Anna-Maija Pirttilä-Backman
Biographic Data
| ID | 74179 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Anna-Maija Pirttilä-Backman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Anna-Maija |
| FAMILY NAME | Pirttilä-Backman |
| SIGNATURE | PIRTTILÄ-BACKMAN A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Helsinki |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7437-9645 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 133 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1990 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
From identity to caring
Previous research suggests that people who identify with global communities tend to show greater concern for global challenges. Using student samples from 44 countries across different cultural clusters ( N = 13,055), we examined whether (1) three forms of dispositional global social identification (GSI, with all humanity, citizens of the world, and people all over the world) are related to concern for global issues, (2) situational activation of…
Beyond Weird societies
In an increasingly globalized world challenged by multiple social problems, global social identifications (GSIs, e.g., with all humanity) are concepts of growing interest. Although such identifications can be affected by the cultural contexts in which they are manifested, research on them remains largely confined to Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Using data collected in 45 countries ( N = 9807, preregistere…
The perceived value of oat milk and the food-choice motives of young, urban people
Purpose Both governments and the food industry are interested in plant-based products. New products are advertised as climate-friendly, with plant-based materials increasingly replacing animal-based content. In Finland, oat milk dominates the plant-based milk market. The authors studied what features young and urban users of plant-based and cow's milk value in oat milk for coffee and how the preferences of the users relate to ethical food-choice …
Are we bad winners? Public understandings of the United Nations’ World Happiness Report among Finnish digital media and their readers
In this research, we investigate the public understanding of the World Happiness Report within the context of its highest-ranking country: Finland. We analyse how two actors, Finnish online media and their readers, understood the publication as well as the concept being measured: happiness. Digital media adopted an ambivalent stance towards both the World Happiness Report (‘sports victory’ vs ‘societal problems’) and the concept of happiness (‘re…
Business and Social Science Students’ Course Preferences and Learning Approaches
The study examines university students’ course preferences and their relations to learning approaches, apparently for the first time, to gain insight how different course designs are experienced by students with different learning approaches. The data includes students from two universities and fields: business ( n = 467) and social sciences ( n = 313). The attributes in preference measurement were selected on the basis of previous research and f…
Something Old, Something New
In this article, the authors present new results and discuss Finnish living historical memory in the 2010s. The data was collected as part of an international online survey in 2018–2019. The authors analyze the responses of 303 Finns who were asked to list three of the most influential events in Finnish history that had occurred in their lifetime or in the lifetime of someone they knew or had known. Cluster analysis is used to gain insight into t…
Two Sides of the Same Coin or Two Different Currencies? Representations of Happiness and Unhappiness among Finnish Women
This paper presents results from a study exploring representations of “happiness” and “unhappiness.” Word associations with these concepts were produced by 16–18 and 29–34-year-old women from Finland, the country that the United Nation’s World Happiness Report has ranked the “happiest” in the world. Correspondence Analysis (CA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis show that participants in both age groups share three clusters of words associated wit…
Social representations of trust among teachers and principals in Cameroonian, Indian, and Finnish schools
Quantitative studies on trust often attempt to measure levels of trust, while neglecting local meanings of trust. These studies are usually based on Eurocentric models in Western cultures, though the models may have limited ecological validity. As a result, this study sought to investigate trust as locally produced structures and practices in Cameroon, Finland and India. In each country, teachers and principals were interviewed individually, whil…
Stigma, marginalization and psychosocial well-being of orphans in Rwanda
Stigma and marginalization are one of the major challenges orphans face in their daily lives, particularly in developing countries, but little is known about their impacts on mental health. This study examines how orphan-related characteristics, stigma and marginalization are associated with psychosocial well-being. It further analyses the role of social support in mediating between stigma and marginalization and mental health, indicated by emoti…
The Buffering Role of Social Support on the Psychosocial Wellbeing of Orphans in Rwanda
Little is known about the buffering role of social support among orphans living in Africa. This study examined (1) how perceived social support (PSS) varied across orphan‐related characteristics (e.g., orphan status, such as single, maternal or paternal, and their living environments, such as in child‐headed households, on the street, in an orphanage or in a foster home) and (2) the relative importance of sources of PSS (relatives/community/adult…
The association between psychosocial well‐being and living environments
This study examined how various living environments (child‐headed households, orphanages, street children and foster homes), quality of care and demographic factors were associated with the psychosocial well‐being of orphans in Rwanda by using a sample of 430 participants. Results indicated that children in orphanages exhibited higher levels of emotional well‐being and lower levels of mental distress and risk‐taking behaviour than others. Decisio…
The Endorsement of the Moral Foundations in Food-Related Moral Thinking in Three European Countries
Ethical and unethical food. Social representations among Finnish, Danish and Italian students
Women's human rights violations
Cameroonian university students ( N = 666) assessed whether certain different societal positions that the law grants to women and men (the husband chooses the marital home, the husband wields parental power, a married woman cannot freely engage in trade, the husband administers his wife's personal property) and certain cultural practices (female genital mutilation, parents arranging their children's marriage) were seen as violations of women's hu…
Cultivation or coddling? University teachers’ views on student integration
Integration of new students into the university has been widely studied from both psychological and academic perspectives. Much less, if anything, is heard from the other party in the integration process – the teachers. At the heart of this study is the voice of university teachers. Staff from 12 departments in three faculties (n = 52) in one university were invited to discuss student integration in focus groups. Their views on integration ranged…
Willingness to try new foods as predicted by social representations and attitude and trait scales
Cameroonian Forms of Collectivism and Individualism
The aim of this study was to investigate collectivism and individualism in Cameroon. Cameroonians were hypothesized to be more collectivist than individualist and the women to be more collectivist than the men. Specific regional characteristics were also assumed. Four-hundred and fifteen students (university and senior high school) in three different areas filled in questionnaires including the Singelis, Triandis, Bhawuk, and Gelfand (1995)and th…
Dimensions of novelty
Laypeople's viewpoints about the reasons for expert controversy regarding food additives
The focus in this study is on the thoughts and opinions of the general public to the divergence in expert standpoints regarding additives in food. The relation of education, length of work experience, occupational field, gender, and people's ideas on this matter, as well as the changes in it, were of interest. Fifty-nine young and middle-aged Finnish adults were interviewed during the years 1986-1988 and again in 1993-1994. The semi-structured in…
Toward an Understanding of Laypeople's Notions about Additives in Food
Paranormal Beliefs and their Implications in University Students from Finland and the United States
University students from Finland and the southern United States were compared in (a) paranormal beliefs; (b) four personality adjustment constructs-alienation, anomie, death concerns, and death threat; and (c) relationships between paranormal beliefs and these personality adjustment constructs. Americans reported significantly greater belief in Traditional Religious Belief, Superstition, Witchcraft, and Extraordinary Life Forms. Finns reported si…
International Preferences in Selecting Mates
This study sought to identify the effects of culture and sex on mate preferences using samples drawn world-wide. Thirty-seven samples were obtained from 33 countries located on six continents and five islands (N = 9,474). Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed strong effects of both culture and sex, moderated by specific mate characteristics. Chastity proved to be the mate characteristic on which cultures varied the most. The preference order…
International Preferences in Selecting Mates
This study sought to identify the effects of culture and sex on mate preferences using samples drawn world-wide. Thirty-seven samples were obtained from 33 countries located on six continents and five islands (N = 9,474). Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed strong effects of both culture and sex, moderated by specific mate characteristics. Chastity proved to be the mate characteristic on which cultures varied the most. The preference order…
Willingness to try new foods as predicted by social representations and attitude and trait scales
Dimensions of novelty
Ethical and unethical food. Social representations among Finnish, Danish and Italian students
The Buffering Role of Social Support on the Psychosocial Wellbeing of Orphans in Rwanda
Little is known about the buffering role of social support among orphans living in Africa. This study examined (1) how perceived social support (PSS) varied across orphan‐related characteristics (e.g., orphan status, such as single, maternal or paternal, and their living environments, such as in child‐headed households, on the street, in an orphanage or in a foster home) and (2) the relative importance of sources of PSS (relatives/community/adult…
The Endorsement of the Moral Foundations in Food-Related Moral Thinking in Three European Countries
Cameroonian Forms of Collectivism and Individualism
The aim of this study was to investigate collectivism and individualism in Cameroon. Cameroonians were hypothesized to be more collectivist than individualist and the women to be more collectivist than the men. Specific regional characteristics were also assumed. Four-hundred and fifteen students (university and senior high school) in three different areas filled in questionnaires including the Singelis, Triandis, Bhawuk, and Gelfand (1995)and th…
Toward an Understanding of Laypeople's Notions about Additives in Food
Social representations of trust among teachers and principals in Cameroonian, Indian, and Finnish schools
Quantitative studies on trust often attempt to measure levels of trust, while neglecting local meanings of trust. These studies are usually based on Eurocentric models in Western cultures, though the models may have limited ecological validity. As a result, this study sought to investigate trust as locally produced structures and practices in Cameroon, Finland and India. In each country, teachers and principals were interviewed individually, whil…
Two Sides of the Same Coin or Two Different Currencies? Representations of Happiness and Unhappiness among Finnish Women
This paper presents results from a study exploring representations of “happiness” and “unhappiness.” Word associations with these concepts were produced by 16–18 and 29–34-year-old women from Finland, the country that the United Nation’s World Happiness Report has ranked the “happiest” in the world. Correspondence Analysis (CA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis show that participants in both age groups share three clusters of words associated wit…
The association between psychosocial well‐being and living environments
This study examined how various living environments (child‐headed households, orphanages, street children and foster homes), quality of care and demographic factors were associated with the psychosocial well‐being of orphans in Rwanda by using a sample of 430 participants. Results indicated that children in orphanages exhibited higher levels of emotional well‐being and lower levels of mental distress and risk‐taking behaviour than others. Decisio…
Women's human rights violations
Cameroonian university students ( N = 666) assessed whether certain different societal positions that the law grants to women and men (the husband chooses the marital home, the husband wields parental power, a married woman cannot freely engage in trade, the husband administers his wife's personal property) and certain cultural practices (female genital mutilation, parents arranging their children's marriage) were seen as violations of women's hu…
International Preferences in Selecting Mates
This study sought to identify the effects of culture and sex on mate preferences using samples drawn world-wide. Thirty-seven samples were obtained from 33 countries located on six continents and five islands (N = 9,474). Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed strong effects of both culture and sex, moderated by specific mate characteristics. Chastity proved to be the mate characteristic on which cultures varied the most. The preference order…
Paranormal Beliefs and their Implications in University Students from Finland and the United States
University students from Finland and the southern United States were compared in (a) paranormal beliefs; (b) four personality adjustment constructs-alienation, anomie, death concerns, and death threat; and (c) relationships between paranormal beliefs and these personality adjustment constructs. Americans reported significantly greater belief in Traditional Religious Belief, Superstition, Witchcraft, and Extraordinary Life Forms. Finns reported si…
Toward an Understanding of Laypeople's Notions about Additives in Food
Laypeople's viewpoints about the reasons for expert controversy regarding food additives
The focus in this study is on the thoughts and opinions of the general public to the divergence in expert standpoints regarding additives in food. The relation of education, length of work experience, occupational field, gender, and people's ideas on this matter, as well as the changes in it, were of interest. Fifty-nine young and middle-aged Finnish adults were interviewed during the years 1986-1988 and again in 1993-1994. The semi-structured in…
Dimensions of novelty
Willingness to try new foods as predicted by social representations and attitude and trait scales
Cameroonian Forms of Collectivism and Individualism
The aim of this study was to investigate collectivism and individualism in Cameroon. Cameroonians were hypothesized to be more collectivist than individualist and the women to be more collectivist than the men. Specific regional characteristics were also assumed. Four-hundred and fifteen students (university and senior high school) in three different areas filled in questionnaires including the Singelis, Triandis, Bhawuk, and Gelfand (1995)and th…
Cultivation or coddling? University teachers’ views on student integration
Integration of new students into the university has been widely studied from both psychological and academic perspectives. Much less, if anything, is heard from the other party in the integration process – the teachers. At the heart of this study is the voice of university teachers. Staff from 12 departments in three faculties (n = 52) in one university were invited to discuss student integration in focus groups. Their views on integration ranged…
Women's human rights violations
Cameroonian university students ( N = 666) assessed whether certain different societal positions that the law grants to women and men (the husband chooses the marital home, the husband wields parental power, a married woman cannot freely engage in trade, the husband administers his wife's personal property) and certain cultural practices (female genital mutilation, parents arranging their children's marriage) were seen as violations of women's hu…
Ethical and unethical food. Social representations among Finnish, Danish and Italian students
The Endorsement of the Moral Foundations in Food-Related Moral Thinking in Three European Countries
Stigma, marginalization and psychosocial well-being of orphans in Rwanda
Stigma and marginalization are one of the major challenges orphans face in their daily lives, particularly in developing countries, but little is known about their impacts on mental health. This study examines how orphan-related characteristics, stigma and marginalization are associated with psychosocial well-being. It further analyses the role of social support in mediating between stigma and marginalization and mental health, indicated by emoti…
The Buffering Role of Social Support on the Psychosocial Wellbeing of Orphans in Rwanda
Little is known about the buffering role of social support among orphans living in Africa. This study examined (1) how perceived social support (PSS) varied across orphan‐related characteristics (e.g., orphan status, such as single, maternal or paternal, and their living environments, such as in child‐headed households, on the street, in an orphanage or in a foster home) and (2) the relative importance of sources of PSS (relatives/community/adult…
The association between psychosocial well‐being and living environments
This study examined how various living environments (child‐headed households, orphanages, street children and foster homes), quality of care and demographic factors were associated with the psychosocial well‐being of orphans in Rwanda by using a sample of 430 participants. Results indicated that children in orphanages exhibited higher levels of emotional well‐being and lower levels of mental distress and risk‐taking behaviour than others. Decisio…
Social representations of trust among teachers and principals in Cameroonian, Indian, and Finnish schools
Quantitative studies on trust often attempt to measure levels of trust, while neglecting local meanings of trust. These studies are usually based on Eurocentric models in Western cultures, though the models may have limited ecological validity. As a result, this study sought to investigate trust as locally produced structures and practices in Cameroon, Finland and India. In each country, teachers and principals were interviewed individually, whil…
Business and Social Science Students’ Course Preferences and Learning Approaches
The study examines university students’ course preferences and their relations to learning approaches, apparently for the first time, to gain insight how different course designs are experienced by students with different learning approaches. The data includes students from two universities and fields: business ( n = 467) and social sciences ( n = 313). The attributes in preference measurement were selected on the basis of previous research and f…
Something Old, Something New
In this article, the authors present new results and discuss Finnish living historical memory in the 2010s. The data was collected as part of an international online survey in 2018–2019. The authors analyze the responses of 303 Finns who were asked to list three of the most influential events in Finnish history that had occurred in their lifetime or in the lifetime of someone they knew or had known. Cluster analysis is used to gain insight into t…
Two Sides of the Same Coin or Two Different Currencies? Representations of Happiness and Unhappiness among Finnish Women
This paper presents results from a study exploring representations of “happiness” and “unhappiness.” Word associations with these concepts were produced by 16–18 and 29–34-year-old women from Finland, the country that the United Nation’s World Happiness Report has ranked the “happiest” in the world. Correspondence Analysis (CA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis show that participants in both age groups share three clusters of words associated wit…
The perceived value of oat milk and the food-choice motives of young, urban people
Purpose Both governments and the food industry are interested in plant-based products. New products are advertised as climate-friendly, with plant-based materials increasingly replacing animal-based content. In Finland, oat milk dominates the plant-based milk market. The authors studied what features young and urban users of plant-based and cow's milk value in oat milk for coffee and how the preferences of the users relate to ethical food-choice …
Are we bad winners? Public understandings of the United Nations’ World Happiness Report among Finnish digital media and their readers
In this research, we investigate the public understanding of the World Happiness Report within the context of its highest-ranking country: Finland. We analyse how two actors, Finnish online media and their readers, understood the publication as well as the concept being measured: happiness. Digital media adopted an ambivalent stance towards both the World Happiness Report (‘sports victory’ vs ‘societal problems’) and the concept of happiness (‘re…
From identity to caring
Previous research suggests that people who identify with global communities tend to show greater concern for global challenges. Using student samples from 44 countries across different cultural clusters ( N = 13,055), we examined whether (1) three forms of dispositional global social identification (GSI, with all humanity, citizens of the world, and people all over the world) are related to concern for global issues, (2) situational activation of…
Beyond Weird societies
In an increasingly globalized world challenged by multiple social problems, global social identifications (GSIs, e.g., with all humanity) are concepts of growing interest. Although such identifications can be affected by the cultural contexts in which they are manifested, research on them remains largely confined to Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Using data collected in 45 countries ( N = 9807, preregistere…
Psychology (20 works) · Social Psychology (17 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Political science (7 works) · Cultural Differences and Values (6 works) · Clinical Psychology (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods (5 works) · Developmental psychology (4 works)