The Psychology of Harmony and Harmonization: Advancing the Perspectives for the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development

Fabio, Annamaria Di; Tsuda, Akira

doi:10.3390/su10124726

Cited by 92 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The findings of our study align with recent perspectives of psychological harmonization (i.e., balancing different processes into an organic whole at multiple levels-within individuals, between individuals, and between individuals and the natural world) [41]. Such an approach emphasizes strength-building and preventative action that, together, facilitate harmonization.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Birds of a Feather Fare Less Well Together: Modeling Predictors of International Student Adaptation

Gibbs¹,

Güneri

Pankau

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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Sociocultural adaptation to the host country is an important corollary to the psychological well-being of international students. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a model of sociocultural adaptation and psychological wellbeing. International students in Ankara, Turkey (N = 161, mean age = 22.35) completed online surveys. Consistent with our hypotheses, interpersonal connections with host nationals predicted greater sociocultural adaptation (β = 0.250, p = 0.001) and interpersonal connections with co-nationals resulted in poorer psychological adjustment (β = −0.171, p = 0.025). Host-country language proficiency led to better sociocultural adaptation (β = 0.262, p < 0.001), and perceptions of greater cultural distance had a negative impact on both psychological (β = 0.314, p < 0.001) and sociocultural adaptation (β = 0.328, p < 0.001). Thus, students who were able to engage in relations with host-country nationals fared better. Our results provide insight for sending and receiving institutions regarding the preparation (e.g., exploring cognitive frames for immersion, language skills, reviewing coping strategies) and supportive services (e.g., connection with host country nationals) that will facilitate the adjustment of international students. Drawing on the model of cross-cultural adaption proposed by Searle and Ward [9,10] and related literature, we modeled the effects of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual factors on the psychological and sociocultural adjustment of international students at a prestigious, comprehensive, public university in Ankara, Turkey. This university attracts over 1000 international students to its campus from 85 different countries. The largest proportion come from the Middle East and Central Asia and they enroll in the variety of majors/disciplines that are offered. The overall number of students who are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs is 27,000. While the language of the country and the surrounding community is Turkish, the medium of instruction is English. Turkey is a developing country with a diverse population that has, over the last several decades, seen cultural shifts towards the adoption of several Western ideals, such as individualism and a nuclear family structure, but in many ways retains its collectivistic roots through cultural values of sharing and hospitality. With this specific cultural context established, questions surrounding how international students adjust to this environment can be explored. Sociocultural AdaptationSociocultural adaptation has been defined as "behaviorally based competencies required in various situations and circumstances during cross-cultural transitions" [11] (p. 1476). Examples include adjusting to living, working, and studying in a new environment, and the ability to perceive, understand, and respond appropriately to new cultural situations. Research on international student adjustment has been advanced by Ward and colleagues [9,12,13], who have analyzed numerous variables across their studies, such a...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Birds of a Feather Fare Less Well Together: Modeling Predictors of International Student Adaptation

Gibbs¹,

Güneri

Pankau

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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“…Therefore, our research is an attempt to apply psychological processes to the science of sustainable development and to probe into environmental sustainability from a trans-disciplinary perspective. This coincides with the goal of the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development [8][9][10] as well as Psychology of Harmonization [53]. Prior work has demonstrated the impact of self-construal on pro-environmental behaviors [40]; our research extends this finding by showing that self-construal may serve as a mediator between logo shapes and green consumption.…”

Section: Theoretical Contributionssupporting

confidence: 84%

Circular-Looking Makes Green-Buying: How Brand Logo Shapes Influence Green Consumption

Ding

2020

Sustainability

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Despite the development of green products, convincing consumers to engage in green consumption is still a difficult task. This research attempts to help solve this problem from the perspective of brand logo design. Specifically, this research explores how circular and angular logo shapes influence green consumption. Three studies provide support for our basic prediction that a circular (vs. angular) logo is more effective in promoting green consumption. Self-construal plays a mediating role in this mechanism. However, the logo shape effect disappears when consumers are primed with high sense of power. When taken together, this research not only has theoretical contributions to green consumption and visual marketing, it also provides practical implications for firms manufacturing green products.Sustainability 2020, 12, 1791 2 of 13 extending previous studies of brand logo design to the field of green consumption, it also deepens the understanding of mechanisms underlying green consumption. Importantly, since we tried to investigate the mechanism underlying green consumption from a psychological perspective, our research also contributes to the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development, which is a new research area developed by Di Fabio [8-10]. Logo Shapes and Green ConsumptionBrand logos, as visual representations of brands, have been demonstrated to play a significant role in brand performance [7]. Specifically, findings in marketing provide evidence that brand logo design has many downstream effects, such as brand preference [11], brand awareness [12], purchase intention [13,14] and even actual food intake [15].A brand logo usually contains multiple visual design elements, such as shape [16,17], color [18][19][20], and typeface [21]. Prior research has shown that these different brand logo elements are perceived by consumers in terms of not only their technical properties but also their symbolic associations [14,22]. Symbolic associations refer to abstract properties that brands do not objectively have but implicitly convey to consumers [17,23], and they have been found to influence brand evaluations, consumption intentions, as well as consequent behaviors [14,24,25]. People exposed to Apple logos, for instance, behave more creatively compared with people exposed to IBM logos [26].Although brand logos have innumerable different shapes, generally speaking, logo shapes can be classified as angular, circular, or a combination of both [17]. Angular shapes are characterized by sharp angles and straight lines, while circular shapes are typically curved. The empirical marketing literature suggests that angular and circular logo shapes can elicit different symbolical associations such as hardness and softness [17]. More importantly, studies have shown that angular and circular shapes are related to social perceptions. While angular shapes activate associations with traits such as energetic and tough, circular shapes activate associations with traits such as friendly and harmonious [27]. In addition, compa...

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“…However, although each of these studies has contributed to better understanding the relationship between well-being and performance, we also know that this relationship is far more complex that we initially thought. The present research contributes to clarifying this relationship, taking into account the psychology of harmony [12] and sustainability [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The Relationship between Knowledge Characteristics’ Fit and Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement

2020

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Knowledge workers are highly valued by organizations, but there is a lack of evidence about the role of work engagement in the satisfaction and performance of these workers. Harmonization and Person-Job Fit theory state that workers who have similar characteristics to those present in the context (i.e., give similar importance to the characteristics present in the context) perform better. The aim of this paper is twofold: to test the congruence effect between five knowledge characteristics and their rated influence on job satisfaction and job performance; and test the mediational role of work engagement between the knowledge characteristics' fit and job performance. Using a time-lagged design, 531 Colombian employees from 20 economic sectors answered questionnaires about work engagement (i.e., UWES-9), knowledge characteristics (i.e., WDQ), importance given to knowledge characteristics, job satisfaction, and job performance. Using polynomial regression, surface response methodology, and ordinary least squares path analyses, we found a congruence effect of the relationship between knowledge characteristics and their levels of importance on job performance in four out of five comparisons (i.e., job complexity, information processing, problem solving, and specialization). In addition, we found that knowledge characteristics' fit indirectly influenced job satisfaction and performance through its effect on work engagement.

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The Psychology of Harmony and Harmonization: Advancing the Perspectives for the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development

Cited by 92 publications

References 51 publications

Birds of a Feather Fare Less Well Together: Modeling Predictors of International Student Adaptation

Birds of a Feather Fare Less Well Together: Modeling Predictors of International Student Adaptation

Circular-Looking Makes Green-Buying: How Brand Logo Shapes Influence Green Consumption

The Relationship between Knowledge Characteristics’ Fit and Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement

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