VIGNOLES_Journal_of_Cross-Cultural_Psychology_AUG_2022.pdf (479.39 kB)
Family first: evidence of consistency and variation in the value of family versus personal happiness across 49 different cultures
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 05:24 authored by Kuba Krys, June Ch Yeung, Brian W Haas, Yvette van Osch, Aleksandra Kosiarczyk, Agata Kocimska-Zych, Claudio Torres, Heyla Selim, John M Zelenski, Michael Harris Bond, Joonha Park, Vivian Miu-Chi Lun, Fridanna Maricchiolo, Christin-Melanie Vauclair, Vivian VignolesVivian Vignoles, othersPeople care about their own well-being, but also about the well-being of their families. It is currently however unknown how much people tend to value their own and their family’s well-being. A recent study documented that people value family happiness over personal happiness across four cultures. In this study, we sought to replicate this finding across a larger sample size (N = 12,819) and a greater number of countries (N = 49), We found that the strength of the idealization of family over personal happiness preference was small (average Cohen’s ds = .20 with country levels varying from -.02 to almost .48), but ubiquitous, i.e., direction presented in 98% of the studied countries, 73-75% with statistical significance and < 2% variance across countries. We also found that the size of this effect did vary somewhat across cultural contexts. In Latin American cultures highest on relational mobility, the idealization of family over personal happiness was very small (average Cohen’s ds for Latin America = .15 and .18), while in Confucian Asia cultures lowest on relational mobility, this effect was closer to medium (ds > .40 and .30). Importantly, we did not find strong support for traditional theories in cross-cultural psychology that associate collectivism with greater prioritization of the family versus the individual; country level individualism-collectivism was not associated with variation in the idealization of family versus individual happiness. Our findings indicate that no matter how much various populists abuse the argument of “protecting family life” to disrupt emancipation, family happiness seems to be a pan-culturally phenomenon. Family well-being is a key ingredient of social fabric across the world, and should be acknowledged by psychology and well-being researchers, and by progressive movements too.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Journal of Cross-Cultural PsychologyISSN
0022-0221Publisher
SAGEExternal DOI
Issue
3Volume
54Page range
1323-339Department affiliated with
- Psychology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2022-11-10First Open Access (FOA) Date
2023-05-03First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2022-11-09Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC