The purpose of this study was to test the superordinate goal hypothesis by examining the relationship of perceived nuclear threat to world-minded value orientations among college students from Japan, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the United States. The subjects were a total of 529 college students from major metropolitan area universities with the median 'age range of 18 to 23 years old. The data were collected between 1986 and 1990, in classroom settings. Back-translated versions of the questionnaire were used in the cases of Japan and Spain. The sample from Spain scored significantly higher on world-mindedness than all the others, followed by Japan and Sri Lanka who were not different, with the U.S. scoring significantly lower than both. In all four samples there was a strong tendency for those who endorsed increase of nuclear arms to have lower scores on world-mindedness. In all, except Sri Lanka, there was low but significant negative correlations between world-mindedness and expectation of survival in the case of nuclear war. Taken together the findings provide partial support for the superordinate goal hypothesis.