Rubbing off on each other: Applying a developmental science perspective to variance in primal world beliefs by family and culture
Primals are beliefs about the world's basic character (e.g., good, safe, enticing, or alive) that are associated with well-being and behavioral patterns. But primals' developmental origins remain mysterious, hampering theoretical understanding and clinical efforts to change primals. The current preregistered study of 905 families from 11 cultural groups adopts bioecological theory to examine (1) variance in primals accounted for by individual, family, and cultural differences, (2) concordance in primals within families, and (3) mean differences in primals across cultures. Results indicate most variance in primals is attributable to individual differences, but significant variance also emerges due to family and cultural differences. Positive correlations between mothers' and fathers' primals suggest assortative mating, and positive correlations between parents' and children's primals suggest intergenerational transmission. Findings shed light on primals' mysterious origins: humans do appear to somehow "rub off on each other." Future clarification of this interchange can help equip clinicians to leverage primals to improve wellbeing.
Authors
- Paul Oburu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0711-509X)
- Kirby D. Deater-Deckard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4151-2152)
- Emma Sorbring (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3328-6538)
- Laurence Steinberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2627-3635)
- Liliana María Uribe Tirado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3218-0187)
- Daranee Junla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1262-7823)
- Suha M. Al‐Hassan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1034-3026)
- Lei Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6457-0254)
- Kenneth A. Dodge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5932-215X)
- Laura Di Giunta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2578-8610)
- Marc H. Bornstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6810-8427)
- Jeremy D. W. Clifton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3185-3105)
- W. Andrew Rothenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1739-9041)
- Ann T. Skinner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8083-9487)
- Dario Bacchini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6140-9377)
- Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1687-0006)
- Liane Peña Alampay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5760-6711)
- Jennifer E. Lansford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1956-4917)
- Sevtap Gurdal
- Concetta Pastorelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2837-7312)
Institutions
- University West (SE)
- St. Bonaventure University (US)
- Institute for Fiscal Studies (GB)
- Duke University (US)
- King Abdulaziz University (SA)
- Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SE)
- Maseno University (KE)
- Ateneo de Manila University (PH)
- University of Macau (MO)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
- Temple College (US)
- California University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Abu Dhabi Health Services (AE)
- United Nations Children's Fund Kosovo (XK)
- United Nations Children's Fund Cameroon (CM)
- United Nations Children's Fund Niger (NE)
- Temple University, Japan (JP)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (US)
- United Nations Children's Fund India (IN)
- Chiang Mai University (TH)
- University of Naples Federico II (IT)
- Temple University (US)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Developmental Science
- Published
- 2025-07-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2025.2501050
- Primary Topic
- Child and Animal Learning Development
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00