Sociodemographic Variation and Childhood Predictors of Showing Love and Care for Others Across 22 Countries: A Cross-National Analysis

• DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/9z36v_v1
• Publication Date: 2025-04-01T20:03:31Z
• Authors: Renae Wilkinson; Matthew T. Lee; Katelyn Long; Brendan Case; James L. Ritchie-...; Matt Bradshaw; R. Noah Padgett; Byron R. Johnson; Tyler J. VanderWeele
• Keywords: Variation (astronomy)

Showing love and care for other people is a vital aspect of human relationships. However, little known about how levels love/care expression differ across cultures demographic groups within those different cultures, or the potential childhood antecedents that are associated with in adulthood. Based on nationally representative data from 22 countries six continents Global Flourishing Study (N=202,898), we present ordered means countries, observe its distributions key sociodemographic characteristics, evaluate strength predictors (with E-values as robustness check), revealing extent to which associations uniform throughout world by country. The mean (scaled 0-10) ranged 9.05 Philippines 5.96 Japan tended be higher South. random effects meta-analysis multivariate regression analysis predictors, find evidence both universal country-specific influences. Age cohort, gender, self-rated health, religious service attendance were strongest predictors. These findings enhance our understanding variations early-life adult outcomes, providing foundation future investigations into sociocultural influences might shape expression.