In the pursuit of emotionally meaningful goals: When would the older East-Asians display or not to display the positivity effect>

Abstract

Socioemotional selectivity theory postulates that as people age, their goals become more emotionally salient. Compared with younger adults, older adults prioritize positive information, which gives rise to the positivity effect. However, cross cultural research on self-construal suggests that the East Asian culture encourages people to maintain relational harmony. Thus, negative information may be as important as the positive one for older East Asians. Recent studies have started to support this view and challenge the universality of positivity effect. In this chapter, we suggest that culture norm hypothesis, affect valuation theory and naive dialecticism may help explain such divergence. Definition and meaning of the positivity effect may be subjected to cultural interpretations. Finally, implications of the observed cross-cultural differences in the positivity effect and its relation to emotional well-being are discussed.