Individual Psychological Culture and Subjective Well-being

Abstract

Provides a definition of culture and and subjective well-being (SWB), and highlights the importance of considering the significant individual variation that exists within all cultures. The authors first discuss culture as an individual psychological construct, contrasting it with culture as an ecological-level construct. Then, the authors examine the dimension of culture that has been most widely studied on the individual level-individualism and collectivism (IC)-and describe recent developments in measurement techniques used to access IC on the individual level. To show the current status of research in this area, studies are reviewed that examine the relationship between IC or other dimensions of culture on this level and SWB, possible mediators of that relationship, and the effect of discrepancies between individual and ecological culture on SWB. Finally, the authors provide data from a laboratory study that complements the existing literature on this topic, using a sample of 56 college students (mean age 27.44 yrs). Results from this study suggest that increased discrepancies between personal and societal, or personal and ideal, cultural values are associated with greater need for coping. Recommendations for future research in this area are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved) (from the chapter)