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Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
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Linking Societal and Psychological Factors to Homicide Rates Across Nations

Flora Lim

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Michael Harris Bond

Chinese University of Hong Kong, mhb{at}cuhk.edu.hk

Mieko Kuchar Bond

University of Manchester

National rates of homicide vary dramatically and may provide a window into the societal dynamics and their socialized psychological reflections that generate violence. To develop a comprehensive theory of these dynamics, this study examined stable rates of homicide in 56 nations. A selection of societal-level variables was deployed in conjunction with psychological measures of citizen characteristics to predict homicide levels. Using blocked regression, and beginning with economic predictors, the authors discovered that homicide was most powerfully predicted by a linear equation combining societal measures of economic inequality, negative GNP per capita, and the negative sex ratio of men to women. Psychological measures of lower trust in one’s fellow citizens, belief in less social complexity, and preference for mates of higher status as opposed to love also predicted national homicide rates and were able to mediate the effects of the three societal variables on these national homicide rates. This study exemplifies the potential usefulness of combining societal and psychological measures in understanding national phenomena, suggesting plausible personality or social psychological factors characterizing a nation’s citizenry that are implicated in generating higher levels of any behavior, like homicide.

Key Words: homicide • societal factors • psychological factors

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 36, No. 5, 515-536 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0022022105278540
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