Personal or interpersonal construal of happiness: A cultural psychological perspective

Abstract

Cultural psychological research reveals considerable variation in how people construe happiness and experience subjective wellbeing. This paper identified substantial cultural differences in (1) meanings of happiness, (2) predictors of happiness, and (3) how social changes such as globalization are related to happiness. In European-American cultural contexts, happiness is construed as including experience of a highly desirable and positive emotional state defined in terms of a high arousal state such as excitement and a sense of personal achievement. Moreover, individual happiness is best predicted by personal goal attainment and high selfesteem or self-efficacy. In contrast, in East Asian cultural contexts (i.e., those found in Japan), happiness is construed as including experience of both positive and negative emotional state. Happiness is defined in terms of experiencing a low arousal state such as calmness and interpersonal connectedness and harmony. Furthermore, individual happiness is best predicted by relationship harmony and emotional support from others. While people maintain traditional cultural norms, some societies and organizations are under pressure from globalization and this might affect happiness. We examined how cultural change affects wellbeing, especially focusing on current Japanese contexts where individuals have experienced an increasing shift toward individualism and have experienced a large national disaster. Cultural psychological perspectives regarding happiness provide important contributions to psychological science and society at large.

Positive cross-cultural psychology: Exploring similarity and difference in constructions and experiences of wellbeing

“…Anti-realism comes in different 'strengths': strong constructionism holds that all aspects of human experience are entirely culturally created (and thus are particular to the specific cultural nexus in which they emerge), which obviously aligns with Berry et al's notion of extreme relativism; conversely, weak versions claim only that aspects of human experience are culturally shaped (but may be moulded from universal human needs and qualities), which is reflective of Berry et al's concept of moderate relativism. Either way, research of this relativising variety looks specifically at how people in different cultures may have significant differences concerning wellbeing, from the way it is conceptualised and defined (Joshanloo, 2014), to how it is experienced (Uchida & Ogihara, 2012) and reported (Oishi, 2010). Such cultural differences have been explored at various levels of scale.…”

“…In PP, this approach has arguably been less prevalent than the universalising perspective, since the field has tended to be dominated by more conventional epistemological perspectives (such as positivism). However, we are starting to see emergent efforts in the field to investigate variation in the way different cultures relate to happiness and wellbeing, including in terms of how these are defined (Joshanloo, 2014), experienced (Uchida & Ogihara, 2012) and reported (Oishi, 2010). Thus, works cited here as examples of this perspective pay close attention to cultural differences, and tend to argue that people's experiences of wellbeing, and of life more broadly, are strongly constituted by their cultural context.…”

The relationship of hope to self-compassion, relational social skill, communication apprehension, and life satisfaction

“…It has physical, psychological, spiritual, and social dimensions that are experienced within the domains of family, community, and societal life (LaPlaca, McNaught, & Knight, 2013). Individuals actively cultivate a sense of subjective wellbeing within these social contexts (Uchida & Ogihara, 2012). These interrelated dimensions of wellbeing include a cognitive sense of life satisfaction and the emotional experience of happiness expressed in the presence of positive and a lack of negative feelings toward oneself (Angner, 2011;Dodge, Daly, Huyton, & Sanders, 2012).…”

Reversal of the Norm: Pressure Discrepancies on the Two Sides of the Septum in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients with Congestive Heart Failure

“…For example, the level of satisfaction with one's life in individualistic cultures is, to a greater extent, determined by the individual's emotions and moods, while in collectivistic cultures, the level of satisfaction with one's life is determined by the individual's social life [58,59]. Since most well-being measures are designed in individualistic Western societies, the meaning of well-being in other cultures may not be properly captured [60]. Additionally, there may be technical biases due to culture-specific social norms about a condition or circumstance, such as infertility, that may affect the individual's responses on questions regarding this condition and the individual's well-being [7,14].…”