This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Cultural differences can interact with positive psychology to create great variation, potentially impacting positive psychology interventions. Culture differences have an impact on the interventions of positive psychology. Culture influences how people seek psychological help, their definitions of social structure, and coping strategies. Cross cultural positive psychology is the application of the main themes of positive psychology from cross-cultural or multicultural perspectives. [1]
Research shows that cultural factors affect notions of perceived happiness. [2] [3] Cultural psychologist Richard Shweder argues that these factors help shape what people deem is good, moral, and virtuous. The current general literature discusses positive psychology into two categories: Western and Eastern. Westerners seek rewards on more of a physical plane, while Easterners seek to transcend the physical plane to a spiritual one. [4] Western literature generally stresses autonomy, individuality, and personal satisfaction, while Eastern work generally focuses on harmony, collective cooperation, and group satisfaction. [5]
Despite cultural differences in many concepts of interest to positive psychology, the overwhelming majority of intervention studies are conducted using samples drawn from Western cultures. [6]
Recent studies show that happiness is a relatively new concept of positive psychology and that the meaning behind positive psychology is more complex than once thought. For the purpose of study, happiness was broken down into two different factors: endogenic and exogenic. Despite the influence of exogenic factors on an individual's happiness, endogenic factors have been proven to form the foundations of happiness. With these new findings, researchers broke down the biological foundations into several categories in order to further understand how endogenic factors play a role on an individual's happiness. The categories researchers selected to examine were genetics, endocrine glands, hormones, physical health, brain and neurotransmitters, typology, and attractiveness. It is also important to note the studies that have been done on twins to help determine what might cause happiness. A study between two twins found that 35-50 percent of happiness can be related to genetic factors. [7] Studying happiness can better help one understand the impact of positive psychology.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, anthropologists and psychologists used race and culture as factors that influence positive, negative behaviors, and attitudes{Snyder, Lopez, Pedrotti (2011). Positive psychology was defined as the scientific and practical explorations of human strengths (2nd ed.)} Although it originally included culture, over time there became a perspective that neglected the way that the culture impacts behaviors and attitudes. This was used by some groups to assert dominance over others through eugenics. American psychologists, G. Stanley Hall and Henry H. Goddard, were among some of the notable figures to adopt this view. By the mid 20th century, the dominant view was that culture did not predetermine life outcomes; instead, differences were the consequence of environmental factors. The culturally different perspective holds that unique strengths can be highlighted within every culture. [8]
David Satcher was among the first to emphasize the influences of culture on mental health. Cultural differences occur both between and within nations. Social psychologists have supported the notion that humans are "social animals". [9]
Psychologists Charles R. Snyder, Shane J. Lopez, and Jennifer T. Pedrotti identify two major influential western traditions – Athenian and Judeo-Christian – and four major eastern traditions – Confucianism (China), Taoism (China), Buddhism (Japan), and Hinduism (Southeast Asia) – relevant to positive psychology. [10]
Joshanloo (2014) identifies and discusses six broad differences between Western and non-Western conceptions of well-being. His analysis is based on his survey of the accounts of happiness and optimal functioning provided in Western as well as non-Western traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Sufism. These six major domains of difference are as follows: [14]
There are different approaches within the field of positive psychology. With the support of numerous sources, Bacon [15] presents the idea that there are two "cultures" in positive psychology, or two different ways to view the positive psychology construct of personal strengths: focus culture and balance culture. In focus culture, individuals are focused on developing and expressing their personal strengths. Balance culture is instead oriented towards balancing and bringing harmony within oneself and among others. Bacon argues that individuals ascribing to the focus culture will differ in their life experience and life path than those who believe in the balance culture. Bacon believes that the strengths can be categorized into these two cultures and goes into depth, explaining why creativity is the prototypical strength in the focus culture and why wisdom represents an ideal strength in the balance culture. Rather than tying culture to a certain ethnic or cultural group, Bacon and others argue that there are two different cultures, or schools of thought, within positive psychology. These two cultures reflect a new way to categorize strengths (Bacon, 2005).
There are two main approaches to cross-cultural positive psychology. One perspective, termed 'culturally-free' believes that there are numerous human strengths that are valued universally, and that the pursuit of happiness is common across cultures. This approach posits that the science of positive psychology is similar to the science of biology or chemistry in that it is not associated with any one culture or school of thought, but can be applied anywhere at anytime. [1] Proponents of this side view their approach as descriptive, and objective, claiming its results "transcend particular cultures and politics and approach universality". [16] The other approach, dubbed cultural determinism or cultural relativism, [1] views values as culturally embedded, meaning that cultural values of the researchers influence their work. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM-V) takes this view and includes information throughout the manual to increase cultural sensitivity and further the awareness of a multicultural perspective in clinical practice. Some of the additional information includes insight into cultural differences in key symptoms of disorders as well as suggestions on how to take cultural context into account during treatment. [17]
Also, Western traditions fostered more individualistic societies while eastern traditions fostered more collectivistic societies. [18] Individualistic cultures value the self above the group. Collectivistic cultures value the group above the individual.
Key western values (Individualism)
| Key eastern values (Collectivism and individualism)
|
The different thought processes between Western and Eastern cultures impacts the positive psychology that they seek in their own lives. For example, in seeking happiness, Westerners give priority to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as well as goal-directed thinking. Easterners, on the other hand, may be more accepting in their situation, and put more weight on inner life balance. The virtue of harmony appears to be a pillar of Eastern culture. [5]
Edward C. Chang did a series of quantitative studies in order to showcase the importance of understanding the equivalence of traits and constructs across cultural groups. For example, Asian Americans were more pessimistic than Caucasians, but the two groups were not all that different on their levels of optimism. [20]
Joseph G. Ponterotto et al. have suggested that the ability to navigate and adapt to the increasingly diverse context of the world, is an important strength. People high on this are said to have "multicultural personalities". [21] It adjusts for differences between cultures. Kristoffer G. van der Zee and Jan P. van Oudenhoven created the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), and identified five factors that describe personality style: cultural empathy, open-mindedness, emotional stability, initiative, and flexibility. This may correlate with enhanced well-being. [22]
Psychology researcher Daphna Oyserman and her colleagues advocate for a less static view of separate cultures (East vs. West), and suggest exploring more dynamic ways explaining the ways in which these cultures operate. Different cultures can operate together, rather than being seen as conflicting (it is not "me vs. we"). [23]
There has been a recent effort by researchers to explore how concepts of Positive Psychology differ between cultures, as well as how culture influences how individuals view the good life.
For example, Snyder's chapter (2009) [24] explores the way in which culture affects positive psychology. More specifically, Snyder acknowledges the fact that culture impacts an individual's understanding of strengths and weaknesses. Snyder claims that it is important to understand the cross-section of positive psychology and culture because it allows one to not only understand people within a culture, but it also enables one to appreciate people from different cultures. Snyder outlines two schools of thought in the positive psychology field that pertain to how we should view strengths within a cultural context: culture-free and culturally embedded perspective. Those ascribing to the culture-free perspective believe that strengths are not affected by culture and that there are universal strengths. The culturally embedded perspective argues that one must take into account culture when one is considering strengths because they believe strengths manifest themselves differently in different cultures (Snyder, 2009).
Dahlsgaard, Peterson, and Seligman's (2005) [25] meta-analysis present historical and psychological evidence supporting the contention that there are universal virtues that exist across cultures. They are courage, justice, humanity, temperance, wisdom, and transcendence. These authors note that these virtues have been represented in ancient texts within Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and from Athenian scholars. Each of these core virtues was represented in these schools of thought and became entrenched in the societies and cultures that ascribe to these religions and belief systems. Thus, these core virtues of courage, justice, humanity, temperance, wisdom, and transcendence are valued equally across these different cultures (Dahlsgaard et al., 2005).
Another virtue put forth by Seligman in attaining the good life is forgiveness. Previous researchers have not looked extensively at how forgiveness occurs in non-Western cultures, yet virtue is a very culturally embedded value. The research that has explored the virtue of forgiveness in non-Western cultures has found that there are no significant differences in overall levels of forgiveness, yet the reasons behind forgiving and the meaning of forgiveness varies between collectivist and individualistic cultures. For example, forgiveness in individualistic cultures is focused on a particular individual, while Eastern cultures see forgiveness in a broader, community context. Since forgiveness is a key virtue in positive psychology and a relevant topic in counseling, it is important to research forgiveness more thoroughly in a variety of cultures in order to better understand how different cultures view forgiveness. [26]
In studies that highlight differences between Western and Eastern cultures, discrepancies in values and emotions have been found when comparing the United States and China. Some might conclude that people in Eastern cultures are less happy than those in Western cultures, but research indicates that there is more value placed on suffering and transcendence in Eastern cultures than in the United States. [5] It is also commonly believed that there is less happiness experienced by people in Eastern cultures because there is less individuality, but Eastern cultures are socialized in a much more collectivist mindset and develop into adults that are more concerned with finding a place in one's community rather than standing out, as Americans are. [27] These differences in particular indicate that there should be further research into cultural differences to avoid mistakes in classifying behavior and psychological functioning.
Kubokawa and Ottaway's literature review examines how emotions vary across cultures, suggesting that applications of positive psychology need to adapt to different cultural contexts. The authors use self-criticism as an example: self-criticism is considered detrimental to one's well-being in Western cultures, whereas collectivistic cultures value self-criticism as an important tool for personal growth and consider it useful in aligning with societal norms (Heine et al., 2001). The authors also discuss a study conducted in Asian Americans and Caucasians that examined optimism and pessimism. The study found that while Asian Americans rated higher in pessimism than Caucasians, they did not differ in levels of depressive symptoms, indicating that the association between pessimism and depression might not apply in Asian cultures the way it does in Western cultures. In general, many negative emotions in Western cultures do not hold the same connotations in East Asian cultures, leading the authors to suggest that classification of certain emotions as positive and negative is not universal, and that research in positive psychology should cater to these cultural aspects. [28]
Kubokawa and Ottaway also present research that discredits the cultural relevance of the Values in Action Classification of Strengths (VIA) created by Peterson and Seligman. Peterson and Seligman (2004) identified six universal characters strengths and virtues that are valued by all cultures: courage, justice, humanity, temperance, wisdom, and transcendence. These virtues in turn led them to create a subset of 24 strengths common to all cultures. However, Christopher and Hickinbottom (2008) argue that the VIA Classification of Strengths is an oversimplification of cultures. While the values might be similar across cultures, the meaning that Peterson and Seligman ascribed to them are Western-orientated and might not translate well into more collectivist cultures. [28]
Previous research has demonstrated that the good life, as defined by subjective well-being, is rooted in predominantly Western ways of thinking. [29] But, throughout history, subjective well-being has often become less vital in comparison to the needs to the larger community. This change results in individuals feeling subjective well-being in response to the success of their community rather than from their individual experiences. For example, the people of Bali see life as having two realms, everyday life and the spiritual world. Due to this dichotomy, it is difficult to examine subjective well-being without considering both realms, which occurs when positive psychology uses Western ways of thinking about the world. [30]
Another cultural difference in how one conceptualizes the good life can be seen in the beliefs of the Apsáalooke tribe, a Native American tribe in the US. Research has shown that for members of the Apsáalooke tribe, life satisfaction is deeply rooted in the belief that one's life is intertwined with others in their tribe. Due to this feeling of collectivity, satisfaction is taken from helping others. This example is just one of many in which other cultures differ in the concept of satisfaction from the concept of satisfaction in an individualistic culture. [30]
In addition, a difference between collectivist and individualist cultures is the conceptualization of positive and negative emotions, including happiness. For example, research indicates that individualism moderates the relationship between hedonism and happiness, such that hedonism is more strongly related to happiness in more individualistic (vs collectivistic) cultures. [31] In individualist cultures, individuals attempt to avoid negative emotions, but in Eastern communities, some negative emotions are viewed as a virtue. One example of this is that collectivist cultures value shame because they view it as an opportunity to better themselves. So, when Western conceptualizations are applied to Eastern cultures, researchers run the risk of psychological imperialism. [30]
How does the culture of consumerism relate to positive psychology? Past research has shown that consumer culture and the pursuit of extrinsic goals leads to diminished well-being, in comparison to pursuing intrinsic goals that lead to an increase in well-being. These findings not only occur in America, but the same results occurred in samples across a variety of countries, including Romania, Germany, Russia, Singapore, and South Korea. These countries represent both individualistic and collectivist cultures, which demonstrates that one possible universal in positive psychology across cultures is the importance of the pursuit of intrinsic goals. [32]
Maygar-Moe, Owens, and Conoley identified specific cultural considerations that affect how practitioners should engage with concepts and theories in positive psychology within counseling settings. The literature review specifically addresses well-being, meaning, and hope. [33]
Well-being
Wealthy, individualistic cultures experience higher levels of social well-being than underprivileged, collectivistic cultures (Diener, Diener, & Diener, 1995). Self-esteem was also more predictive of life satisfaction in individualistic cultures than in collectivistic cultures (Suh, Diner, Oishi, & Triadis, 1998). [33]
Research suggest that searching for meaning is viewed more positively in interdependent culture: Steger, Kawabata, Shimai, and Otake (2008) found that when comparing Japan (example of interdependent culture) and the U.S. (example of independent culture), the Japanese sample was high in searching for meaning while the U.S. sample was higher in experiencing meaning. Additionally, the search for meaning in the Japanese sample was positively related to presence of meaning, unlike in the U.S. sample. [33] Research also indicates that national levels of globalization can moderate the relationship between "thinking about the meaning of life" and life satisfaction. That is, in more globalized cultures, this relationship is negative, whereas in less globalized cultures, this correlation is positive. [34]
Maygar-Moe, Owens, and Conoley argue that while previous research supports the idea that is hope is universally a positive expectancy variably, the cultivation of hope varies based on cultural makeup. [33]
European Americans – life satisfaction serves as a source of agentic hope and positive affect was found to be predictive of pathways of hope. Therefore, European Americans would benefit most from interventions that improve life satisfaction and positive affect (Chang & Banks, 2007).
African Americans – lack of negative problem orientation was the strongest predictor for agentic, and positive problem orientation was the best predictor of pathways thinking. Therefore, African Americans would benefit best from interventions that simultaneously reduce a negative problem orientation and increase a positive problem orientation (Chang & Banks, 2007). [33]
Latinos – life satisfaction was the only predictor of pathways thinking, and rational problem solving was the best predictor of agentic thinking, therefore, Latinos would benefit most from interventions aiming to increasing rational problem solving and that would lead to higher life satisfaction (Chang & Banks, 2007). [33]
Asian Americans – positive problem orientation was the strongest predictor of pathways thinking, while positive affect was the strongest predictor of agentic thinking. Therefore, Asian Americans would benefit best from interventions that promote positive affect and a positive problem orientation (Chang & Banks, 2007). [33]
Culturally appropriate psychoeducational and counseling interventions would benefit from more empirical research on culturally embedded positive psychology. Cross-cultural studies would help with the application of psychological treatment and recovery, along with improving the general understanding of the psyche of diverse populations of people. This is not only important for the differences between Western and Eastern civilizations, but has implications for the various cultural and ethnic groups within the United States of America, a society that has been considered a "melting pot" and has grappled with these issues throughout history. One important aspect of American culture that should be addressed is that of consumerism. Since the negative effects of the culture of consumption transcends specific cultures, it can become a common theme across counseling practices of positive psychology to encourage pursuing intrinsic values and the good life, and avoid pursuing extrinsic goals and the "goods" life. [32]
In addition, a culturally embedded approach would allow professionals outside the mental health field to utilize methodology and concepts from psychology to motivate and help people. Specifically, employers in any field of business would be able to find techniques that are culturally appropriate for encouraging employees to be better engaged in their careers and to find meaning in their work. This can effectively be applied to the cultural network groups that many companies organize for employees, such as women's and African-Americans' networks, that allow for employees and employers to increase the understanding of perspectives and cultural sensitivity in the workplace. [35]
Furthermore, teachers and administrators would be better equipped to address issues in educational achievement and behavioral development amongst diverse groups of students. Since there is currently strong criticism of the public education system for the achievement gap amongst students based on race and socioeconomic status, it would be especially helpful for educational authorities to understand the disparities that students may face due to aspects of their background. Teachers would benefit from knowing how to better foster a love of learning, creativity, optimism, resilience, leadership, and teamwork in diverse groups of students in order to prepare students for achievement in the future. The concept of achievement is tied to the aforementioned topics for many children. When achievement seems possible for all students, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, they may be more likely to persistently pursue attaining it.[ citation needed ]
Virtues and strengths are valued differently across cultures, which in turn means that attempts to build strengths using positive psychology within counseling settings can only be successful if they include important cultural considerations. For example, Chang (1996) found that Asian Americans reported higher levels of pessimism than Caucasians, however within that population pessimism was not found to contribute to depression and was associated with positive problem-solving strategies. This suggests that while pessimism is considered a weakness in some cultures, it might actually serve as a strength in others: defensive pessimism, for example, leads people to set lower expectations for themselves. This supports the idea that applications of positive psychology to cultivate strengths need to be altered to fit the clients' cultural backgrounds. [33]
Individual differences in the way people experience positive and negative emotions affect study results in a way that makes sample and cohort differences less important than the studies stress. More specifically, the conception of the self is key in positive psychology, and cross cultural differences in the conception of the self-make it difficult to generalize results. [30] What must be made clear in any given research is the necessity to define the camp of ideology from which the research is founded: a culture-free perspective, where the investigators assume that there are principles of positive psychology that transcend cultures and politics and reach universality and focus on the reports of those principles in all cultural studies; or a culturally-embedded perspective, where investigators acknowledge positive psychological principles that are made special due to the cultural context. [36]
The first two problems converge for an even larger issue: the measurement of emotion is far from accurate. However, many studies and researchers use "oversimple checklists and questionnaires without follow-up or exploration of their adequacy." [37] [38] Without in-depth explorations, the possibilities of finding observations about the flow of events in an emotional encounter is minimal. Thus, with very subjective results and the inadequacy to rule out other causal connections, the measurement of positive emotion itself is flawed.[ citation needed ]
With the cultural aspect of positive psychology, the problems largely consist of the definition of positive emotions and notions of a positive life. Many of the ideals that are associated with a positive psychology are notions that are deeply ingrained within Western cultures and do not necessarily apply to all groups of people. In relation to the previous point about measuring positive emotion, many of the social conditions in emotion measurement are ignored.[ citation needed ]
"Positive psychology is doomed to being narrow and ethnocentric as long as its researchers remain unaware of the cultural assumptions underlying their work." [28] A large part of the literature debates whether positive psychology is innately culture-free or culture-embedded. Those who advocate culture-free positive psychology state that happiness is a universal trait, whereas advocates of culture-embedded positive psychology believe that the cultural context reach happiness differently, depending on their culture.[ citation needed ]
Non-standardized measurements of emotion are also due to the fact that pleasant hedonic experiences are expressed in very different ways across cultural groups, hindering researchers' ability to choose universal terms that will accurately describe these experiences without completely disregarding their cultural context. For example, Mesquita and Frijda (1992) argue that the word for "happiness" not only changes across languages, but it also describes a different emotional experience. In English, happiness refers to a "high arousal, exuberant experience," while its equivalent in Hindi, sukhi, refers to a low-arousal experience of peace and happiness, and in Kenya, for the Kipsigis, "happiness" is a lack of negative experiences, indicating a quiet and calm state. This makes it challenging for researchers to study positive psychology across cultures, as different interpretations of these terms could lead to invalid assumptions about specific emotions. [39]
Happiness is a positive and pleasant emotion, ranging from contentment to intense joy. Moments of happiness may be triggered by positive life experiences or thoughts, but sometimes it may arise from no obvious cause. The level of happiness for longer periods of time is more strongly correlated with levels of life satisfaction, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. In common usage, the word happy can be an appraisal of those measures themselves or as a shorthand for a "source" of happiness. As with any emotion, the precise definition of happiness has been a perennial debate in philosophy.
Positive psychology studies the conditions that contribute to the optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions... it aims to improve quality of life."
The evaluation apprehension theory was proposed by Nickolas B. Cottrell in 1972. He argued that we quickly learn that the social rewards and punishments that we receive from other people are based on their evaluations of us. On this basis, our arousal may be modulated. In other words, performance will be enhanced or impaired only in the presence of persons who can approve or disapprove of our actions.
Cultural psychology is the study of how cultures reflect and shape their members' psychological processes.
Cross-cultural psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes, including both their variability and invariance, under diverse cultural conditions. Through expanding research methodologies to recognize cultural variance in behavior, language, and meaning it seeks to extend and develop psychology. Since psychology as an academic discipline was developed largely in North America and Europe, some psychologists became concerned that constructs and phenomena accepted as universal were not as invariant as previously assumed, especially since many attempts to replicate notable experiments in other cultures had varying success. Since there are questions as to whether theories dealing with central themes, such as affect, cognition, conceptions of the self, and issues such as psychopathology, anxiety, and depression, may lack external validity when "exported" to other cultural contexts, cross-cultural psychology re-examines them using methodologies designed to factor in cultural differences so as to account for cultural variance. Some critics have pointed to methodological flaws in cross-cultural psychological research, and claim that serious shortcomings in the theoretical and methodological bases used impede, rather than help the scientific search for universal principles in psychology. Cross-cultural psychologists are turning more to the study of how differences (variance) occur, rather than searching for universals in the style of physics or chemistry.
Dispositional affect, similar to mood, is a personality trait or overall tendency to respond to situations in stable, predictable ways. This trait is expressed by the tendency to see things in a positive or negative way. People with high positive affectivity tend to perceive things through "pink lens" while people with high negative affectivity tend to perceive things through "black lens". The level of dispositional affect affects the sensations and behavior immediately and most of the time in unconscious ways, and its effect can be prolonged. Research shows that there is a correlation between dispositional affect and important aspects in psychology and social science, such as personality, culture, decision making, negotiation, psychological resilience, perception of career barriers, and coping with stressful life events. That is why this topic is important both in social psychology research and organizational psychology research.
According to some theories, emotions are universal phenomena, albeit affected by culture. Emotions are "internal phenomena that can, but do not always, make themselves observable through expression and behavior". While some emotions are universal and are experienced in similar ways as a reaction to similar events across all cultures, other emotions show considerable cultural differences in their antecedent events, the way they are experienced, the reactions they provoke and the way they are perceived by the surrounding society. According to other theories, termed social constructionist, emotions are more deeply culturally influenced. The components of emotions are universal, but the patterns are social constructions. Some also theorize that culture is affected by the emotions of the people.
Face negotiation theory is a theory conceived by Stella Ting-Toomey in 1985, to understand how people from different cultures manage rapport and disagreements. The theory posited "face", or self-image when communicating with others, as a universal phenomenon that pervades across cultures. In conflicts, one's face is threatened; and thus the person tends to save or restore his or her face. This set of communicative behaviors, according to the theory, is called "facework". Since people frame the situated meaning of "face" and enact "facework" differently from one culture to the next, the theory poses a cross-cultural framework to examine facework negotiation. It is important to note that the definition of face varies depending on the people and their culture and the same can be said for the proficiency of facework. According to Ting-Toomey's theory, most cultural differences can be divided by Eastern and Western cultures, and her theory accounts for these differences.
Edward Francis Diener was an American psychologist and author. Diener was a professor of psychology at the University of Utah and the University of Virginia, and Joseph R. Smiley Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, as well as a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization. He is noted for his research over the past thirty years on happiness, including work on temperament and personality influences on well-being, theories of well-being, income and well-being, cultural influences on well-being, and the measurement of well-being. As shown on Google Scholar as of April 2021, Diener's publications have been cited over 257,000 times.
In positive psychology, zest is among the discrete strengths people possess. Having zest means treating life as an adventure and feeling motivated in challenging situations. People with zest display enthusiasm, excitement, and energy as they tackle life's tasks. Zest is a component of the virtue of courage in some positive psychology paradigms.
The VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS), formerly known as the "Values in Action Inventory," is a proprietary psychological assessment measure designed to identify an individual's profile of "character strengths".
Life satisfaction is the evaluation of a person's quality of life. It is assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards one's life—rather than an assessment of current feelings. Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economic standing, degree of education, experiences, residence, and other factors.
Individualistic cultures are characterized by individualism, which is the prioritization or emphasis of the individual over the entire group. In individualistic cultures people are motivated by their own preference and viewpoints. Individualistic cultures focus on abstract thinking, privacy, self-dependence, uniqueness, and personal goals. The term individualistic culture was first used in the 1980s by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede to describe countries and cultures that are not collectivist, Hofstede created the term individualistic culture when he created a measurement for the five dimensions of cultural values.
Cultural communication is the practice and study of how different cultures communicate within their community by verbal and nonverbal means. Cultural communication can also be referred to as intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication. Cultures are grouped together by a set of similar beliefs, values, traditions, and expectations which call all contribute to differences in communication between individuals of different cultures. Cultural communication is a practice and a field of study for many psychologists, anthropologists, and scholars. The study of cultural communication is used to study the interactions of individuals between different cultures. Studies done on cultural communication are utilized in ways to improve communication between international exchanges, businesses, employees, and corporations. Two major scholars who have influenced cultural communication studies are Edward T. Hall and Geert Hofstede. Edward T. Hall, who was an American anthropologist, is considered to be the founder of cultural communication and the theory of proxemics. The theory of proxemics focuses on how individuals use space while communicating depending on cultural backgrounds or social settings. The space in between individuals can be identified in four different ranges. For example, 0 inches signifies intimate space while 12 feet signifies public space. Geert Hofstede was a social psychologist who founded the theory of cultural dimension. In his theory, there are five dimensions that aim to measure differences between different cultures. The five dimensions are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, and Chronemics.
Allocentrism is a collectivistic personality attribute whereby people center their attention and actions on other people rather than themselves. It is a psychological dimension which corresponds to the general cultural dimension of collectivism. In fact, allocentrics "believe, feel, and act very much like collectivists do around the world." Allocentric people tend to be interdependent, define themselves in terms of the group that they are part of, and behave according to that group's cultural norms. They tend to have a sense of duty and share beliefs with other allocentrics among their in-group. Allocentric people appear to see themselves as an extension of their in-group and allow their own goals to be subsumed by the in-group's goals. Additionally, allocentrism has been defined as giving priority to the collective self over the private self, particularly if these two selves happen to come into conflict.
Subjective well-being (SWB) is a self-reported measure of well-being, typically obtained by questionnaire.
Culture defines how people view the world and certain phenomena. Culture also appears to influence the way people experience depression. An individual's experience with depression can vary from country to country. For example, a qualitative study revealed that some countries did not recognize post-natal depression as an illness; rather, it was viewed as a state of unhappiness that did not require any health interventions.
Aversion to happiness, also called fear of happiness, is an attitude towards happiness in which individuals may deliberately avoid experiences that invoke positive emotions or happiness. Aversion to happiness is not a recognized mental health disorder on its own, but it can contribute to and/or exacerbate existing mental health issues.
Second-wave positive psychology is a therapeutic approach in psychology that attempts to bring out the best in individuals and society by incorporating the dark side of human existence through the dialectical principles of yin and yang. This represents a distinct shift from focusing on individual happiness and success to the dual vision of individual well-being and collective humanity. PP 2.0 is more about bringing out the "better angels of our nature" than achieving optimal happiness or personal success. The approach posits that empathy, compassion, reason, justice, and self-transcendence will improve humans, both individually and collectively. PP 2.0 centers around the universal human capacity for meaning-seeking and meaning-making in achieving optimal human functioning under both desirable and undesirable conditions. This emerging movement is a response to perceived problems of what some have called "positive psychology as usual".
Well-being is a multifaceted topic studied in psychology, especially positive psychology. Biologically, well-being is highly influenced by endogenous molecules that impact happiness and euphoria in organisms, often referred to as "well-being related markers". Related concepts are eudaimonia, happiness, flourishing, quality of life, contentment, and meaningful life.