Linking social axioms with indicators of positive interpersonal, social and environmental functioning in Iran: an exploratory study.

Social axioms are people's general beliefs about how the world functions and always involve the relationship between two conceptual entities. Social axioms have been proposed as a construct that can be useful in helping researchers interpret cultures and explain people's behaviors in different cultural contexts. Despite the growth of studies on social axioms in various countries, no effort has been made so far to investigate specifically the relation between social axioms and indicators of interpersonal, social, and environmental functioning. To fill this gap, this exploratory study sought to examine the relation between social axioms and a set of variables indicating positive interpersonal, social, and environmental functioning (namely, gratitude, connectedness to nature, social participation, perspective-taking, and empathic concern) in a sample of 303 Iranian university students. Findings showed that reward for application, religiosity, and social complexity significantly predicted gratitude when sex was controlled for. Social complexity and reward for application significantly contributed to explaining the variance in connectedness to nature over and above sex. Social cynicism and social complexity also predicted perspective-taking significantly after controlling for sex. Social axioms were not successful in predicting social participation and empathic concern. Overall, it is possible to conclude that the findings support the utility of social axioms in predicting interpersonal, social, and environmental functioning. That is, generalized beliefs about oneself, the social and physical environment, or the spiritual world are associated with individuals' interpersonal, social, and environmental functioning in this Iranian sample.