Culture, identity consistency, and subjective well-being.
Abstract
All individuals have multiple views of themselves. Whereas the consistency among the different aspects of identity is emphasized in Western cultures, the "multiple selves" are often viewed as coexisting realities in East Asian cultures. This research revisits the classic thesis in psychology that identity consistency is a prerequisite condition of psychological well-being. Between individuals (Study 1), people with a more consistent self-view had a more clear self-knowledge, were more assertive, and, most notably, had self-experiences that were less affected by the perspectives of others. Compared with North American participants (Study 2), Koreans viewed themselves more flexibly across situations, and their subjective well-being was less predictable from levels of identity consistency. Also, consistent individuals received positive social evaluations from others in the United States but not in Korea.
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Self-esteem and identity consistency, both more highly valued in individualistic than collectivistic cultures, relate more strongly to life satisfaction in the former cultures.
“self-esteem and identity consistency, both more highly valued in individualistic than collectivistic cultures, relate more strongly to life satisfaction in the former cultures”
From Implications of an Emerging Integration of Universal and Culturally Specific Psychologies (2006) · cites this paper as Suh, 2002
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- Authors
- Suh, E. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Suh, Eunkook M.
- ORCID
- Suh, Eunkook M.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2002
- Volume
- 83
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1378-1391
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2148475606
- Cited by
- 649
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 18.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Keywords
- identity consistency, multiple selves, subjective well-being, self-knowledge, assertiveness, cross-cultural comparison, East Asian culture, social evaluation, self-presentation
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Culture, Female, Humans, Korea, Male, Personality Inventory, Pilot Projects, Self Concept, Social Identification, United States
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