Emotional fit with culture: A predictor of individual differences in relational well-being.

Abstract

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.

The cultural construction of emotions

“…This is true both in studies that theoretically stipulate these normative emotions [5], and in studies that infer the normativity of an individual's emotions based on their fit with the cultural average [14][15][16]. In sum, individuals in a wide range of cultures benefit from experiencing culturally normative emotions; one possible explanation is that these emotions help individuals towards achieving 'collective intentionality', i.e., the "power of minds to be jointly directed at objects, matters of fact, states 4 of affairs, goals, or values" [17].…”

Nature, Nurture, and Their Interplay

“…However, it is also possible that greater genetic susceptibility to cultural cues, especially when a new culture fosters behaviors promoting individuals' well-being, could be beneficial because it is likely to readily increase cultural fit, which may in turn increase one's well-being. Sharing similar emotional experiences and worldviews tends to facilitate social contact and close relationships (Anderson, Keltner, & John, 2003;De Leersnyder, Mesquita, Kim, Eom, & Choi, 2014). Thus, increasing or decreasing the tendency to engage in culturally normative social behaviors is likely to have an impact on one's sense of cultural fit.…”

Culture Moderates the Relationship Between Emotional Fit and Collective Aspects of Well-Being

“…Recently, studies have investigated how the degree of similarity or coherence between an individual’s own emotional pattern and the emotional patterns of others in the same environment – emotional fit with culture – predicts well-being (De Leersnyder et al, 2014, 2015). These studies demonstrate that emotional fit is important for individuals’ well-being across cultures, but that culture may also have a critical moderating role in this relationship.…”

“…There is growing evidence to support the notion that experiencing similar patterns of emotions to others within the same culture is important for individual well-being (De Leersnyder et al, 2014, 2015). In a series of studies, De Leersnyder and colleagues directly measured, rather than inferred, emotional fit with culture by using a profile correlation approach – correlating each individual’s pattern of emotions in response to different situations with the average emotional pattern of the group.…”

“…They then assessed the association between emotional fit and well-being in three different cultures (United States, Belgium, and Korea). Their results revealed that having higher emotional fit in relationship-focused situations (i.e., situation that involved relationship with others) was associated with greater relational well-being (i.e., having good interpersonal relationships) across all cultures (De Leersnyder et al, 2014). Emotional fit also predicted psychological well-being across cultures, although the specific contexts in which emotional fit mattered varied depending on culture (i.e., relationship-focused situations in Korea, and self-focused situations in the United States; De Leersnyder et al, 2015).…”