groups, social institutions, the physical environment, or the spiritual world as well as about categories of events
and phenomena in the social world. These generalized beliefs are encoded in the form of an assertion about the
relationship between two entities or concepts’ (p. 200).
Description
Social Cynicism refers to ‘the extent to which actors expect positive vs. negative outcomes’ ( Leung & Bond,
2004 , p. 119). Social Complexity refers to ‘an actor’s judgments about the variability of individual behavior and
the number of influences involved in determining social outcomes, both issues reflecting a complex theory of
social causation’ ( Leung & Bond, 2004 , p. 119). Religiosity refers to ‘an assessment about the positive, personal,
and social consequences of religious practice, along with the belief in the existence of a supreme being’ ( Leung &
Bond, 2004 , p. 119). Fate Control refers to ‘the degree to which important outcomes in life are believed to be
fated, but are predictable and alterable’ ( Leung & Bond, 2004 , p. 119).
There are two versions of the SAS: SAS I and SAS II. SAS I uses an inductive approach to scale construction,
whereas SAS II uses a deductive approach. The items in SAS I were developed based on reviews of the pertinent
English psychological literature, as well as interviews and content analysis carried out in Hong Kong and
Venezuela ( Leung et al., 2002 ). The beliefs were initially grouped into four broad categories: psychological attri-
butes, orientation toward the social world, social interaction, and environment. The original SAS I consists of 60
items ( Leung et al., 2002 ). A 5-point Likert-type response scale is used (1 5strongly believe; 5 5strongly
disbelieve).
The items in the later version, SAS II, were developed using a cultural decentered approach through collabora-
tions with psychologists from 10 countries: Brazil, China, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
Russia and United States ( Leung et al., 2012 ). New items were generated in English and in the native languages
of the collaborators. These items were then consolidated, reviewed, selected and refined by a principal group of
researchers. SAS II consists of a long form (109 items) and a short form (40 items) ( Leung et al., 2012 ).
Samples
Items from the SAS I were tested in two societies: Hong Kong and Venezuela. The sample consisted of univer-
sity student and adult samples ( Leung et al., 2002 ). Subsequently, university students from another three societies
(Germany, Japan and United States) were used to confirm the structure of the social axioms. The next round of
data collection was carried out with student samples from 40 societies and adults from 13 societies ( Leung &
Bond, 2004 ).
Items from the SAS II were tested initially on university students from 11 societies ( Leung et al., 2012 , Study
1). Another round of testing was conducted on university students from Hong Kong and United States after
improvements were made to improve the reliabilities of the Fate Control and Social Complexity items ( Leung
et al., 2012 , Study 2).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
In Study 1, Leung et al. (2012) , which was carried out in 11 societies, Cronbach alpha coefficients for the SAS II
(long form) factors were as follows: Fate Control (average α5.67, range 5.60 to .74), Religiosity (average α5.85,
range5.70 to .91), Reward for Application (average α5.77, range 5.68 to .86), Social Complexity (average
α5.68, range 5.56 to .82), and Social Cynicism (average α5.79, range 5.71 to .82).
In Study 2, Leung et al. (2012) , moderate to high Cronbach alpha coefficients were found for Fate Control
(Hong Kong: α5.86; United States: α5.87), Religiosity (Hong Kong: α5.89; United States: α5.92), Reward for
Application (Hong Kong: α5.80; United States: α5.75), Social Complexity (Hong Kong: α5.70; United States:
α5.77), and Social Cynicism (Hong Kong: α5.83; United States: α5.82).
For SAS II (short form), in the Leung et al. (2012, Study 1) , Cronbach alpha coefficients were reported for
Religiosity (average α5.85, range 5.70 to .91), Reward for Application (average α5.77, range 5.68 to .86), and
Social Cynicism (average α5.79, range 5.71 to .82). Fate Control and Social Complexity had low reliabilities. In
theLeung et al. (2012, Study 2) , Cronbach alpha coefficients were reported for Fate Control (Hong Kong, α5.77;
USA,α5.80), but those for Social Complexity remained relatively low (Hong Kong, α5.58; USA, α5.71).
Test/C0Retest
The mean test /C0retest reliability of the SAS within six months was found to be .74 (Leung et al., 2007).644 22. MEASURES OF CROSS-CULTURAL VALUES, PERSONALITY AND BELIEFS
VI. SOCIOCULTURAL INTERACTION AND CONFLICT