Dept. of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, United States.
Dept. of Psychology, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, United States.
Curr Opin Psychol. 2020 Apr;32:133-137. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.006. Epub 2019 Aug 13.
Most psychologists assume a harmonious correspondence between attitudes, behavior, and cultural institutions. However, institutions often act as intermediating forces between collective attitudes and behavior, and institutions' value-expressive function may be at-odds with the actual behavioral outcomes they produce. We illustrate this with the paradox-of-debt: Protestant cultures have traditionally been relatively less sympathetic to debtors than Catholic cultures have been. Consequently, Protestant cultures set up more pro-creditor institutions. With lending being safer and more profitable in Protestant cultures, creditors increased the amount they were willing to lend. With more credit available, people now borrow more in Protestant (versus Catholic) cultures. Intermediating institutions may thus invert the usual attitude-behavior relationship, facilitating rather than inhibiting traditionally stigmatized behavior.
大多数心理学家假设态度、行为和文化制度之间存在和谐的对应关系。然而，制度往往是集体态度和行为之间的中介力量，而制度的价值表达功能可能与它们产生的实际行为结果不一致。我们用债务悖论来说明这一点：传统上，新教文化对债务人的同情程度不如天主教文化。因此，新教文化建立了更多有利于债权人的机构。在新教文化中，贷款更安全、更有利可图，债权人增加了他们愿意提供的贷款数量。随着更多的信贷可用，现在人们在新教（与天主教）文化中借更多的钱。因此，中介机构可能会颠倒通常的态度-行为关系，促进而不是抑制传统上被污名化的行为。
