Belief in a zero-sum game and subjective well-being across 35 countries

Różycka-Tran J. Piotrowski J.P. Żemojtel-Piotrowska M. Jurek P. Osin E.N. Adams B.G. Ardi R. Bălțătescu S. Bhomi A.L. Bogomaz S.A. Cieciuch J. Clinton A. de Clunie G.T. Czarna A.Z. Esteves C.S. Gouveia V. Halik M.H.J. Kachatryan N. Kamble S.V. Kawula A. Klicperova-Baker M. Kospakov A. Letovancova E. Lun V.M.-C. Cerrato S.M. Muehlbacher S. Nikolic M. Pankratova A.A. Park J. Paspalanova E. Pék G. de León P.P. Šolcová I.P. Shahbaz W. Ha T.T.K. Tiliouine H. Van Hiel A. Vauclair C.-M. Wills-Herrera E. Włodarczyk A. Yahiiaiev I.I. Maltby J.
July 2021 Springer

Current Psychology
2021 #40 Issue 7 3575 - 3584 pp.

This article presents a short research report on the relationship between perceived antagonism in social relations measured using the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) scale, life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. Given that individuals who believe that life is like a zero-sum game are likely to perceive their daily interactions with others as unfair, we expected that individuals with high BZSG experience more negative affect and fewer positive one, resulting in a lower satisfaction with life. In addition, we examined whether country-level BZSG may play a moderating role in these associations. Data were collected from student samples (N = 7146) in 35 countries. Multilevel modelling revealed that perceived social antagonism in social relations is negatively associated with satisfaction with life and that this relationship is mediated by both positive and negative affect at the individual level. The relation of individual BZSG and negative affect on satisfaction with life were weaker in societies with higher country-level BZSG, suggesting that the effects of BZSG may be less detrimental in these countries. These findings extend previous knowledge about predictors of life satisfaction and suggest that social beliefs might also be an important factor that influences subjective well-being. The contribution of the study is that the separate treatment of life satisfaction and positive and negative affect may be helpful in many research situations, particularly from a cross-cultural perspective.

Belief in a zero-sum game , MML , Subjective well-being , SWLS

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Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Bazynskiego street 4, Gdansk, 80-309, Poland
University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, Warsaw, Poland
National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation
Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia
University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal
Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russian Federation
University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Panama City, Panama
Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal
Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil
University Malaysia Sabbah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
Karnatak University, Dharwad, India
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic
S. Toraighyrov Pavlodar State University, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, China
University of Girona, Girona, Spain
Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
LUM University, Casamassima, Italy
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Baku Branch, Moscow, Russian Federation
NUCB Business School, Nagoya, Japan
New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria
University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay
Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Viet Nam
Oran University, Oran, Algeria
Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
University de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
University of Basque Country, Leioa, Spain
Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev, Kiev, Ukraine
University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Institute of Psychology
University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Tilburg University
University of Johannesburg
Airlangga University
University of Oradea
Tribhuvan University
Tomsk State University
University of Puerto Rico
Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá
Faculty of Management and Social Communication
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL)
Federal University of Paraíba
University Malaysia Sabbah
Yerevan State University
Karnatak University
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
S. Toraighyrov Pavlodar State University
Comenius University in Bratislava
Lingnan University
University of Girona
Faculty of Psychology
LUM University
Lomonosov Moscow State University
NUCB Business School
New Bulgarian University
University of Debrecen
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
Massey University
Vietnam National University
Oran University
Ghent University
University de Los Andes
University of Basque Country
Universidad Católica del Norte
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev
University of Leicester

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