OK Alypius, I just checked, and Hosftede reports that UAI has been (slightly)
rising over recent decades, so this argument is moot.

To go further, however, I want you to see what Hofstede reports about Lynn &
Hampson's study; they factor analyzed a set of sociological (not psychometric)
data for several countries, and came up with two factors, which they called
"Neuroticism" and "Extroversion." Here are the correlations they found:

Correlates of factor 1, "Cultural Neuroticism"
-79% with low chronic psychosis (# patients per 1000 pop)
78% with high suicide rate
69% with high caffeine consumption
68% with high alcoholism (liver cirrhosis death rate)
-68% with low daily calorie intake
-66% with low coronary heart disease rate
66% with high accident rate
51% with high punished crime rate (# prisoners per 10,000)

Correates of factor 2, "Cultural Extroversion"
73% high divorce rate
65% high murder rate
61% high cigarette consumption
61% high punished crime rate (also loading on Cultural Neuroticism)
60% high coronary heart disease rate
53% high illegitimacy (% of extramarital births)

The first factor correlates with UAI at a whopping r=.73, and you can clearly
see that the structure of it looks nothing like what you're talking about -
Lynn's factor 1, and UAI in general, really does tap into misery and societal
dysfunction with its suicide and chronic psychosis rates; don't you think
society used to be more functional and better able to satisfy its constituents
previously than presently? Remember, Neuroticism has been greatly increasing in
the US since the 50's. What you're trying to get at looks a bit more like factor
2, which may relate to individualism (although Hofsteded didn't mention any
correlation).


> You already have a source for
> Euro babies being calmer than Ashkenazi babies. I've read in
> several places that East Asian babies are less easily disturbed
> than Euro babies, and more quickly calmed when they are disturbed.
> I think one place you'll find a reference to this is Rushton's REB.

I see - OK.


> > MH: As a personal anecdote, my sister, who tests
> > about as low as I do on
> > Agreeableness, which is extremely low,
>
> AS: Mark, I'm glad you're smart! Imagine being so high
> on psychopathy *and* having a 2 digit verbal IQ!

I think you have to appreciate that part of my disagreeableness is likely a
*function* of my high verbal IQ. For instance, one aspect of disagreeableness
deals with your willingness to admit superiority over others; it's painfully
obvious that I'm far, far more intelligent, and pretending otherwise is
pointless. Then, too, there's the subcategory which deals with how much a person
sees others as basically good; anyone who is isolated from the mainstream will
not only feel less positively towards them, he will tend to be treated less
positively (like an "outsider") which will only further reinforce
disagreeableness. Moreover, conventional religions probably boost A, and I've
found solid information showing that IQ and conventional religiousness are
inversely linked. And even further, I'm rather ectomorphic - most criminals are
endomorphic mesomorphs.

In other words, if I had a verbal IQ anywhere near 100, my record would probably
be squeaky clean, just like it is now.


> > Hofstede *described* high UAI cultures as
> > xenophobic and superstitious.
>
> Isn't this typical of low O psychology?
> Especially the xenophobia?

Yet UAI is uncorrelated with O, and to my knowledge O is unrelated to
superstition.


> > Yet, their personalities and strategies do seem different
> > on simple observation. The Japanese seem far more
> > self-effacing, submissive, quiet, and friendly, while the
> > Jews are more religious (or used to be, anyway), more
> > domineering, and more warlike. It sounds like a
> > difference in both E and A. Perhaps this is the difference
> > between diasporic city-living and insular agricultural living?
>
> AS: Not too quick. A better comparison might be of Jews
> with the "Jews of the East,"

I agree, good call. (Of course, I haven't got any research on them.)


> I think most genomes are able to adjust well enough to
> either lifestyle if that is what they are raised in, with
> most dropouts being among individuals who are at the extremes
> of either genetic predisposition or adverse environmental
> influences.

This is probably the biggest thing I've come to learn in all of these
discussions with you - it's quite obvious that most people can adapt to a very
wide variety of cultural circumstances.


--Mark


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