title: Emotional fit with culture: a predictor of individual differences in relational well-being.
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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Social and Cultural Psychology.
authors.forename: Jozefien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Leersnyder
authors.affiliation: Center for Social and Cultural Psychology.
authors.forename: Batja
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mesquita
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California.
authors.forename: Heejung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California.
authors.forename: Kimin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eom
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Yonsei University.
authors.forename: Hyewon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001530:Belgium; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult