Abstract
Although cynical beliefs about human nature yield numerous adverse consequences for individuals’ life outcomes and well-being, very little is known about factors that counteract the development of cynical beliefs. Drawing from the literature on the “education effect” describing the importance of education in overcoming close-mindedness and negative views of others, we propose that education can represent an antidote to cynicism. The results of two large-scale longitudinal studies showed that education was associated with lower levels of cynicism over time spans of 4 and 9 years. Longitudinal mediation analyses underscored the role of individual differences in perceived constraints, a facet of personal control, as the psychological mechanism underlying the education effect: Higher education is associated with a reduced perception of constraints, which is in turn related to less endorsement of cynical beliefs.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 59–69 |
Journal | Social Psychological and Personality Science |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2018 |
Keywords
- ATTAINMENT
- FIT INDEXES
- MEDLEY HOSTILITY
- PERCEIVED CONTROL
- PERSONAL CONTROL
- PHYSICAL HEALTH
- POWER
- SENSE
- SOCIAL TRUST
- SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS
- cynical beliefs about human nature
- educational attainment
- personal control
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Replication Data for: Education as an Antidote to Cynicism
Stavrova, O. (Creator) & Ehlebracht, D. (Creator), DataverseNL, 5 Sept 2017
DOI: 10.34894/3wezow, https://dataverse.nl/citation?persistentId=doi:10.34894/3WEZOW
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