Self-Transcendence: A Cross-Cultural Study With Democracy in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jennifer Lau; Yi-Hui Christine Huang; Qinxian Cai; Jun Li; Jie Sun; Ruoheng Liu

doi:10.1177/10693971231192729

Self-Transcendence : A Cross-Cultural Study With Democracy in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Overview

1 Scopus Citations

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Author(s)

Jun Li

Related Research Unit(s)

Department of Media and Communication

Detail(s)

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	70-94
Journal / Publication	Cross-Cultural Research
Volume	58
Issue number	1
Online published	2 Aug 2023
Publication status	Published - Feb 2024

Link(s)

DOI	DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/10693971231192729 Final Published version
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Attachment(s)	Documents 163523112.pdf Post-print, 530 KB, PDF Publisher's Copyright Statement COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: The article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow our Process for Requesting Permission. Lau, J., Huang, Y.-H. C., Cai, Q., Li, J., Sun, J., & Liu, R. (2024). Self-Transcendence: A Cross-Cultural Study With Democracy in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Cross-Cultural Research (58, 1) pp. 70-94. Copyright © 2023 SAGE Publications. DOI: 10.1177/10693971231192729.
Link to Scopus	https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85166916587&origin=recordpage
Permanent Link	https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(fc340d1c-c9ea-42bb-bfce-5081670504a4).html

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the steps governments took to combat it tormented societies across the globe. Accordingly, existential positive psychologists have emphasized the importance of self-transcendence in mitigating the distress and agony caused by prolonged and rigorous health measures. In this cross-cultural study, the correlation between self-transcendence, people’s confidence in government, and democracy was examined. Based on the findings of an online survey (n = 36,304) conducted in 16 societies in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the multi-level analysis established that self-transcendence had a negative relationship with people’s confidence in their own government, especially in less democratic societies. Besides expanding the Schwartz theory of basic values and inspiring theoretical developments for new research, this paper recommends that related institutions obtain community consent before pushing out strict health measures. © 2023 SAGE Publications.