ECOLOGICAL STRESS, DEVELOPMENT, AND THE CONDITIONAL DYNAMICS OF PREJUDICE: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-CULTURAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INTERACTIONS

Abstract

Culture is not the sole determinant of human prejudice and democratic quality; it is a product of interactions among ecological pressures, developmental conditions, and institutional environments. This study examines these dynamics from a cross-national social–ecological perspective, focusing on whether development alters how ecological stress is reflected in socio-cultural attitudes. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, the analysis draws on country-level data from 186 nations and employs descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple ordinary least squares regression models. An interaction model is estimated to assess whether the Human Development Index (HDI) moderates the relationship between disease prevalence and prejudice, alongside a secondary model predicting democratic outcomes. The findings indicate that disease prevalence is positively associated with prejudice, whereas HDI and institutional integrity are negatively associated with it. The interaction analysis reveals that the effect of ecological stress on prejudice becomes stronger at higher levels of development, suggesting that development does not uniformly buffer environmental pressures. In the institutional model, government functioning emerges as the strongest predictor of democracy, while prejudice is negatively associated with democratic outcomes. These results support a conditional understanding of socio-cultural dynamics in which ecological stress, development, and institutional quality operate jointly. Development reduces baseline prejudice but also reshapes how societies respond to ecological strain, highlighting the need for integrated approaches to understanding social attitudes and institutional outcomes.