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Krys K, Kostoula O, van Tilburg WAP, Mosca O, Lee JH, Maricchiolo F, Kosiarczyk A, Kocimska-Bortnowska A, Torres C, Hitokoto H, Liew K, Bond MH, Lun VMC, Vignoles VL, Zelenski JM, Haas BW, Park J, Vauclair CM, Kwiatkowska A, Roczniewska M, Witoszek N, Işık İ, Kosakowska-Berezecka N, Domínguez-Espinosa A, Yeung JC, Górski M, Adamovic M, Albert I, Pavlopoulos V, Fülöp M, Sirlopu D, Okvitawanli A, Boer D, Teyssier J, Malyonova A, Gavreliuc A, Serdarevich U, Akotia CS, Appoh L, Mira DMA, Baltin A, Denoux P, Esteves CS, Gamsakhurdia V, Garðarsdóttir RB, Igbokwe DO, Igou ER, Kascakova N, Klůzová Kracˇmárová L, Kronberger N, Barrientos PE, Mohoricć T, Murdock E, Mustaffa NF, Nader M, Nadi A, van Osch Y, Pavlović Z, Polácˇková Šolcová I, Rizwan M, Romashov V, Røysamb E, Sargautyte R, Schwarz B, Selecká L, Selim HA, Stogianni M, Sun CR, Wojtczuk-Turek A, Xing C, Uchida Y. Happiness Maximization Is a WEIRD Way of Living. Perspect Psychol Sci 2024:17456916231208367. [PMID: 38350096 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231208367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Psychological science tends to treat subjective well-being and happiness synonymously. We start from the assumption that subjective well-being is more than being happy to ask the fundamental question: What is the ideal level of happiness? From a cross-cultural perspective, we propose that the idealization of attaining maximum levels of happiness may be especially characteristic of Western, educated, industrial, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies but less so for others. Searching for an explanation for why "happiness maximization" might have emerged in these societies, we turn to studies linking cultures to their eco-environmental habitat. We discuss the premise that WEIRD cultures emerged in an exceptionally benign ecological habitat (i.e., faced relatively light existential pressures compared with other regions). We review the influence of the Gulf Stream on the Northwestern European climate as a source of these comparatively benign geographical conditions. We propose that the ecological conditions in which WEIRD societies emerged afforded them a basis to endorse happiness as a value and to idealize attaining its maximum level. To provide a nomological network for happiness maximization, we also studied some of its potential side effects, namely alcohol and drug consumption and abuse and the prevalence of mania. To evaluate our hypothesis, we reanalyze data from two large-scale studies on ideal levels of personal life satisfaction-the most common operationalization of happiness in psychology-involving respondents from 61 countries. We conclude that societies whose members seek to maximize happiness tend to be characterized as WEIRD, and generalizing this across societies can prove problematic if adopted at the ideological and policy level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuba Krys
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Olga Kostoula
- Institute of Psychology, Johannes Kepler University Linz
| | | | - Oriana Mosca
- Department of Education, Psychology, and Philosophy, University of Cagliari
| | - J Hannah Lee
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University Northwest
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Kongmeng Liew
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
- School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing, University of Canterbury
| | - Michael H Bond
- Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
| | | | | | | | | | - Joonha Park
- Graduate School of Management, NUCB Business School
| | - Christin-Melanie Vauclair
- Centre for Psychological Research and Social Intervention (CIS-Iscte), Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
| | | | - Marta Roczniewska
- SWPS University
- Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Medical Management Centre, Karolinska Institutet
| | - Nina Witoszek
- Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo
| | - İdil Işık
- Psychology Department, Bahçeşehir University
| | | | | | | | - Maciej Górski
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw
| | | | - Isabelle Albert
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg
| | | | - Márta Fülöp
- Institute of Psychology, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church
- Research Centre of Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest, Hungary
| | - David Sirlopu
- Faculty of Psychology and Humanities, Universidad San Sebastián, Concepción
| | | | - Diana Boer
- Institute of Psychology, University of Koblenz
| | - Julien Teyssier
- Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet, Université Toulouse II
| | - Arina Malyonova
- Department of General and Social Psychology, Dostoevsky Omsk State University
| | | | | | - Charity S Akotia
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Ghana
| | - Lily Appoh
- Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University
| | | | - Arno Baltin
- School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University
| | - Patrick Denoux
- Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet, Université Toulouse II
| | - Carla Sofia Esteves
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, Católica Lisbon Research Unit in Business and Economics
| | | | | | | | - Eric R Igou
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
| | - Natalia Kascakova
- Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University
- Psychiatric Clinic Pro Mente Sana, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | | | | | | | - Tamara Mohoricć
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka
| | - Elke Murdock
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg
| | - Nur Fariza Mustaffa
- Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia
| | - Martin Nader
- Department of Psychological Studies, Universidad ICESI
| | - Azar Nadi
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences
| | - Yvette van Osch
- Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University
| | - Zoran Pavlović
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade
| | | | | | | | | | - Ruta Sargautyte
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University
| | - Beate Schwarz
- Department of Applied Psychology, Zurich University of Applied Sciences
| | | | | | | | - Chien-Ru Sun
- Department of Psychology, National Chengchi University
| | | | - Cai Xing
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China
| | - Yukiko Uchida
- Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University
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Krys K, Chun Yeung J, Haas BW, van Osch Y, Kosiarczyk A, Kocimska-Zych A, Torres C, Selim HA, Zelenski JM, Bond MH, Park J, Lun VMC, Maricchiolo F, Vauclair CM, Poláčková Šolcová I, Sirlopú D, Xing C, Vignoles VL, van Tilburg WAP, Teyssier J, Sun CR, Serdarevich U, Schwarz B, Sargautyte R, Røysamb E, Romashov V, Rizwan M, Pavlović Z, Pavlopoulos V, Okvitawanli A, Nadi A, Nader M, Mustaffa NF, Murdock E, Mosca O, Mohorić T, Barrientos Marroquin PE, Malyonova A, Liu X, Lee JH, Kwiatkowska A, Kronberger N, Klůzová Kráčmarová L, Kascakova N, Işık İ, Igou ER, Igbokwe DO, Hanke-Boer D, Gavreliuc A, Garðarsdóttir RB, Fülöp M, Gamsakhurdia V, Esteves CS, Domínguez-Espinosa A, Denoux P, Charkviani S, Baltin A, Arevalo D, Appoh L, Akotia C, Adamovic M, Uchida Y. Family First: Evidence of Consistency and Variation in the Value of Family Versus Personal Happiness Across 49 Different Cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 2023. [DOI: 10.1177/00220221221134711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
People care about their own well-being and about the well-being of their families. It is currently, however, unknown how much people tend to value their own versus their family’s well-being. A recent study documented that people value family happiness over personal happiness across four cultures. In this study, we sought to replicate this finding across a larger sample size ( N = 12,819) and a greater number of countries ( N = 49). We found that the strength of the idealization of family over personal happiness preference was small (average Cohen’s ds = .20, range −.02 to.48), but present in 98% of the studied countries, with statistical significance in 73% to 75%, and variance across countries <2%. We also found that the size of this effect did vary somewhat across cultural contexts. In Latin American cultures highest on relational mobility, the idealization of family over personal happiness was very small (average Cohen’s ds for Latin America = .15 and .18), while in Confucian Asia cultures lowest on relational mobility, this effect was closer to medium ( ds > .40 and .30). Importantly, we did not find strong support for traditional theories in cross-cultural psychology that associate collectivism with greater prioritization of the family versus the individual; country-level individualism–collectivism was not associated with variation in the idealization of family versus individual happiness. Our findings indicate that no matter how much various populists abuse the argument of “protecting family life” to disrupt emancipation, family happiness seems to be a pan-culturally phenomenon. Family well-being is a key ingredient of social fabric across the world, and should be acknowledged by psychology and well-being researchers and by progressive movements too.
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Lun VMC, Smith PB, Grigoryan L, Torres C, Papastylianou A, Lopukhova OG, Sunar D, Easterbrook MJ, Koc Y, Selim HA, Chobthamkit P, Chaleeraktrakoon T, Gul P, Perez Floriano L, Diaz-Loving R, Kwantes CT, Yuki M, Ogusu N, van Osch Y, Mendes Texeira ML, Hu P, Abbas A, Tripodi D, Lay S, Efremova M, Hassan B, Ahmad AH, Al-Bayati A, Anderson J, Cross SE, Delfino GI, Gamsakhurdia V, Gavreliuc A, Gavreliuc D, Gunsoy C, Díaz Rivera PE, Hakobjanyan A. Need for approval from others and face concerns as predictors of interpersonal conflict outcome in 29 cultural groups. Int J Psychol 2023; 58:258-271. [PMID: 36707726 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The extent to which culture moderates the effects of need for approval from others on a person's handling of interpersonal conflict was investigated. Students from 24 nations rated how they handled a recent interpersonal conflict, using measures derived from face-negotiation theory. Samples varied in the extent to which they were perceived as characterised by the cultural logics of dignity, honour, or face. It was hypothesised that the emphasis on harmony within face cultures would reduce the relevance of need for approval from others to face-negotiation concerns. Respondents rated their need for approval from others and how much they sought to preserve their own face and the face of the other party during the conflict. Need for approval was associated with concerns for both self-face and other-face. However, as predicted, the association between need for approval from others and concern for self-face was weaker where face logic was prevalent. Favourable conflict outcome was positively related to other-face and negatively related to self-face and to need for approval from others, but there were no significant interactions related to prevailing cultural logics. The results illustrate how particular face-threatening factors can moderate the distinctive face-concerns earlier found to characterise individualistic and collectivistic cultural groups.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Peter B Smith
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | | | - Claudio Torres
- Institute of Psychology, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil
| | - Antonia Papastylianou
- Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Olga G Lopukhova
- Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia
| | - Diane Sunar
- Department of Psychology, Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | | | - Yasin Koc
- Department of Social Psychology, Groningen University, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Heyla A Selim
- Department of Psychology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | | | - Pelin Gul
- Department of Social Psychology, Groningen University, Groningen, Netherlands
| | | | | | | | - Masaki Yuki
- Department of Behavioral Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Natsuki Ogusu
- Department of Behavioral Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Yvette van Osch
- Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
| | - Maria Luisa Mendes Texeira
- Department of Postgraduate Business Administration, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ping Hu
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Ammar Abbas
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
| | | | - Siugmin Lay
- Centro de Medicion MIDE UC, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Maria Efremova
- Center for Socio-Cultural Research, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Bushra Hassan
- Department of Psychology, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Abd Halim Ahmad
- School of Government, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia
| | - Ahmed Al-Bayati
- Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI, USA
| | - Joel Anderson
- School of Health and Behavioral Science, Australian Catholic University and Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Susan E Cross
- Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | | | - Vladimer Gamsakhurdia
- Department of Psychological Anthropology, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
| | - Alin Gavreliuc
- Department of Psychology, Teacher Training Institute, West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania
| | - Dana Gavreliuc
- Department of Psychology, Teacher Training Institute, West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania
| | - Ceren Gunsoy
- Department of Psychology, Rhode Island University, South Kingstown, RI, USA
| | | | - Anna Hakobjanyan
- Department of Personality Psychology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
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4
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Krys K, Yeung JC, Capaldi CA, Lun VMC, Torres C, van Tilburg WAP, Bond MH, Zelenski JM, Haas BW, Park J, Maricchiolo F, Vauclair CM, Kosiarczyk A, Kocimska-Zych A, Kwiatkowska A, Adamovic M, Pavlopoulos V, Fülöp M, Sirlopu D, Okvitawanli A, Boer D, Teyssier J, Malyonova A, Gavreliuc A, Uchida Y, Serdarevich U, Akotia C, Appoh L, Mira, D.M. A, Baltin A, Denoux P, Dominguez-Espinosa A, Esteves CS, Gamsakhurdia V, Garðarsdóttir RB, Igbokwe DO, Igou ER, Işık İ, Kascakova N, Klůzová Kračmárová L, Kronberger N, Lee JH, Liu X, Barrientos PE, Mohorić T, Mustaffa NF, Mosca O, Nader M, Nadi A, van Osch Y, Pavlović Z, Poláčková Šolcová I, Rizwan M, Romashov V, Røysamb E, Sargautyte R, Schwarz B, Selecká L, Selim HA, Stogianni M, Sun CR, Xing C, Vignoles VL. Societal emotional environments and cross-cultural differences in life satisfaction: A forty-nine country study. The Journal of Positive Psychology 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2020.1858332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kuba Krys
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - June Chun Yeung
- Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
| | | | - Vivian Miu-Chi Lun
- Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
| | - Claudio Torres
- Institute of Psychology, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil
| | | | - Michael Harris Bond
- Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
| | | | - Brian W. Haas
- Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States
| | - Joonha Park
- Graduate School of Management, NUCB Business School, Nagoya, Japan
| | | | | | - Aleksandra Kosiarczyk
- Wroclaw Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agata Kocimska-Zych
- Wroclaw Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Kwiatkowska
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Vassilis Pavlopoulos
- Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Márta Fülöp
- Institute of Psychology, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church, Budapest, Hungary
- Research Centre of Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Budapest, Hungary
| | - David Sirlopu
- Faculty of Psychology, Universidad del Desarrollo, Concepción, Chile
| | | | - Diana Boer
- Institute of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Julien Teyssier
- Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet, Université Toulouse II, Toulouse, France
| | - Arina Malyonova
- Department of General and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology Dostoevsky Omsk State University, Omsk, Russia
| | - Alin Gavreliuc
- Department of Psychology, West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania
| | - Yukiko Uchida
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
| | | | - Charity Akotia
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Ghana, Ghana
| | - Lily Appoh
- Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University, Norway
| | | | - Arno Baltin
- School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
| | - Patrick Denoux
- Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet, Université Toulouse II, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Carla Sofia Esteves
- Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, Católica Lisbon Research Unit in Business and Economics, Portugal
| | | | | | | | - Eric R. Igou
- Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Republic of Ireland
| | - İdil Işık
- Organizational Psychology Master’s Program, Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Natalia Kascakova
- Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
- Psychiatric Clinic Pro Mente Sana, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Lucie Klůzová Kračmárová
- Department of Christian Education, Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Nicole Kronberger
- Institute for Education and Psychology, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
| | - J. Hannah Lee
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana, United States
| | - Xinhui Liu
- Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | | | - Tamara Mohorić
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Nur Fariza Mustaffa
- Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Oriana Mosca
- Department of Education, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Martin Nader
- Department of Psychological Studies, Universidad ICESI, Cali, Colombia
| | - Azar Nadi
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Yvette van Osch
- Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
| | - Zoran Pavlović
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | | | - Muhammad Rizwan
- Department of Psychology, University of Haripur, KPK, Pakistan
| | | | - Espen Røysamb
- Department of Psychology, University of Haripur, KPK, Pakistan
| | | | - Beate Schwarz
- Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Lenka Selecká
- Department of Applied Psychology, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Heyla A. Selim
- University of St. Cyril and Methodius of Trnava, Trnava, Slovakia
| | | | - Chien-Ru Sun
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Cai Xing
- Department of Psychology, National Chengchi University, Taiwan, Republic of China
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5
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Smith PB, Easterbrook MJ, al-Selim H, Lun VMC, Koc Y, Gul P, Papastylianou D, Grigoryan L, Torres C, Efremova M, Hassan B, Ahmad AH, al-Bayati A, Anderson J, Cross SE, Delfino GI, Gamsakhurdia V, Gavreliuc A, Gavreliuc D, Gunsoy C, Hakobjanyan A, Lay S, Lopukhova O, Hu P, Sunar D, Texeira MLM, Tripodi D, Diaz Rivera PE, van Osch Y, Yuki M, Abbas A, Ogusu N, Kwantes CT, Diaz-Loving R, Perez Floriano L, Chaleeraktrakoon T, Chobthamkit P. Sex Differences in Self-Construal and in Depressive Symptoms: Predictors of Cross-National Variation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 2020. [DOI: 10.1177/0022022120939655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Sex differences in aspects of independent versus interdependent self-construal and depressive symptoms were surveyed among 5,320 students from 24 nations. Men were found to perceive themselves as more self-contained whereas women perceived themselves as more connected to others. No significant sex differences were found on two further dimensions of self-construal, or on a measure of depressive symptoms. Multilevel modeling was used to test the ability of a series of predictors derived from a social identity perspective and from evolutionary theory to moderate sex differences. Contrary to most prior studies of personality, sex differences in self-construal were larger in samples from nations scoring lower on the Gender Gap Index, and the Human Development Index. Sex differences were also greater in nations with higher pathogen prevalence, higher self-reported religiosity, and in nations with high reported avoidance of settings with strong norms. The findings are discussed in terms of the interrelatedness of self-construals and the cultural contexts in which they are elicited and the distinctiveness of student samples.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Joel Anderson
- Australian Catholic University and La Trobe University, Australia
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Siugmin Lay
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
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Abstract
This article aims to provide a reconsideration of the adaptive processes unfolding while meeting novel cultural elements in a dialogical perspective. The mainstream acculturation studies are criticized for seeing sociocultural transformations in a mechanistic and essentialist way and the term of proculturation is proposed instead, to emphasize constructive and subjective nature of human adaptation to novelties. Proculturation develops when a person faces any kind of novelties. It is a continuous process. Each proculturative experience inevitably makes imprint on personality, as any meeting with new ideas is interpreted subjectively and becomes part of a cognitive and affective experience. Proculturation can be initiated even without leaving home as globalization and modern mass media spread cultural elements from culture to culture easily throughout the whole world. Cultures overlap and constitute worldwide web of meanings. I propose ways for the integration of dialogical self theory (DST) and social representation theory (SRT). The term of social representation should be integrated in DST by replacing the term of meta-position as they serve essentially the same meaning in their theories respectively. In this way, dialogical self (DS) obtains processual dimension mediating through the personal and societal processes. Human subjectivity is contemplated as the stem of a semiotically mediated system of persons, cultures, and societies.
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