Citation

van de Vliert E. Appl. Psychol. 2011; 60(3): 354-376.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, International Association of Applied Psychology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1464-0597.2010.00439.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Journalists and media assistants in many places are murdered, imprisoned, censored, threatened, and similarly harrassed. Here I document that, and explain why, there are three climato‐economic niches of press repression versus press freedom as part of broader syndromes of national culture. A 175‐nation coding of documents by scientific analysts, survey responses from top executives in 123 countries, and participative observations by journalists in 155 countries led to basically the same findings. Cultures of press repression, survival values, and collectivism are most prevalent in poor countries with demanding cold or hot climates. Cultures of press freedom, self‐expression values, and individualism are most prevalent in rich countries with demanding cold or hot climates. Intermediate cultures are most prevalent in poor and rich countries with temperate climates. Rival explanations in terms of a country's historic roots, population diversity, and societal inequality are ruled out and discussed.