Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

4-2014

Abstract

There is increasing evidence for emotional fit in couples and groups, but also within cultures. In the current research, we investigated the consequences of emotional fit at the cultural level. Given that emotions reflect people’s view on the world, and that shared views are associated with good social relationships, we expected that an individual’s fit to the average cultural patterns of emotion would be associated with relational well-being. Using an implicit measure of cultural fit of emotions, we found across 3 different cultural contexts (United States, Belgium, and Korea) that (1) individuals’ emotional fit is associated with their level of relational well-being, and that (2) the link between emotional fit and relational well-being is particularly strong when emotional fit is measured for situations pertaining to relationships (rather than for situations that are self-focused). Together, the current studies suggest that people may benefit from emotionally “fitting in” to their culture.

Keywords

emotion, culture, fit, relationships, well-being

Discipline

Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Emotion

Volume

14

Issue

2

First Page

241

Last Page

245

ISSN

1528-3542

Identifier

10.1037/a0035296

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035296

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