Exploring Predictors of Cognitive Reserve and Cognitive Performance in Slovenia and in North Macedonia: The Effects of Survival versus Self-expression Values

Cognitive reserve is a mechanism that enables maintenance of adequate cognitive abilities despite the presence of age or pathology induced brain changes. Knowing that cognitive reserve reflects the activities of everyday life (e.g., education and work engagement), which altogether aggregate with age, it is important to consider the cultural value systems that contribute to shaping and prioritizing said activities. The present study examines a subset of cultural values, within two countries, Slovenia and North Macedonia. Survival values place emphasis on economic/physical security and low outgroup trust (typically found in developing countries, like North Macedonia), while self-expression values prioritize environmental protection, equality, well-being, and quality of life (characteristic of developed countries, like Slovenia). Taking the above into consideration, we aim to explore whether prioritization of certain values moderates the relationship between cognitive reserve and cognitive performance in healthy older adults from Slovenia and North Macedonia. We hypothesize that the positive predictive value of cognitive reserve on cognitive performance will be stronger when self-expression values are higher (and survival values are lower). Similarly, referring to results from an open-source database where Slovenia has steadily high self-expression values (opposite is true for North Macedonia), we hypothesize that the positive predictive value of cognitive reserve on cognitive performance will be stronger in the Slovenian sample, compared to the North Macedonian sample.