Rubbing off on each other: Applying a developmental science perspective to variance in primal world beliefs by family and culture.

ABSTRACT: 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' primal

SUBMITTER: Rothenberg WA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12916148 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature