Florencia M. Sortheix

University of Helsinki | HY · Department of Teacher Education

We examined relations of 10 personal values to life satisfaction (LS) and depressive affect (DEP) in representative samples from 32/25 countries (N=121,495). We tested hypotheses both for direct relations and cross-level moderation of relations by Cultural Egalitarianism. We based hypotheses on the growth vs. self-protection orientation and person-...

The present study examined the relations of personal values to life satisfaction across 25 European nations. Multilevel statistics with country-level Human Development Index (HDI) as a contextual moderator tested its effect on the individual-level relations between personal values and life satisfaction (LS). HDI moderated the relations between LS a...

This study addresses the development of work values—the desired characteristics of one’s current or future job—during young adulthood. Using two panel studies from Germany (N = 2,506) and Finland (N = 1,326), we investigated (a) mean-level and rank-order change and stability in work values across three biennial waves (age 20/21 to age 25/26); and (...

We investigate the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC) on the personal values of youth and young adults (age 16–35 years) from 16 European countries. Using time series cross-sectional (TSCS) data from seven waves (2002–2014) of the European Social Survey (ESS), we examined (1) whether the GFC led to value shifts between cohorts of young peo...

This study examined the measurement invariance of the positive and negative affect scales in the European Social Survey (ESS) in 2006 and 2012. We employed Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis with an estimator for ordinal data, allowing us to test threshold invariance, which had not been previously investigated for these scales. A 3-item measu...

Building upon situational strength and biosocial constructionist theories, we test the indirect effect of gender on pay via self‐enhancement values (e.g. power and achievement) and working hours. We also examine the moderating role of country‐level inequality on that mediated link. The results of multilevel regressions with 16,352 respondents neste...

This paper analyses the role of personal values, value congruence and intentions to emigrate among Middle East and North Africa (MENA) youth. We use a survey data set (N = 8.087) from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia, collected among respondents aged 15–29. Results showed that beyond demographic characteristics, such as being male, hig...

In this 28-country study (N = 6112), we assessed how subjective perceptions and objective indicators of wealth were associated with majority group members’ perceptions of realistic threat related to immigration. Subjective wealth was assessed by individuals’ perceptions of their personal wealth (current/anticipated) and of their country´s wealth, w...

Affect is involved in many psychological phenomena, but a descriptive structure, long sought, has been elusive. Valence and arousal are fundamental, and a key question-the focus of the present study-is the relationship between them. Valence is sometimes thought to be independent of arousal, but, in some studies (representing too few societies in th...

We investigated the associations between refugee and environmental attitudes among 36876 respondents from 20 countries included in the European Social Survey Round 8 (2016). Three preregistered hypotheses were supported: (H1) there was a positive association between these attitudes across countries (meta-analytical partial correlation = .16), (H2)...

In this 28-country study (N = 6112), we assessed how subjective perceptions and objective indicators of wealth were associated with majority group members’ perceptions of realistic threat related to immigration. Subjective wealth was assessed by individuals’ perceptions of their personal wealth (current/anticipated) and of their country´s wealth, w...

We investigated the associations between refugee and environmental attitudes among 36876 respondents from 20 countries included in the European Social Survey Round 8 (2016). Three preregistered hypotheses were supported: (H1) there was a positive association between these attitudes across countries (meta-analytical partial correlation = .16), (H2)...

Moral vitalism refers to a tendency to view good and evil as actual forces that can influence people and events. The Moral Vitalism Scale had been designed to assess moral vitalism in a brief survey form. Previous studies established the reliability and validity of the scale in US-American and Australian samples. In this study, the cross-cultural c...

We investigated political polarization among the 28284 candidates in the Finnish municipal election who ran for municipal council in 2012, 2017, or both, and had responded to a Voting Advice Application. Our results revealed political polarization in terms of both conversion (longitudinal analysis, n = 6643) and recruitment (cross-sectional compari...

Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vita...

We investigated political polarization among the 28284 candidates in the Finnish municipal election who ran for municipal council in 2012, 2017, or both, and had responded to a Voting Advice Application. Our results revealed political polarization in terms of both conversion (longitudinal analysis, n = 6643) and recruitment (cross-sectional compari...

The current paper examined the associations between Schwartz’s (2006) cultural value orientations and individuals’ work-family conflict. Results of multilevel analyses across 19 European countries (N = 16,145) showed that the cultural value orientation of embeddedness vs. autonomy, hierarchy vs. egalitarianism, and mastery vs. harmony were related...

Drawing on Eccles' expectancy-value model of achievement-related choices, we examined how work values predict individual and gender differences in sciences, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) participations in early adulthood (ages of 25/27, 6 or 8 years after postsecondary school), controlling for subjective task values attached to academic...

We investigated whether the link between family-of-origin socioeconomic status (SES) and civic engagement in young adulthood is mediated by youth’s work values, i.e., the desired characteristics of their current or future jobs. We used data from a Finnish study: 2004 (age 16–18, NT1 = 1,301); 2011 (age 23–25, N T2 = 1,096); and 2014 (age 25–27, NT3...

Drawing on current conceptualizations of values (Schwartz's basic human values theory) and the moral domain (Haidt's moral foundations theory; Shweder's big three of morality), as well as the cognitive developmental approach to morality, we examine research on cross-cultural differences in the emphases on different parts of the moral domain and in...

It has often been found in the literature that guilt motivates reparative behavior and that shame elicits aggressive reactions. However, recent research suggests that it is not the experience of shame, but rather the experience of humiliation that triggers aggressive reactions. The present study focuses on the role of shame, guilt and humiliation a...

This chapter focuses on emerging adulthood in Finland by providing relevant information on the timing of related key transitions based on statistics in Finland and how these traditional markers of adulthood have recently changed. Empirical findings are given from two longitudinal studies; the Finnish Educational Transitions (FinEdu) Studies project...

The present study examined the relations between personal values, value congruence, interpersonal relationships and subjective well-being in psychology/education and business students from Argentina (N = 275), Bulgaria (N = 182) and Finland (N = 148). Regression analyses showed, first, that there were no direct relations between higher order value...

The relationships between individual values (Schwartz, 1992), life events, and psychological symptoms were analyzed in a general population sample from a Finnish rural community. The design was a cross-sectional survey. Data were gathered in 1993 (n = 174) and 2007 (n = 226). We investigated whether personal values would predict the number of life...

The present research takes a motivational approach to examine the work-family interface and well-being. We report a longitudinal study which shows that giving priority to family goals over work and leisure goals lead to higher life satisfaction after 7 years from reporting such goals. Additionally, this effect was mediated by family satisfaction. W...