Social Structure, Infectious Diseases, Disasters, Secularism, and Cultural Change in America

Grossmann, Igor; Varnum, Michael E. W.

doi:10.1177/0956797614563765

Cited by 299Cultural Differences and ValuesCulture, Economy, and Development StudiesSocial and Cultural Studies

Social Structure, Infectious Diseases, Disasters, Secularism, and Cultural Change in America

Grossmann, Igor, Varnum, Michael E. W.·2015·Psychological Science

DOI 10.1177/0956797614563765

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Abstract

Why do cultures change? The present work examined cultural change in eight cultural-level markers, or correlates, of individualism in the United States, all of which increased over the course of the 20th century: frequency of individualist themes in books, preference for uniqueness in baby naming, frequency of single-child relative to multichild families, frequency of single-generation relative to multigeneration households, percentage of adults and percentage of older adults living alone, small family size, and divorce rates (relative to marriage rates). We tested five key hypotheses regarding cultural change in individualism-collectivism. As predicted by previous theories, changes in socioeconomic structure, pathogen prevalence, and secularism accompanied changes in individualism averaged across all measures. The relationship with changes in individualism was less robust for urbanization. Contrary to previous theories, changes in individualism were positively (as opposed to negatively) related to the frequency of disasters. Time-lagged analyses suggested that only socioeconomic structure had a robust effect on individualism; changes in socioeconomic structure preceded changes in individualism. Implications for anthropology, psychology, and sociology are discussed.

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The theoretical framework of Inglehart and Welzel has been confirmed by recent findings in psychology using completely different data.
“This theoretical framework has been confirmed by recent findings in psychology using completely different data.”
From Dimensions and Dynamics of National Culture: Synthesizing Hofstede With Inglehart (2018) · cites this paper as Grossmann & Varnum, 2015

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Authors: Grossmann, I., & Varnum, M. E. W.
Affiliations: University of Waterloo (CA)
Arizona State University (US)
Corresponding author: Grossmann, Igor
ORCID: Grossmann, Igor
Varnum, Michael E. W.
Venue: Psychological Science
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2015-02-05
Volume: 26
Issue: 3
Pages: 311-324
ISSN: 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
1467-9280
DOI: 10.1177/0956797614563765
OpenAlex: W2073396591
Cited by: 299
References: 46
Citations by year: 2026: 15 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 1
FWCI: 43.20
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders: John Templeton Foundation
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
Social Sciences › Demography › Culture, Economy, and Development Studies
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Cultural Studies
Keywords: cultural change, individualism-collectivism, individualism, socio-economic structure, pathogen prevalence, secularism, disasters, urbanization, single-child families, living alone, divorce rates, family size, baby naming, multigenerational families, United States
MeSH terms: Communicable Diseases, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Cultural Evolution, Disasters, Humans, Individuality, Social Behavior, United States, Secularism

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Social Structure, Infectious Diseases, Disasters, Secularism, and Cultural Change in America

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