Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
0146167208315157v1
34/6/741    most recent
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Uchida, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Morling, B.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Uchida, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Morling, B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
This version was published on June 1, 2008
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 6, 741-754 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167208315157
© 2008 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Is Perceived Emotional Support Beneficial? Well-Being and Health in Independent and Interdependent Cultures

Yukiko Uchida

Kyoto University, yukikou{at}educ.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Shinobu Kitayama

University of Michigan

Batja Mesquita

University of Leuven

Jose Alberto S. Reyes

De La Salle University-Manila

Beth Morling

University of Delaware

Previous studies show there is little or no association between perceived emotional support and well-being in European American culture. The authors hypothesized that this paradoxical absence of any benefit of perceived support is unique to cultural contexts that privilege independence rather than interdependence of the self. Study 1 tested college students and found, as predicted, that among Euro-Americans a positive effect of perceived emotional support on subjective well-being (positive affect) was weak and, moreover, it disappeared entirely once self-esteem was statistically controlled. In contrast, among Asians in Asia (Japanese and Filipinos) perceived emotional support positively predicted subjective well-being even after self-esteem was controlled. Study 2 extended Study 1 by testing both Japanese and American adults in midlife with respect to multiple indicators of well-being and physical health. Overall, the evidence underscores the central significance of culture as a moderator of the effectiveness of perceived emotional support.

Key Words: perceived emotional support • self-esteem • well-being • culture • independence • interdependence


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?