement errors in the covariate and non-classical errors in the dependent variable. Upon applying this method in a reanalysis of the data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, we find that the estimated effect of higher education diminishes to 0.4 IQ points per year. Additionally, our findings suggest that the impact of higher education is somewhat more pronounced in the initial 2 years of higher education, aligning with the notion of diminishing marginal cognitive benefits.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Royal Society Publishing, 2024
Keywords
ceiling effect, education, intelligence, mathematical model, reliability, simulation
National Category
Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-66666 (URN)10.1098/rsos.230513 (DOI)001225603300002 ()2-s2.0-85192963117 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-05-22 Created: 2024-05-22 Last updated: 2024-06-05Bibliographically approved
Andersson, P. A., Vartanova, I., Västfjäll, D., Tinghög, G., Strimling, P., Wu, J., . . . Eriksson, K. (2024). Anger and disgust shape judgments of social sanctions across cultures, especially in high individual autonomy societies. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article ID 5591.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Anger and disgust shape judgments of social sanctions across cultures, especially in high individual autonomy societies
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2024 (English)In: Scientific Reports, E-ISSN 2045-2322, Vol. 14, no 1, article id 5591Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

When someone violates a social norm, others may think that some sanction would be appropriate. We examine how the experience of emotions like anger and disgust relate to the judged appropriateness of sanctions, in a pre-registered analysis of data from a large-scale study in 56 societies. Across the world, we find that individuals who experience anger and disgust over a norm violation are more likely to endorse confrontation, ostracism and, to a smaller extent, gossip. Moreover, we find that the experience of anger is consistently the strongest predictor of judgments of confrontation, compared to other emotions. Although the link between state-based emotions and judgments may seem universal, its strength varies across countries. Aligned with theoretical predictions, this link is stronger in societies, and among individuals, that place higher value on individual autonomy. Thus, autonomy values may increase the role that emotions play in guiding judgments of social sanctions.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Nature Research, 2024
Keywords
anger, article, controlled study, cultural anthropology, decision making, disgust, emotion, human, major clinical study, male, ostracism, prediction, social norm
National Category
Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-66277 (URN)10.1038/s41598-024-55815-x (DOI)001179367600001 ()2-s2.0-85187119651 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-03-20 Created: 2024-03-20 Last updated: 2024-12-09Bibliographically approved
Andrighetto, G., Szekely, A., Guido, A., Gelfand, M., Abemathy, J., Arikan, G., . . . Eriksson, K. (2024). Changes in social norms during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic across 43 countries. Nature Communications, 15(1), Article ID 1436.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Changes in social norms during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic across 43 countries
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2024 (English)In: Nature Communications, E-ISSN 2041-1723, Vol. 15, no 1, article id 1436Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The emergence of COVID-19 dramatically changed social behavior across societies and contexts. Here we study whether social norms also changed. Specifically, we study this question for cultural tightness (the degree to which societies generally have strong norms), specific social norms (e.g. stealing, hand washing), and norms about enforcement, using survey data from 30,431 respondents in 43 countries recorded before and in the early stages following the emergence of COVID-19. Using variation in disease intensity, we shed light on the mechanisms predicting changes in social norm measures. We find evidence that, after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, hand washing norms increased while tightness and punishing frequency slightly decreased but observe no evidence for a robust change in most other norms. Thus, at least in the short term, our findings suggest that cultures are largely stable to pandemic threats except in those norms, hand washing in this case, that are perceived to be directly relevant to dealing with the collective threat. Tightness-looseness theory predicts that social norms strengthen following threat. Here the authors test this and find that, after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, hand washing norms increased, but no evidence was observed for a robust change in most other norms.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
NATURE PORTFOLIO, 2024
National Category
Health Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-66276 (URN)10.1038/s41467-024-44999-5 (DOI)001164810100037 ()38365869 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85185327632 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-03-20 Created: 2024-03-20 Last updated: 2024-03-20Bibliographically approved
Miu, E., Rendell, L., Bowles, S., Boyd, R., Cownden, D., Enquist, M., . . . Lala, K. N. (2024). The refinement paradox and cumulative cultural evolution: Complex products of collective improvement favor conformist outcomes, blind copying, and hyper-credulity. PloS Computational Biology, 20(9), e1012436-e1012436
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The refinement paradox and cumulative cultural evolution: Complex products of collective improvement favor conformist outcomes, blind copying, and hyper-credulity
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2024 (English)In: PloS Computational Biology, ISSN 1553-734X, E-ISSN 1553-7358, Vol. 20, no 9, p. e1012436-e1012436Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Social learning is common in nature, yet cumulative culture (where knowledge and technol-ogy increase in complexity and diversity over time) appears restricted to humans. To under-stand why, we organized a computer tournament in which programmed entries specifiedwhen to learn new knowledge and when to refine (i.e. improve) existing knowledge. Thetournament revealed a ‘refinement paradox’: refined behavior afforded higher payoffs asindividuals converged on a small number of successful behavioral variants, but refining didnot generally pay. Paradoxically, entries that refined only in certain conditions did best dur-ing behavioral improvement, while simple copying entries thrived when refinement levelswere high. Cumulative cultural evolution may be rare in part because sophisticated strate-gies for improving knowledge and technology are initially advantageous, yet complex cul-ture, once achieved, favors conformity, blind imitation and hyper-credulity.

National Category
Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-69365 (URN)10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012436 (DOI)39325687 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85204936508 (Scopus ID)
Funder
EU, European Research Council, EVOCULTURE, ref. 232823
Available from: 2024-12-09 Created: 2024-12-09 Last updated: 2024-12-09Bibliographically approved
Liu, Y., Stivers, A. W., Murphy, R. O., Van Doesum, N. J., Joireman, J., Gallucci, M., . . . Wildschut, T. (2024). Wherefore art thou competitors? How situational affordances help differentiate among prosociality, individualism, and competition. European Journal of Personality
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Wherefore art thou competitors? How situational affordances help differentiate among prosociality, individualism, and competition
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2024 (English)In: European Journal of Personality, ISSN 0890-2070, E-ISSN 1099-0984Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The Triple Dominance Measure (choosing between prosocial, individualistic, and competitive options) and the Slider Measure (“sliding” between various orientations, for example, from individualistic to prosocial) are two widely used techniques to measure social value orientation, that is, the weight individuals assign to own and others’ outcomes in interdependent situations. Surprisingly, there is only moderate correspondence between these measures, but it is unclear why and what the implications are for identifying individual differences in social value orientation. Using a dataset of 8021 participants from 31 countries and regions, this study revealed that the Slider Measure identified fewer competitors than the Triple Dominance Measure, accounting for approximately one-third of the non-correspondence between the two measures. This is (partially) because many of the Slider items do not afford a competitive option. In items where competition is combined with individualism, competitors tended to make the same choices as individualists. Futhermore, we demonstrated the uniqueness of competitors. Compared to prosocials and individualists, competitors exhibited lower levels of both social mindfulness and trust. Overall, the present work highlights the importance of situational affordances in measuring personality, the benefits of distinguishing between individualists and competitors, and the importance of utilizing a measure that distinguishes between these two proself orientations.

National Category
Other Social Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-69362 (URN)10.1177/08902070241298850 (DOI)001368446700001 ()
Available from: 2024-12-09 Created: 2024-12-09 Last updated: 2024-12-18Bibliographically approved
Simpson, B., Hazin, I. & Eriksson, K. (2024). Who Approves of Gossip, Ostracism, and Confrontation Following Norm Violations?: A Cross-Cultural Test of Gender Stereotypes. Social psychology quarterly
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Who Approves of Gossip, Ostracism, and Confrontation Following Norm Violations?: A Cross-Cultural Test of Gender Stereotypes
2024 (English)In: Social psychology quarterly, ISSN 0190-2725, E-ISSN 1939-8999Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Existing research and popular culture suggest that women are more approving of gossip. But are they? This research note uses two studies to ask whether gender stereotypes about gossip and other key responses to norm violations are wrong. The first study (N = 133) confirms that people stereotype women as more approving of gossip and that they hold gender stereotypes about other key responses to those who violate social norms, namely, ostracism and direct confrontation of norm violators. We then assess the accuracy of these stereotypes using a unique data set of 17,268 participants from 57 societies. In contrast to the stereotypes, these cross-cultural data show that men are more approving of gossip and ostracism in response to norm violations, and this holds across most societies. We also do not find any evidence for the stereotype that men are more approving of direct confrontation of norm violators.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2024
Keywords
cross-cultural comparisons, gender, morality/moral behavior, norms, social dilemmas, stereotypes
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-68562 (URN)10.1177/01902725241268455 (DOI)001320434700001 ()
Available from: 2024-10-02 Created: 2024-10-02 Last updated: 2024-10-02Bibliographically approved
Krueger, J., Eriksson, K., Hazin, I., Tibajev, A. & Strimling, P. (2023). Acculturation of hygiene norms among immigrants to Sweden. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article ID 975361.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Acculturation of hygiene norms among immigrants to Sweden
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2023 (English)In: Frontiers in Psychology, E-ISSN 1664-1078, Vol. 14, article id 975361Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Hygiene norms in Sweden are generally loose compared to most other countries. Does this looseness affect the hygiene norms among people who immigrate to Sweden from other countries? In a study of hygiene norms among immigrants to Sweden, the change in the physical environment and material living conditions, acculturation to Swedish culture and norms, and selection effects were all expected to lead immigrant hygiene norms to be closer to Swedish looseness. However, in a sample of 447 immigrants from 12 different countries, immigrants reported hygiene norms that were even stricter than those found in their countries of origin. We propose an explanation based on a combination of uncertainty about prevailing hygiene norms and the social risk and stigma associated with being perceived as unhygienic. We conclude that acculturation processes may rely on mechanisms that are domain specific.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Frontiers Media S.A., 2023
Keywords
acculturation, hygiene, immigrants, social norms, social sanctions, Sweden
National Category
Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-62511 (URN)10.3389/fpsyg.2023.975361 (DOI)001060692400001 ()2-s2.0-85148525471 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2023-05-31 Created: 2023-05-31 Last updated: 2023-09-20Bibliographically approved
Eriksson, K., Strimling, P. & Vartanova, I. (2023). Appropriateness ratings of everyday behaviors in the United States now and 50 years ago. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, Article ID 1237494.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Appropriateness ratings of everyday behaviors in the United States now and 50 years ago
2023 (English)In: Frontiers in Psychology, E-ISSN 1664-1078, Vol. 14, article id 1237494Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Introduction: A crucial aspect of social norms pertains to determining which behaviors are considered appropriate. Here we consider everyday behaviors. Some everyday behaviors are rated as more appropriate than others, and ratings of the appropriateness of a given behavior may vary over time. The objective of this study is to elucidate the reasons behind variation in appropriateness ratings of everyday behaviors in the United States. Our theory focuses on how the evaluation of the appropriateness of a behavior is influenced by its potential for externalities and internalities, and how this influence may cause a change in norms over time. Method: Employing a preregistered design, we asked American participants to rate 37 different everyday behaviors based on their appropriateness in a range of common situations, as well as their potential negative externalities (e.g., being loud, being aggressive, taking up space) and positive internalities (e.g., pleasurability). Changes over time were calculated as the difference between mean ratings obtained in this study and ratings of the same behavior in a similar study conducted 50 years ago. Results: As expected, overall appropriateness ratings of everyday behaviors are associated both with their externalities and their internalities, so that the least appropriate behaviors tend to have considerable potential for negative externalities and little potential for positive internalities. Moreover, behaviors that have considerable potential for negative externalities are perceived as less appropriate now than 50 years ago. Discussion: By describing how social norms for everyday behaviors depend on the externalities and internalities of behaviors, this study contributes to theories about the emergence and change of social norms.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Frontiers Media SA, 2023
Keywords
everyday behaviors, externalities, internalities, norm shifts, social norms, values
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-64647 (URN)10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237494 (DOI)001087493900001 ()2-s2.0-85174857971 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2023-11-01 Created: 2023-11-01 Last updated: 2023-11-09Bibliographically approved
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ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-7164-0924

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