Christian leadership within the shame and honour cultures faces different challenges, including the pressures and expectations of groups, social circles and the society at large. It is in this context that many Christian leaders often fall short of embracing the humility, brokenness and self-sacrificing life of Christ. The honour-shame cultures in the African context place a leader at the centre of proving their worth, being seen as strong and exhibiting power in order to receive praise over Christ’s humility and Christian values. With the contextual understanding of South Sudan and beyond, this article focuses on the issues that continue to place Christian leaders at the crossroads in the shame and honour cultures, mostly against the true power of the Gospel. The article provides an argument that the cultural expectations of status, power and prestige, often driven by societal beliefs, conflict with the biblical model of leadership that is rooted in humility, brokenness, and servanthood. Drawing from the biblical examples and text, the study argues that the cruciform character of Christ, especially his humility, embrace of shame and vulnerability, offers a transformative paradigm for Christian leadership. This transformative paradigm calls for the embrace of true honour in Christ, the embrace of the power of the Gospel that is rooted in the humility of Christ, suffering and brokenness of a Christian servant, imitating Christ to gain the grace of God. Practical implications for Christian leaders in South Sudan and similar settings are discussed with emphasis on the work of sacrificial love, servanthood and not conforming to the tribal, social circles, or societal alliances over the cross, which is our symbol of suffering and grace in Christ Jesus. We must reshape our cultural expectations with the true Gospel and not relent to any social group's pressures but stand firm, following Jesus’ footsteps, bearing the true fruits of the Spirit to the very end.

How do internalized cultural values shape responses to discrimination among minoritized groups? This research investigates how honour values, originating from socio‐ecological contexts marked by insecurity and weak institutional protection, shape prejudice confrontation among individuals from honour‐culture backgrounds living in Western European dignity cultures. Across three studies, we examined South and West Asians in the United Kingdom and Turkish post‐migrants in Germany. We tested whether endorsement of collective honour and modern proxies of socio‐ecological conditions in which honour cultures emerge (e.g., perceived financial threat, low trust in police effectiveness and procedural unfairness) predict intentions to confront discrimination. Studies 1 and 2 showed that the frequency of discrimination experiences and collective honour predicted aggressive confrontation. Studies 2 and 3 showed the dual role of honour norms: endorsement of honour norms related to family reputation predicted only non‐aggressive confrontation, whereas endorsement of retaliation norms predicted only aggressive confrontation. Study 3, a pre‐registered experiment, found no causal effect of manipulated contemporary manifestations of long‐term socio‐ecological conditions on honour endorsement or confrontation. Together, findings suggested that lived experiences of discrimination, alongside honour norms, predict confrontation. Moreover, they highlight the importance of distinguishing between dimensions of honour norms when examining culturally grounded responses to intergroup discrimination.

Abstract In this article, I examine 1 Sam 25 through the lens of honor culture, focusing on the interactions between David, Nabal, and Abigail. While the narrative is often read as a tale of Abigail’s wisdom in averting David’s vengeance, I argue that her wisdom is best understood within a society where reputation and public esteem are paramount. I analyze David’s request for payment and Nabal’s refusal as a challenge–response sequence characteristic of honor cultures. Abigail’s intervention is reframed not merely as an attempt to prevent bloodshed but as a calculated maneuver that enhances David’s honor while navigating her own position between the two men. Her critique of Nabal and her appeal to David deliver him tangible benefits that elevate his status. Narrative parallels with the betrothal scene in Gen 24 suggest that Abigail’s ultimate aim was to create the conditions for her marriage to David.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the intersection of honor culture and mental health stigma across military and civilian contexts. We examined the impact of honor endorsement on public and self-stigma surrounding mental health care (MHC) in samples of both military service members/veterans and civilians. Results reveal differences in how military and civilian participants conceptualize and endorse honor, as well as how honor related to MHC stigma and intentions to seek MHC. The implications of these findings for both researchers and clinicians are discussed.

Background This study explored the contradiction between the lived experiences of transgender individuals and their legal recognition within a conservative socio-cultural framework. Despite the existence of progressive legislation such as the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2018, Pakistan continues to marginalize transgender individuals systematically. Based on Crenshaw’s intersectionality and Foucault’s concepts of disciplinary power and governmentality, the analysis highlights the intersectional vulnerabilities created through the systems of patriarchy, class inequality, religious orthodoxy, and honor culture. Methods Twenty-three transgender individuals were sampled using purposive sampling, representing a wide range of socio-cultural backgrounds. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed employing Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory. Results Thematic analysis revealed six pervasive themes: familial rejection, guru-chela kinship as cultural survival, survival priorities over education, Identity Intersects with culture, economic exclusion led to sex work, and psychological distress. The traditional guru-chela support system is a dependable relationship that protects transgender individuals while reinforcing dependence and vulnerability. Discussion This study demonstrates that legal protection is insufficient without parallel social reform and institutional commitment. Only enforcing an introverted policy is insufficient to rectify the imbalance between the rights and lived realities of transgender individuals; substantial cultural and systemic changes are vital.

School violence remains a pressing concern in the United States, with incidents ranging from physical altercations to school shootings. This paper explores how sociocultural norms—specifically a “culture of honor,” which emphasizes defending one’s reputation through retaliation—contribute to youth aggression. Drawing on empirical literature and regional data, the study highlights how honor culture correlates with elevated rates of weapon carrying and violence in certain U.S. regions. To address these patterns, the paper examines interventions that foster communal and interdependent values, including the creation of green spaces, gardening programs, peer mediation, and extracurricular engagement. Special attention is given to after-school programs supported by 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) grants. An autoethnographic case study from Huguenot High School in Richmond, Virginia, illustrates how such interventions can reduce violence and promote cultural transformation. The paper concludes with recommendations for incorporating culturally responsive, community-based strategies into school safety efforts.

Individuals who endorse honor are more prone to react aggressively, both with their partners and in cyber-psychological contexts. However, anticipated feelings previous to the response may influence their reaction. Thus, the role that emotions may have in the way partners in a couple react is an indicator of how they will react in the future. To address this study questions, the present research focuses on the role of two emotions scarcely studied (guilt and frustration) to test whether they mediate the relationship between honor endorsement and aggressive responses in an online context (perpetration and victimization). A sample of 1.173 young people (430 men, 743 women; 15-22years old) were recruited in secondary schools and universities. To participate, they had to volunteer and had been in a relationship for at least one month in the last year. Once consented, participants provided information about demographic variables and their couple relationships and completed measures about cyber-abuse, feeling guilt, frustration tolerance and honor endorsement. We tested the culture of honor invariance according to sex, and age (adolescents/young adults). Results indicated that invariance can be assumed in the case of age, that means that for adolescents and young adults the responses were comparable. But this was not the case as a function of participant sex. Thus, subsequent analyses were run by considering men and women separately. Path analyses showed that honor endorsement was directly and indirectly (through frustration and guilt) associated with the perpetration of direct cyberaggression and cybercontrol of the partner. However, whilst frustration tolerance strengthened this association, guilt reduced it. These results are important as they contribute to acknowledging how emotions are a key to understanding the underlying processes in interpersonal (violent) relations, to our understanding of the role of emotions in cyber-aggression patterns, and thus, orient future interventions.

“Double honors, double neglects”: Model minority living in the “culture of honor”—An exploration of the lived experiences of Chinese and Korean immigrants in the Deep South.

Harm reduction services are empirically based strategies aimed at counteracting drug overdoses and other drug-related harms. Despite the various harms associated with heroin use as well as other drug use, the accessibility of these services varies across the United States. In this study, we explored the role honor norms might contribute to reduced support for harm reduction programs in the United States. We conducted a web-based survey of a sample of adults living in the United States (N = 376) that assessed honor norms, controllability beliefs about heroin use disorder, and support for harm reduction programs. Overall, we found higher levels of honor endorsement to be linked with lower support for harm reduction programs. Additionally, controllability beliefs explained the honor-support link for most of the harm reduction programs. Our findings suggest that acquiring public support and enacting policies for these types of services may be difficult in regions of the United States permeated with honor culture.

ABSTRACTThe literature shows that many Africans prefer going to traditional institutions when a conflict arises. On the question “why the preference for traditional institutions” fostering peace seems the acceptable and dominant version of all for preferring traditional institutions over state institutions. However, literature does not neatly answer the elements of peace that these traditional institutions are bring about. Taking Gereb traditional institutions this article found out that the Gerebs are preventing conflicts before its escalation. Particularly, they are preventing revenge in a community where the culture of honor and shame has paramount importance to coexist socially.

Background: A cultural construct that has rarely been investigated in substance use research is the culture of honor. In honor cultures, masculine honor ideology (the expectation that men display toughness, defend their manliness, and protect female family members) is prevalent and can influence people’s health behaviors. In this study, we predicted that substance use will be positively associated with masculine honor ideology among South Asian Americans (an understudied honor culture), because as a risky health behavior, substance use can solidify one’s reputation of invincibility and fearlessness. We did not expect this association in the comparison group - European Americans from the Northern states of the U.S. (a dignity culture). Methods: South Asian American (n = 111; 50 women, 61 men) and European American participants (n = 110; 74 women, 33 men, 2 non-binary individuals, 1 gender not disclosed) completed an online survey about their tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use, outcome expectancies from these substances, endorsement of the masculine honor ideology, and demographic background. Results: Linear regression analyses showed that in the South Asian sample, masculine honor was positively associated with positive outcome expectancies from tobacco (β = 0.27, p = 0.024) and somewhat alcohol use (β = 0.25, p = 0.058) and with the frequency of alcohol (β = 0.26, p = 0.047) and somewhat cannabis use (β = 0.26, p = 0.051). These associations were not found among European Americans. Conclusions: Findings can have implications for the development of culturally tailored interventions to reduce substance use in diverse societies.

Fishing, known to be among the most dangerous occupations worldwide, has historically been a male dominated field in which regional conflicts are a significant and persistent problem. While several scholars have sought to explain the drivers of fisheries conflict, its distinctly gendered and violent nature has yet to be critically examined. To this end, I draw on Nisbett and Cohen’s 'Culture of Honor' theory (1996) and Bourdieu's (1977) ‘Theory of Practice’ to deconstruct the historic and continued practice of fishing at sea and therefore of fisher ‘men’, and analyze violent conflicts that have occurred along the Southeast coast of India over the use of the purse-seine. I argue that violent conflict is a manifestation of a culture of honor that was historically invoked, cultivated and reproduced in harsh uncertain ecologies entailing dangerous work, economic precarity, marginalized existences and negligible state protection. Consequently, the practice of fishing is simultaneously structured, reproduced and reinforced by the material conditions of fishing at sea and by societal hierarchies of place, caste and gender that cumulatively structure the fisher habitus. Crucially, the normalization of violence in honor cultures suggests that conflict will likely recur unless the material and societal conditions of practice and the culture it continues to reproduce via the 'fisher habitus' are urgently addressed. Fisheries governance alone cannot resolve fisher conflict and may unwittingly exacerbate it as long as the inherent cultural violence, reinforced by caste hierarchies and patriarchy, that undergirds the practice of fishing and of fishermen, is overlooked.

ABSTRACTObjectiveWe examined how cultural norms (individualism‐collectivism, tightness‐looseness, and honor culture) and attitudes (relational collectivism, group‐oriented collectivism, and individualism) may influence inflation perceptions during the 2024 US presidential race.MethodsWe deployed quota sampling to acquire about 10 participants for each US state through Prolific. We utilized multi‐level modeling to examine level‐1 (individual level) and level‐2 (state level) cultural effects on inflation perceptions.ResultsWe found that relational collectivism was linked to concerns of the effects of inflation on close others and society and support for a range of policy ideas. Individualism was related to the concern for the country and that the government should have an active role in addressing inflation but was also related to the view that the government should have its power constrained. Group‐oriented collectivism correlated with treating inflation as a personal responsibility and that individuals should have been better prepared for it. Both forms of collectivism were related to the idea that new approaches to combat inflation should be considered.ConclusionEach cultural attitude seems to be linked to different issues pertaining to inflation: concern for others (relational collectivism), balance between government's role and power (individualism), and self‐sufficiency for group maintenance (group‐oriented collectivism).

A large body of evidence indicates that U.S. honor states exhibit higher suicide rates than do dignity states. Research into one potential precipitating factor, depression, has yielded conflicting evidence, with support for an honor–depression association observed by some researchers but not by others. The present research (a) reassessed this association using more robust measures, (b) extended prior work by also examining suicidal ideation, and (c) examined the associations among honor, depression, and suicidal ideation at both the state and individual levels. Study 1 showed that, after controlling for relevant covariates, state-level honor was associated with higher levels of depression (both major depressive episodes and lifetime depression diagnoses), especially among non-Hispanic White adults. Furthermore, we found the strongest evidence for the honor–depression association using the continuous honor index. We also found that the honor–suicidal ideation association was mediated by depression. Study 2 ( N = 4,235) showed that individual-level honor endorsement was positively associated with depression and suicidal ideation, but not anxiety. Moreover, the individual-level honor–suicidal ideation association was also mediated by depression. We discuss the theoretical and clinical implications of these findings.

ABSTRACTDespite the known benefits of apologies, people often fail to apologize for wrongdoings. We examined the role of a cultural logic of honour—where apologizing may clash with concerns about maintaining an image of strength and toughness—in reluctance to apologize. Using general population samples from 14 societies in Mediterranean, East Asian and Anglo‐Western regions (N = 5471), we explored links between honour values and norms, image concerns, and apology outcomes using multilevel mediation analyses. Members of groups with stronger honour endorsement reported stronger image concerns about apologizing relative to their concerns about not apologizing, which, in turn, predicted greater reluctance to apologize and fewer past apologies. However, groups with stronger honour endorsement did not show greater reluctance to apologize overall, and some individual‐level facets of honour predicted better apology outcomes. Our results highlight the importance of considering honour as a multifaceted construct and including contextual factors and processes when studying reconciliation processes and obstacles to apologies.

Abstract The present study examines the role of cultural factors in the perceptions of victims of sextortion (the abuse of power to obtain sexual benefits) by comparing participants from a culture of honor (Italy) and a culture of dignity (the U.K.) and by measuring individual-level honor endorsement. A sample of 452 participants were asked to read a fictitious scenario describing a woman target of sextortion. The research employed a 2 × 2 between-participants design: The victim was described either as caving into sextortion for familial reasons (i.e., for her sick child) versus for personal reasons and as exhibiting high versus low levels of sexual modesty. The results revealed that overall Italian participants felt stronger moral outrage towards the victim, perceived her as less moral, and attributed more blame to her than did British participants. Additionally, when the victim was described as caving into sextortion for personal reasons, both groups rated her as less moral compared to when she was described as doing so for familial reasons. Furthermore, participants found the victim marginally more blameworthy when she was described as adhering closely to feminine honor values. An exploratory moderation analysis indicated that stronger endorsement of feminine and family honor values was associated with increased blame towards the victim; these associations were more pronounced in the Italian than in the British sample. These findings underscore the potential role of cultural factors in the perception of sextortion victims and highlight the importance of developing culturally tailored awareness strategies to address victim blaming, especially in honor-oriented societies.

The school nurse's work is to support children's health and identify those at risk of being maltreated, a situation that children living in a culture of honor may face. The aim was to describe the school nurse's experience of meeting children living in a culture of honor. The study was qualitative, using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. The data was collected through semistructured interviews with 10 school nurses from different parts of Sweden. The results are illustrated in an overarching theme: walking a tightrope when supporting children living in a culture of honor, and three categories. The categories are: working preventively around children, building trust in children, and collaborating around the children. Based on the study, school nurses desire regular training on the culture of honor and greater collaboration with other professional groups, especially social services, to feel more confident in their work.

PurposeThe concept of honor, a tension and balance between a focus on the internal and the external for validation of one’s sense of worth and standing in a social group, captures the attention of scholars because it offers a way of understanding the motivations of proud and often violent people belonging to these cultures. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how this focus has led to conceptual and empirical path dependence in the study of honor that has dramatically limited our understanding of this important phenomenon in workplaces and other social interaction contexts, and to suggest a number of alternative paths forward.Design/methodology/approachThe author draws on extant work on honor and related concepts independent of violence, aggression or conflict, to posit that honor be conceptualized more broadly – and less negatively – as a culturally influenced system of behavioral guidelines to determine what is acceptable and moral in a given context. This conceptual paper presents a novel, understudied approach to honor research in international and cross-cultural studies.FindingsThe study discusses critical implications of this useful rebalancing for theory, measurement and practice going forward.Originality/valueBy reconceptualizing and rebalancing the historical path-dependent trajectory of honor research, this analysis adds relevant nuance to our understanding of an influential cultural difference and helps explore new implications of honor for research and practice.

ABSTRACT Prior research has shown that U.S. cultures of honor have higher rates of depression and suicide. While links between honor endorsement and suicide have been established in the literature, a direct test of the primary mechanism underlying this association (reputation damage leading to depression) has not yet been tested. The current study sought to address whether shifts in perceived reputation might be associated with higher levels of depression for honor endorsing individuals. An online sample of 305 participants were tracked across two time points, assessing perceived individual reputation and perceived family reputation, as well as depressive symptoms. Analyses revealed that higher levels of honor concern at Time 1 were linked with higher levels of depressive symptoms at Time 2, but only for those with low perceived reputation – these relationships held while controlling for the stability in reputation and depression across time points, as well as controlling for participants’ gender. Findings provide the first empirical evidence that reputation damage may contribute to detriments in mental health in honor endorsers.

Previous research showed the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with both interdependence and independence in collectivistic cultures and the socioeconomic disadvantages of mismatch between the individual and the overarching culture. This study investigated whether interdependent-independent self-construals are linked to SES in Iran, if the culture-incongruent self is related to status-based identity uncertainty (SBIU), and if self-concept clarity (SCC) could suppress this relationship. A cross-sectional correlational study with self-report measures was implemented. Results indicated that individuals with higher subjective SES are more interdependent, whereas no relationship existed between SES and independent self. Increased social solidarity following the Iranian protests of 2022 and unemployment were also linked to interdependence. Furthermore, culture-incongruent self as reflected by independence was related to greater SBIU and SCC, with SCC suppressing the link between independence and SBIU. This study highlights the role of interdependence in accessing socioeconomic resources in honor cultures and that the link between SES and independence may not exist in South Asian cultures with high in-group collectivism and low assertiveness. It also underscores that individuals who deviate from the culturally-dominant self-construal feel uncertain about their socioeconomic standing, unless they have a clear enough self-concept. Future research may clarify the direction of pathways between cultural mismatch, SBIU, and SCC, and investigate whether social resources themselves should be included in the measurement of SES in honor cultures.