Social axioms as social foundations of locus-of-hope: A study in three Asian cultural groups

Abstract

Are generalized beliefs about the social world (social axioms) related to loci-of-hope? Three hypotheses are proposed based on the instrumentality and ego-defensiveness functions of social axioms. Results from 843 participants from three Asian groups generally support the hypotheses: (a) reward for application predicts internal, external-family, and external-peer loci-of-hope, (b) fate control and religiosity predict external-spiritual locus-of-hope, and (c) social cynicism negatively predicts internal locus-of-hope. Although there are minor differences across cultural groups, results show how hope may derive from generalized social beliefs.