People in more individualist cultures are more motivated to make others feel better
Abstract
In many Western cultures, trying to make others feel better is considered critical for psychological health and social relationships. However, given that people think about emotions and relationships differently across cultures, the desirability, means, and benefits of making others feel better may also vary by culture. In two multicountry survey studies (Study 1: N = 3,154, 13 countries; Study 2: N = 3,503, 17 countries) and in a daily dairy study (Study 3: N = 243, 2 countries), we assessed motivation and strategies used for influencing others’ and one’s own emotions. To test whether potential cross-cultural differences in motivation and strategies in emotion regulation are unique to social interactions, we compared cultural differences in making others feel better to making oneself feel better. Across studies, cultural differences in influencing others’ emotions were greater than those in influencing one’s own emotions. Members of more individualist (vs. collectivist) cultures were more motivated to make others (but not themselves) feel better, were more likely to express care and less likely to encourage others to suppress their emotions or to ruminate. These patterns, in turn, were linked to an index of relationship closeness in an individualist (but not a collectivist) culture. These findings suggest that helping others feel better may not be equally desirable across cultures.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (33)
Shir Ginosar Yaari
Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Yulia Chentsova-Dutton
Department of Psychology, Georgetown University
Michaela Riediger
Department of Developmental Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Antje Rauers
Department of Developmental Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Min Young Kim
Department of Psychology, Keimyung University
Yuri Miyamoto
Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University
Allon Vishkin
Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
Julia Anne Freitag
Department of Developmental Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Jan Cieciuch
Department of Human Sciences, Vizja University
Mariana Gurevich
Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Maria Padun
Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Nevin Solak
Department of Psychology, Hacettepe University
Xiaoqin Wang
Jiang Qiu
Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University
Aldo Alvarez-Risco
Facultad de Administración y Negocios, Universidad Tecnológica del Perú
Alessandro Alberto Rossi
Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua
Yaniv Hanoch
Wolverhampton Business School, Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Science, University of Wolverhampton
Yukiko Uchida
Institute for the Future of Human Society, Kyoto University
Claudio Vaz Torres
Department of Basic Psychological Processes, University of Brasilia
Thiago Gomes Nascimento
Department of Basic Psychological Processes, University of Brasilia
Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi
IPADE Business School
Rakesh Singh
Department of Research, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal
Babita Singh
Department of Psychiatry Nursing, National Medical College
Shanmukh V. Kamble
Department of Psychology, Karnatak University
Sieun An
Department of Psychology, Fayetteville State University
Vivian Dzokoto
Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Adote Anum
Department of Psychology, University of Ghana
Stefania Mannarini
Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua
María Isabel Huerta-Carvajal
Marketing Department, Universidad de las Américas Puebla
Erika Galindo-Bello
Marketing Department, Universidad de las Américas Puebla
Verónica Janneth García Ibarra
Carrera de Administración de Empresas, Universidad Politécnica Estatal Del Carchi
Arobindu Dash
Department of Social Sciences, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology
Maya Tamir
Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem