WHY CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN ROLE OVERLOAD? DON'T OVERLOOK AMBIENT TEMPERATURE!

Abstract

The finding that, across nations, power distance (expected and accepted unequal interpersonal influence) Is positively related to role overload (Peterson et al., 1995) might he an artifact of the relation between role overload and ambient temperature or other third factors. We related data on power distance and role overload to other data sets, making explicit how much is often not considered when countries are compared. Results show a mysterious but unmistakable heat-overload link, which is discussed from both a physiopsychological and an evolutionary cultural perspective.