Culture and Well-Being (eBook)

Ed Diener is the Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois. He received his doctorate at the University of Washington in 1974, and has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois for the past 34 years. Dr. Diener was the president of both the International Society of Quality of Life Studies and the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. Currently he is the president of the International Positive Psychology Association. Dr. Diener was the editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and the Journal of Happiness Studies, and he is the founding editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science. Diener has over 240 publications, with about 190 being in the area of the psychology of well-being, and is listed as one of the most highly cited psychologists by the Institute of Scientific Information with over 12,000 citations to his credit. He won the Distinguished Researcher Award from the International Society of Quality of Life Studies, the first Gallup Academic Leadership Award, and the Jack Block Award for Personality Psychology. Dr. Diener also won several teaching awards, including the Oakley-Kundee Award for Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Illinois.

Contents 6
Contributors 8
Endorsements 10
Editor’s note concerning source publications 12
Introduction – Culture andWell-Being Works by Ed Diener 14
Culture and SubjectiveWell-Being 22
Introduction 22
Patterning and Structure 28
Comparing the Mean Levels of SWB of Cultures 33
Correlates and Causes of SWB 38
Outcomes of SWB 43
Methodological Issues 44
Future Directions 47
Conclusions 48
References 49
Factors Predicting the SubjectiveWell-Being of Nations 55
Material Well-Being 56
Political and Civil Rights 57
Social Comparison 58
Equality 59
Independence-Interdependence 60
Cultural Homogeneity 60
Conclusion 60
Method 61
Results 70
Discussion 78
References 81
Cross-Cultural Correlates of Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem 83
Self-Esteem and SubjectiveWell-Being 84
Financial Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction 84
Cultural Homogeneity and Life Satisfaction 85
Life Satisfaction Compared with Self-Esteem 85
Absolute Levels of Satisfaction 85
Sex Differences and Similarities 86
Summary 86
Method 87
Results 89
Discussion 99
References 103
Goals, Culture, and SubjectiveWell-Being 104
Goals and Culture 105
The Present Studies 106
Study 1 107
Study 2 108
Study 3 111
General Discussion 114
References 117
Cross-Cultural Variations in Predictors of Life Satisfaction: Perspectives from Needs and Values 120
The Need-Gratification Models of SWB 121
The Value-as-a-Moderator Model of SWB 122
Overview 122
Study 1 123
Study 2 128
General Discussion 132
Conclusion 135
References 136
From Culture to Priming Conditions: Self-Construal Influences on Life Satisfaction Judgments 139
Study 1: Idiocentric Versus Allocentric Individuals 141
Study 2: Priming Effects 145
General Discussion 148
References 150
The Dynamics of Daily Events andWell-Being Across Cultures: When Less Is More 153
Life Events andWell-Being 154
The Equilibrium Point 154
Individual and Cultural Differences in the Equilibrium Point 155
Preliminary Study 157
Main Study 159
General Discussion 170
Appendix 174
References 174
Norms for Experiencing Emotions in Different Cultures: Inter- and Intranational Differences 179
Values and Norms for Experiencing Emotions 182
Method 186
Results 189
Discussion 204
References 209
Emotions Across Cultures and Methods 213
Semantic Knowledge Use in the Recall of Large Time Frames 215
Predictions 216
Method 218
Results 221
Discussion 232
General Conclusion 236
References 236
Positivity and the Construction of Life Satisfaction Judgments: Global Happiness is Not the Sum of its Parts 239
A Propensity View of SWB 240
Global Versus Specific Judgments 241
Overview and Predictions 242
Method 243
Results 245
Discussion 249
References 252
Most People Are Pretty Happy, but There Is Cultural Variation: The Inughuit, the Amish, and the Maasai 254
Methods 256
Results 260
Discussion 263
References 268
Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Satisfaction in the Slums of Calcutta 270
Methods 273
Results 278
Discussion 282
References 285
Conclusion:What We Have Learned and Where We Go Next 288
What We Have Learned 288
Differences in Well-Being Across Cultures 288
The Structure of Well-Being Across Cultures 289
The Value Placed on SubjectiveWell-Being Across Cultures 289
Measurement Validity Across Cultures 290
Differences in Correlates and Causes ofWell-Being Within Cultures 290
Personality and Culture 292
Do National Boundaries Capture Culture? 292
The Consequences ofWell-Being Across Cultures 293
General Conclusions 294
Where We Need to Go Next 294
Methods 294
What Is an Artifact? 295
Statistical Approaches 296
Theoretical Questions 297
References 298