Culture moderates the association between social expectations regarding helping and positive affect

Abstract

Previous research suggests that individuals from interdependent cultures have more congruent views of agency and social obligations. This study aimed to confirm these findings by investigating the moderating effects of culture on the association between perceived social expectations regarding helping and affect. Japanese (n=164) and American (n=177) adults recalled a recent situation in which they helped someone and responded to a questionnaire regarding need satisfaction and affect. As expected, the Japanese subjects showed a stronger positive association between the perceived social expectation that they should help and positive affect than the Americans. For Japanese, the perceived social expectation that they should help increased satisfaction of the need for competence, leading to a more positive affect, while for Americans, the perceived social expectation that they should help reduced satisfaction of the need for autonomy, which in turn, reduced positive affect.