Tolerance Of Deviance Research Articles

State-Terror and Tolerance of Deviance: A Cross-National Analysis Using World Values Survey Data

This study intends to extend the work of ecological predictors of tolerance of deviance to state terror. Utilizing a multilevel model and a cross-national survey of 125,129 respondents from 72 countries, this study finds that state terror and a worse perception of human rights correlates with a lower tolerance of deviance in line with Rational Choice Deterrence Theory (RCDC). The effect of state terror on tolerance of deviance is moderated by perception of human rights with those perceiving a worse respect for human rights in milieus of higher state terror are less open to deviance in line with RCDC. Further support for RCDC comes from those living in over policed neighborhoods being less open to deviance when they perceive a worse respect for human right. However, lower confidence in security services and greater interference by the same predicts greater tolerance of deviance. Support for Weberian legitimacy also comes from higher country level corruption, more terrorism incidents in a country, greater fear of crime and crime victimization of respondent or immediate family predicting greater justifiability of deviance.

Attitudinal Tolerance of Deviance in At-Risk Early Adolescents

Attitudinal Tolerance of Deviance in At-Risk Early Adolescents

Employee Perception of Leadership Tolerance of Deviance and the Moral Disengagement from Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Organizational leaders set the example for “what is acceptable” ethical behavior and encourage organizational citizenship behavior among employees. Organizational citizenship behavior is the willingness to go above and beyond regular duties and responsibilities without using formal reward systems. However, employees who use social comparisons or repeatedly witness leaders who tolerate deviant behaviors are more likely to morally disengage from the positive attributes associated with organizational citizenship behavior. This research aims to determine ethical leadership attributes that resist the negative impact of perceived deviance tolerance on employee organizational citizenship behavior. The Leadership Ethic and Decision-making (LEAD) model is grounded in the foundational leadership theory which suggests that leaders should conduct an inward examination using integrity and assurance with an outward examination based on pragmatism to improve employee perception of ethical decision-making. The result of this study is based on responses from 378 full-time employees in the United States. The findings reveal that LEAD is a reliable, ethical leadership model and pragmatism is resistant to negative moderation of perceived tolerance of deviant behavior on employee contributions in the workplace. Therefore, leaders, managers, and HR professionals who apply the LEAD model will influence organizational citizenship behavior while reducing the deviant behaviors associated with the perceived tolerance of deviance.

State-level variation of initial COVID-19 dynamics in the United States.

During an epidemic, metrics such as R0, doubling time, and case fatality rates are important in understanding and predicting the course of an epidemic. However, if collected over country or regional scales, these metrics hide important smaller-scale, local dynamics. We examine how commonly used epidemiological metrics differ for each individual state within the United States during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. We found that the detected case number and trajectory of early detected cases differ considerably between states. We then test for correlations with testing protocols, interventions and population characteristics. We find that epidemic dynamics were most strongly associated with non-pharmaceutical government actions during the early phase of the epidemic. In particular, early social distancing restrictions, particularly on restaurant operations, was correlated with increased doubling times. Interestingly, we also found that states with little tolerance for deviance from enforced rules saw faster early epidemic growth. Together with other correlates such as population density, our results highlight the different factors involved in the heterogeneity in the early spread of COVID-19 throughout the United States. Although individual states are clearly not independent, they can serve as small, natural experiments in how different demographic patterns and government responses can impact the course of an epidemic.

Perceptions of danger, tolerance of delinquency, and economic disadvantage: Examining neighborhood influences on child physical abuse

BackgroundSocial disorganization theory posits that both structural and social features of a particular geographic unit are associated with criminal behavior. Despite many tests of social disorganization theory, few studies have assessed its relevance to child abuse. ObjectiveThis study seeks to explain neighborhood variation in child maltreatment. The goal of the current study is to fill this gap by investigating whether or not child physical abuse is related to neighborhood economic disadvantage, perceptions of the dangerousness of the neighborhood, and norms regarding delinquency. Participants and SettingData were drawn from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) and included 2364 respondents from 79 neighborhoods. The dependent variable, the variety or number of acts of severe child physical abuse, was reported by caregivers, while neighborhood characteristics were based on information from the U.S. Census Data and adult respondents living in Chicago neighborhoods. MethodsA multilevel, over-dispersed, Poisson regression models were utilized to predict the variety of acts of severe physical abuse that a child living within a given neighborhood would experience. ResultsNeighborhood economic disadvantage was not significantly associated with greater variety of physical abuse. However, neighborhoods perceived as dangerous had greater variety of physical abuse (b = .25, p < .05), while those with a greater tolerance for deviance had somewhat lower variety of physical abuse (b= −.69, p ≤ .10). ConclusionsThese results suggest that some contextual factors may help explain child maltreatment and should be subject to additional research.

Immigrant Status, Offending, and Desistance: Do Relationship Characteristics Matter?

Purpose: Though prior research has established the separate effects of romantic relationships and immigrant status on offending, few studies have combined these areas to assess how immigrant status may condition the effect of romantic relationships on crime. Further, fewer studies strive to uncover the potential mechanisms of the relationship effect. Methods: Using data from the Pathways to Desistance study, this study examined the effects of relational quality, monitoring, and tolerance of deviance on later offending and if these effects differed among first-generation, second-generation, and native-born youth. Results: While tolerance of deviance and monitoring were found to predict decreased offending among the second-generation and native-born youth, only tolerance of deviance predicted decreased offending for the first-generation youth. Conclusions: Although there were no meaningful differences between the second-generation and native-born youth with respect to desistance mechanisms, relational monitoring was not associated with desistance among the first-generation youth. Relational quality was not associated with desistance for any subgroup. These findings have important implications for social control theories and suggest individual differences such as immigrant status may condition the effects of social bonds on offending. Potential cultural differences such as “familismo” may help explain these effects and are worthy of further consideration.

The Development of Romantic Partner Involvement and Tolerance of Deviance among Juvenile Offenders: Relevance for Offending Behaviors in Early Adulthood

ABSTRACT This study sought to elucidate heterogeneity in developmental patterns of romantic relationship characteristics and examine the relevance of patterns for predicting offending in adulthood. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to elucidate trajectory groups describing developmental heterogeneity of odds of having a romantic partner and romantic partners’ tolerance of deviance. Poisson regression was used to estimate the effects of group assignments for predicting offending. Three- and four-group models best fit the romantic partner characteristics data. Consistently high odds of having a romantic partner and consistently seeking partners with high tolerance for deviance was associated with greater offending frequency in adulthood.

Adolescent tolerance for deviance, cigarette smoking trajectories, and premature mortality: A longitudinal study

Cigarette smoking is a well-established cause of excess morbidity and mortality in the United States and globally. The current study builds on the existing literature by examining how smoking trajectories might be a mechanism through which adolescent tolerance for deviance predicts premature all-cause and tobacco-specific mortality. Participants were from a cohort-sequential study conducted in the Midwestern United States of the natural history of cigarette smoking from adolescence through midlife that collected nine waves of data from 1980 to 2011. For the current study, we selected participants who were measured at least once at age 18 or older and who did not die before age 24 (n = 7575). Participants' tolerance for deviance was assessed in adolescence, smoking trajectory group was based on self-reported smoking status during the first six waves of data collection, and cause of death for deceased participants (n = 222) was obtained from the National Death Index. Mediation analyses using the joint significance test were conducted separately for all-cause mortality and tobacco-specific mortality. Adolescent tolerance for deviance significantly predicted smoking trajectory group over and above the influence of covariates. Adolescents with higher tolerance for deviance were more likely to belong to any smoking trajectory group compared to abstainers, and membership in a smoking trajectory group characterized by early onset and heavy, persistent smoking was related to premature all-cause and tobacco-specific mortality. Finally, smoking trajectory group was a significant mediator of the relation between adolescent tolerance for deviance and all-cause mortality.

Perceived Deviance Tolerance: Make Employees’ Moral Constructs Accessible from a Dual-system

Based on the emerging stream of research in moral psychology and behavioral ethics which shows that accessibility of moral constructs influences ethical decisions, judgments, and behaviors，Perceived deviance tolerance (PDT) is defined as “leaders’ tolerance of deviance perceived by employees”. Our objective in this article is to propose and empirically test a theoretical model that explains how and why PDT influences employees’ moral psychology and behaviors in interpersonal contexts. After developing and validating a new tool of PDT, drawing from a dual-system for morality and social control theory (Travis, 1969), we develop a conceptual model in which PDT influence employees’ negative and positive organizational behaviors (in-role behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, proactive behavior and workplace deviance) differentially. Moreover, we propose that the relative impact of either relations depends on employees’ moral identity to understand the individual-level differences deeply and accurately. Further, we tested this moderated effect of moral identity by changing employees’ moral disengagement. Results across two studies provide consistent support for the proposed model and advance our understanding about how employees’ perception of leaders’ deviance tolerance influence their negative and positive behaviors. Thus, findings of this research contribute to knowledge on the interpersonal effects of cognition in employees’ behaviors and enrich the application of social control theory.

Perceived deviance tolerance

PurposeBased on the emerging stream of research in moral psychology and behavioral ethics which shows that accessibility of moral constructs influences ethical decisions, judgments, and behaviors, perceived deviance tolerance (PDT) is defined as “leaders’ tolerance of deviance perceived by employees.” The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically test a theoretical model that explains how and why PDT influences employees’ moral psychology and behaviors in interpersonal contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe study takes 298 leaders and 429 employees from 16 large Chinese enterprises as samples.FindingsResults across two studies provide consistent support for the proposed model and advance our understanding about how employees’ perception of leaders’ deviance tolerance influences their negative and positive behaviors.Originality/valueThus, findings of this research contribute to knowledge on the interpersonal effects of cognition in employees’ behaviors and enrich the application of social control theory.

Tightness–looseness: A new framework to understand consumer behavior

Previous cross-cultural research in the field of consumer behavior has focused almost exclusively on cultural values. In this article, we expand on this tradition by integrating research on tightness-looseness (TL)—the strength of social norms and tolerance for deviance—into consumer behavior research. We first examine how TL influences persuasion in advertising, suggesting that advertising themes in loose cultures will focus on the promotion of ideals, permissiveness, and norm deviance, whereas advertising themes in tight cultures will emphasize prevention focus, uniformity, and norm abidance. Next, we examine brand-consumer relationships and product diffusion and discuss how they may vary across tight and loose cultures. Finally, we explore the implications of TL for consumer well-being by examining different strategies for encouraging healthy decision-making across tight and loose cultures. Taken together, the integration of TL and CB research constitutes an exciting frontier for theory, research, and practice.

What effect did the mob have on Chicago neighborhoods? Explicating the relationship between racket subcultures and informal social control

This paper examines the relationship between racket subcultures and informal social control. Specifically, this paper examines the influence of traditional organized crime on informal social control in community areas while controlling for satisfaction with the police, tolerance of deviance, neighborhood and organizational ties, and neighborhood attachment. The data used in this analysis comes from the Community Survey of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. They were obtained from the Inter University Consortium of Political and Social Science Research. Ordered logistic regression was used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that racket areas reported higher levels of informal social control when compared to similar non racket areas in the city of Chicago. These findings have important implications for the study of deviance. Not only do they suggest that criminals can play an important role in controlling street crime, the findings also support differential social organization theory.

Public reputation and organised crime: explicating the relationship between racket subcultures and informal social control

This paper examines the influence of traditional organised crime on informal social control in community areas that once had a presence of organised crime while controlling for neighbourhood attachment, satisfaction with the police, social and organisational ties, and tolerance of deviance. The data comes from the Community Survey of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. The comparative quantitative method was used to analyse the data. The findings indicate that neighbourhoods with an historic reputation for organised crime can report higher levels of informal social control when compared to current racket areas in the city of Chicago. These findings have important implications for the study of deviance. Not only do they suggest that criminals can play an important role in controlling street crime, the findings also suggest that this public reputation remains long after organised crime activities have ceased in the area.

Implementing Family-Centered Prevention in Rural African American Communities: a Randomized Effectiveness Trial of the Strong African American Families Program.

Efforts to disseminate evidence-based prevention programs are hampered by a lack of real-world effectiveness trials undertaken with community providers. The Strong African American Families (SAAF) program is an empirically validated intervention designed to prevent problem behavior among rural African American youth. To evaluate the effectiveness of SAAF and its implementation protocols when delivered by a community provider, we conducted a randomized, wait-list-controlled trial with outcome measurements assessed longitudinally at baseline and 6 months after baseline. A total of 465 African American youth and their parents were recruited randomly from public school lists of fifth- and sixth-grade students in eight rural counties in south Georgia. Youth and parents assessed targeted outcomes in their homes. The main outcome, problem behavior vulnerability, was operationalized as a latent construct comprising three indicators: tolerance for deviance, intentions to engage in risky behavior, and affiliations with risk-taking peers. SAAF was implemented with uniformly high levels of adherence (85.5%; SD = 10.8) and attendance (M = 4.1, SD = 2.9, range = 0-7). Intent-to-treat and complier average causal effect analyses revealed significant program effects on intervention-targeted parenting practices, youth self-regulatory processes, and problem behavior vulnerability. SAAF influenced problem behavior vulnerability indirectly via effects on targeted parenting and youth processes. This study supported the effectiveness of SAAF in a community setting when a systematic implementation model supports participant engagement and intervention adherence.

A longitudinal study of risk-glorifying video games and behavioral deviance.

Character-based video games do more than allow one to practice various kinds of behaviors in a virtual environment; they allow one to practice being a different kind of person. As such, we propose that games can alter self-perceptions of personal characteristics, attitudes, and values with broad consequences for behavior. In a multiwave, longitudinal study of adolescents, we examined the extent to which play of mature-rated, risk-glorifying (MRRG) games was associated with increases in alcohol use, cigarette smoking, aggression, delinquency, and risky sex as a consequence of its effects on personality, attitudes, and affiliations indicative of increased tolerance of deviance. Participants were selected with random-digit-dial procedures and followed for 4 years. Data were analyzed with linear mixed modeling to assess change over time and structural equation modeling with latent variables to test hypothesized mediational processes. Among those who play video games, playing MRRG games was associated with increases in all measures of behavioral deviance. Mediational models support the hypothesis that these effects are in part a consequence of the effects of such gameplay on sensation seeking and rebelliousness, attitudes toward deviant behavior in oneself and others, and affiliation with deviant peers. Effects were similar for males and females and were strongest for those who reported heavy play of mature-rated games and games that involved protagonists who represent nonnormative and antisocial values. In sum, the current research supports the perspective that MRRG gameplay can have consequences for deviant behavior broadly defined by affecting the personality, attitudes, and values of the player.

The role of culture-gene coevolution in morality judgment: examining the interplay between tightness-looseness and allelic variation of the serotonin transporter gene.

This research provides novel insights into the evolutionary basis of cultural norm development and maintenance. We yield evidence for a unique culture–gene coevolutionary model between ecological threat, allelic frequency of the serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), cultural tightness–looseness—the strength of norms and tolerance for deviance from norms—and moral justifiability. As hypothesized, the results across 21 nations show that: (a) propensity for ecological threat correlates with short (S) allele frequency in the 5-HTTLPR, (b) allelic frequency in the 5-HTTLPR and vulnerability to ecological threat both correlate with cultural tightness–looseness, (c) susceptibility to ecological threat predicts tightness–looseness via the mediation of S allele carriers, and (d) frequency of S allele carriers predicts justifiability of morally relevant behavior via tightness–looseness. This research highlights the importance of studying the interplay between environmental, genetic, and cultural factors underlying contemporary differences in social behavior and presents an empirical framework for future research.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40167-013-0009-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cultural Constraints on the Emergence of Women Leaders: How Global Leaders Can Promote Women in Different Cultures

‘‘This is really still a nightmare — a German nightmare,’’ asserted Mechtilde Maier, Deutsche Telekom’s head of diversity. A multinational company with offices in about 50 countries, Deutsche Telekom is struggling at German headquarters to bring women into its leadership ranks. It is a startling result; at headquarters, one might expect the greatest degree of compliance to commands on high. With only 13% of its leadership positions represented by women, the headquarters is lagging far behind its offices outside Germany, which average 24%. Even progress has been glacial, with an improvement of a mere 0.5% since 2010 versus a 4% increase among its foreign subsidiaries. The phenomenon at Deutsche Telekom reflects a broader pattern, one that manifests in other organizations, in other nations, and in the highest reaches of leadership, including the boardroom. According to the Deloitte Global Centre for Corporate Governance, only about 12% of boardroom seats in the United States are held by women and less than 10% in the United Kingdom (9%), China (8.5%), and India (5%). In stark contrast, these rates are 2—3 times higher in Bulgaria (30%) and Norway (approximately 40%). Organizations are clearly successful in some nations more than others in promoting women to leadership ranks, but why? Instead of a culture’s wealth, values, or practices, our own research concludes that the emergence of women as leaders can be explained in part by a culture’s tightness. Cultural tightness refers to the degree to which a culture has strong norms and low tolerance for deviance. In a tight culture, people might be arrested for spitting, chewing gum, or jaywalking. In loose cultures, although the same behaviors may be met with disapproving glances or fines, they are not sanctioned to the same degree nor are they necessarily seen as taboo. We discovered that women are more likely to emerge as leaders in loose than tight cultures, but with an important exception. Women can emerge as leaders in tight cultures too. Our discoveries highlight that, to promote women to leadership positions, global leaders need to employ strategies that are compatible with the culture’s tightness. Before presenting our findings and their implications, we first discuss the process by which leaders tend to emerge.

A Test of the Temperance Hypothesis

Public attitudes toward prostitution are a neglected area of study. Temperance theory posits that end-of-the century political culture is characterized by the persistence of moral politics in which personal behavior is moralized and sanctioned. Driving this politics is the economic insecurity of the middle class to reassert status boundaries as markers of respectability in order to clearly separate classes physically and socially. This hypothesis has not been tested empirically and it contradicts hypotheses derived from post materialist theory or revised modernization theory, which proposes that there is a trend toward more tolerance of deviance in contemporary society, and that the traditional class-based cleavages have shifted and now focus more on value cleavages. This article tests these competing hypotheses, examining whether there is a trend toward greater intolerance of prostitution and whether the middle class became more intolerant in the 1990s. In addition, we test the effects of social class and religiosity on tolerance of prostitution. Results show that the U.S. pubic became more tolerant toward prostitution across social classes in the 1990s and that religiosity continues to serve as a powerful counterbalance to social acceptance of prostitution.

The effect of male teenage passengers on male teenage drivers: Findings from a driving simulator study

Studies have shown that teenage drivers are less attentive, more frequently exhibit risky driving behavior, and have a higher fatal crash risk in the presence of peers. The effects of direct peer pressure and conversation on young drivers have been examined. Little is known about the impact on driving performance of the presence of a non-interacting passenger and subtle modes of peer influence, such as perceived social norms. The goal of this study was to examine if teenagers would engage in more risky driving practices and be less attentive in the presence of a passenger (vs. driving alone) as well as with a risk-accepting (vs. risk-averse) passenger. A confederate portrayed the passenger's characteristics mainly by his non-verbal attitude. The relationship between driver characteristics and driving behavior in the presence of a passenger was also examined. Thirty-six male participants aged 16–17 years old were randomly assigned to drive with a risk-accepting or risk-averse passenger. Main outcomes included speed, headway, gap acceptance, eye glances at hazards, and horizontal eye movement. Driver characteristics such as tolerance of deviance, susceptibility to peer pressure, and self-esteem were measured. Compared to solo driving, the presence of a passenger was associated with significantly fewer eye glances at hazards and a trend for fewer horizontal eye movements. Contrary to the hypothesis, however, Passenger Presence was associated with waiting for a greater number of vehicles to pass before initiating a left turn. Results also showed, contrary to the hypothesis, that participants with the risk-accepting passenger maintained significantly longer headway with the lead vehicle and engaged in more eye glances at hazards than participants with the risk-averse passenger. Finally, when driving with the passenger, earlier initiation of a left turn in a steady stream of oncoming vehicles was significantly associated with higher tolerance of deviance and susceptibility to peer pressure, while fewer eye glances at hazards was linked to lower self-esteem. While the results of this study were mixed, they suggest that the presence of a teenage passenger can affect some aspects of teenage driver behavior even in the absence of overt pressure and distraction. Results are discussed in relation to theoretical concepts of social influence and social facilitation models.

Peer influence predicts speeding prevalence among teenage drivers

Impact on IndustryPreventing speed-related crashes could reduce costs and improve efficiency in the transportation industry. ObjectiveThis research examined the psychosocial and personality predictors of observed speeding among young drivers. MethodSurvey and driving data were collected from 42 newly-licensed teenage drivers during the first 18months of licensure. Speeding (i.e., driving 10mph over the speed limit; about 16km/h) was assessed by comparing speed data collected with recording systems installed in participants' vehicles with posted speed limits. ResultsSpeeding was correlated with elevated g-force event rates (r=0.335, pb0.05), increased over time, and predicted by day vs. night trips, higher sensation seeking, substance use, tolerance of deviance, susceptibility to peer pressure, and number of risky friends. Perceived risk was a significant mediator of the association between speeding and risky friends. ConclusionThe findings support the contention that social norms may influence teenage speeding behavior and this relationship may operate through perceived risk.