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Cited by 1,282Psychological Well-being and Life SatisfactionCultural Differences and ValuesPsychometric Methodologies and Testing

The shifting basis of life satisfaction judgments across cultures: Emotions versus norms

Suh, Eunkook, Diener, Ed, Oishi, Shigehiro, Triandis, Harry C.·1998·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
DOI 10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.482
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Abstract

The relative importance of emotions versus normative beliefs for life satisfaction judgments was compared among individualist and collectivist nations in 2 large sets of international data (in total, 61 nations, N = 62,446). Among nations, emotions and life satisfaction correlated significantly more strongly in more individualistic nations (r =.52 in Study 1; r =.48 in Study 2). At the individual level, emotions were far superior predictors of life satisfaction to norms (social approval of life satisfaction) in individualist cultures, whereas norms and emotions were equally strong predictors of life satisfaction in collectivist cultures. The present findings have implications for future studies on cultural notions of well-being, the functional value of emotional experiences, and individual differences in life satisfaction profiles. Across the world, is the "good life " attained mostly by doing what a person would like to do or by doing what a person thinks he or she should do? More broadly, are internal processes, such as attitudes, beliefs, emotions, and the like, or external pro-

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  • People in collectivist cultures more often rely on social norms to decide whether they should be satisfied and consider the social appraisals of family and friends in evaluating their lives.

    “people in collectivist cultures more often rely on social norms to decide whether they should be satisfied and consider the social appraisals of family and friends in evaluating their lives”

    From Why do people use Facebook? (2012) · cites this paper as Suh et al., 1998

  • There are cultural differences in the association between congruence and life satisfaction; in South Korea, congruence was much less important than in the US.

    “there are cultural differences in the association between congruence (i.e., acting consistently across situations and in accord with one's self) and life satisfaction. For example, in South Korea, congruence was much less important than in the US.”

    From Why do people use Facebook? (2012) · cites this paper as Suh et al., 1998

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Authors
Suh, E., Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Triandis, H. C.
Affiliations
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1998-02
Volume
74
Issue
2
Pages
482-493
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
DOI
10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.482
OpenAlex
W2133776541
Cited by
1,282
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 26 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 56 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 59 · 2016: 64 · 2015: 70 · 2014: 77 · 2013: 56 · 2012: 68
FWCI
34.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Keywords
life satisfaction, emotions, normative beliefs, individualism, collectivism, cross-cultural comparison, well-being

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