8.1: Considering Culture

Defining Culture

How does the American Psychological Association define culture?

(n.) the distinctive customs, values, beliefs, knowledge, art, and language of a society or a community. These values and concepts are passed on from generation to generation, and they are the basis for everyday behaviors and practices.¹

 

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Culture permeates every aspect of life. It influences the amounts of different strengths, the values towards different strengths, scores on different positive psychology measures, and certainly how different interventions and activities work for people. Cultural influences often support one's beliefs about what constitutes a fulfilling life and how to attain it.

 

Consider the concept of moderators. These elements play a pivotal role in altering the correlation between positive psychology and wellbeing. Do they elevate your wellbeing, diminish it, or have no discernible impact? Essentially, a moderator changes the relationship between two variables. 

 

Examining cultural perspectives on leading a 'good' life reveals diversity in Western and Eastern philosophies. Western traditions provide a wealth of insights: Aristotle, the Athenian philosopher, outlined 11 virtues, including courage, truth, justice, and generosity. Judeo-Christian teachings encompass the Ten Commandments, virtues such as faith, hope, and charity from the Old Testament, and values like kindness to the poor and seeking peace from the Talmud. Islam emphasizes gratitude and love for Allah, kindness to parents, justice, and courage. Among the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people, the Seven Grandfathers teachings prioritize wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, truth, and humility.

 

In contrast, Eastern philosophies offer complementary perspectives: Confucianism emphasizes altruism, sensitivity to others' feelings, wisdom, and truthfulness. Taoism advocates for living harmoniously with the universe, highlighting humanity, justice, propriety, and balance. Buddhism promotes compassion, love, and equanimity, urging individuals to prioritize the welfare of others. 

 

Individualism prioritizes individual concerns over those of the group, fostering independence and self-reliance. In contrast, collectivism prioritizes the group, emphasizing interdependence and conformity to group norms. Individuals in collectivist cultures prioritize fulfilling cultural norms and derive happiness from goals that benefit others. They prioritize family ties and harmony in social interactions. 

 

For example, in East Asian cultures, achieving harmony is central, and the primary value revolves around familial belonging. Seeking social support is often avoided to maintain this harmony. In Latino/Hispanic cultures, happiness perceptions are impacted by inequalities. Warmth and expressiveness within the family are cherished, with family serving as the foremost source of support.

 

💡 Think about it:

How do you believe this could influence the effectiveness of certain positive psychology activities? Are there specific activities you think might be affected? Have you observed firsthand how your cultural background influenced the impact of certain class activities on your well-being, whether they were successful in improving it?

 

Dr. Kristin Layous and colleagues² examined how culture influences the effectiveness of happiness-boosting activities. They found that while participants from the US benefited greatly from gratitude interventions, those from South Korea experienced fewer benefits from the same activity. However, both groups showed similar increases in well-being when engaging in acts of kindness. However, this is partially attributed to differences in effort. Americans often believe that happiness is within their control and can be achieved through sheer determination. In contrast, in Korean culture, the word for happiness translates to "fortunate" or "lucky blessing" (Oishi et al., 2012)³. Additionally, the cultural emphasis on maintaining a balance between negative and positive experiences may also contribute to these differences.

 

Although gratitude generally boosts positive emotions for everyone, Titova et al. (2017)⁴ found that Asian Americans and Indians, who tend to have collectivist orientations, experienced increases in guilt and sadness after writing gratitude letters to individuals in their lives. On the other hand, optimism interventions, which concentrate on envisioning one's best future self, did not display any cultural interaction.

 

First Impressions

Upon meeting someone, we often find ourselves making quick judgements: How friendly is this person? How trustworthy are they? However, understanding the factors that shape these initial assessments is key.

 

In a study at Stanford University (Tsai et al., 2019)⁵, students who preferred experiencing heightened positive emotions, such as excitement and enthusiasm, were more inclined to exhibit behaviors like sharing money, initiating conversations, placing trust, and selecting leaders who displayed similarly excited expressions in photos. Interestingly, there were cultural variations observed: European American students tended to gravitate towards individuals with excited facial expressions, while East Asian students often preferred individuals with calmer demeanors when assessing traits like trustworthiness and friendliness. This phenomenon, known as "ideal affect," significantly influences how individuals perceive friendliness and trustworthiness. Why do you think ideal affect is associated with these specific preferences and variations?

Ideal affect can shape decisions beyond preferences, impacting choices such as selecting healthcare providers and adhering to doctors orders. A study showed that individuals tend to follow medical advice more when their doctor reflects their ideal affect (Sims & Tsai, 2015)⁶.

 

Definition: Individualism 

prioritizes individual concerns over those of the group, fostering independence and self-reliance

Definition: Collectivism 

prioritizes the group, emphasizing interdependence and conformity to group norms

 

Attribution

¹American Psychological Association. (2023). Culture. In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/culture 

²Layous, K., Lee, H., Choi, I., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2013). Culture Matters When Designing a Successful Happiness-Increasing Activity: A Comparison of the United States and South Korea. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44(8), 1294-1303. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022113487591 

³Oishi, S., Choi, H., Koo, M. et al. Happiness, Meaning, and Psychological Richness. Affec Sci 1, 107–115 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-020-00011-z 

⁴Titova, L., Wagstaff, A. E., & Parks, A. C. (2017). Disentangling the Effects of Gratitude and Optimism: A Cross-Cultural Investigation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 48(5), 754-770. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022//117699278 

⁵Tsai, J. L., Blevins, E., Bencharit, L. Z., Chim, L., Fung, H. H., & Yeung, D. Y. (2019). Cultural variation in social judgments of smiles: The role of ideal affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 116(6), 966–988. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000192 

⁶Sims, T., & Tsai, J. L. (2015). Patients respond more positively to physicians who focus on their ideal affect. Emotion, 15(3), 303–318. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000026