Emotional Fit With Culture: A Predictor of Individual Differences in Relational Well-Being

There is increasing evidence for emotional fit in couples and groups, but also within cultures. In the current research, we investigated the consequences of emotional fit at the cultural level. Given that emotions reflect people's view on the world, and that shared views are associated with good social relationships, we expected that an individual's fit to the average cultural patterns of emotion would be associated with relational well-being. Using an implicit measure of cultural fit of emotions, we found across 3 different cultural contexts (United States, Belgium, and Korea) that (1) indivi... Mehr ...

Verfasser: De Leersnyder, Jozefien
Mesquita, Batja
Kim, Heejung
Eom, Kimin
Choi, Hyewon
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
Reihe/Periodikum: Emotion, vol 14, iss 2
Verlag/Hrsg.: eScholarship
University of California
Schlagwörter: Mental Health / Behavioral and Social Science / Clinical Research / Underpinning research / 1.2 Psychological and socioeconomic processes / Adolescent / Adult / Belgium / Cross-Cultural Comparison / Culture / Emotions / Female / Humans / Individuality / Interpersonal Relations / Korea / Male / Middle Aged / Personal Satisfaction / United States / Young Adult / emotion / fit / relationships / well-being / Psychology / Cognitive Sciences / Experimental Psychology
Sprache: unknown
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26968093
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1w45h0wf

There is increasing evidence for emotional fit in couples and groups, but also within cultures. In the current research, we investigated the consequences of emotional fit at the cultural level. Given that emotions reflect people's view on the world, and that shared views are associated with good social relationships, we expected that an individual's fit to the average cultural patterns of emotion would be associated with relational well-being. Using an implicit measure of cultural fit of emotions, we found across 3 different cultural contexts (United States, Belgium, and Korea) that (1) individuals' emotional fit is associated with their level of relational well-being, and that (2) the link between emotional fit and relational well-being is particularly strong when emotional fit is measured for situations pertaining to relationships (rather than for situations that are self-focused). Together, the current studies suggest that people may benefit from emotionally "fitting in" to their culture.