Cultural fit and life satisfaction: Endorsement of cultural values predicts life satisfaction only in collectivistic societies

The current research examined the effect of cultural fit, or the congruence between values that individuals endorse and values that are normative in their culture, as a predictor of life satisfaction. In a large international data set drawn from the World Values Survey (Study 1), the effect of cultural fit was found in collectivistic societies but not in individualistic societies. While the endorsement of collectivistic values was predictive of life satisfaction in collectivistic societies, the reverse effect in individualistic societies, the endorsement of individualistic values predicting well-being, was not found. Study 2 examined these effects with a more comprehensive set of individualistic and collectivistic values administered to Chinese and Western participants. Findings replicated those in Study 1 in that the effect of cultural fit was observed only among Chinese participants. The asymmetric pattern of the results may reflect diverging ways of approaching culturally valued goals.
這個研究目的是了解個人的價值觀與身處社會的價值觀的一致性，以及該一致性對個人的生活滿意度的影響。在一個大型價值觀調查的國際數據中（研究 1），集體主義價值觀的一致性在集體主義的國家有顯著的影響力，但是個人主義價值觀的一致性在個人主義的社會並沒有顯著的影響力。研究2採用更加全面的個人主義和集體主義價值觀的問題探討價值觀一致性對中國人及西方人的影響。結果發現集體主義價值觀的一致性只有對中國的參與者有影響。這些不對稱的結果可能反映在不同文化中接近目標的不同方式。 Copyright © 2010 The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. All Rights Reserved.