Self-construals predict personal life satisfaction with different strengths across societal contexts differing in national wealth and religious heritage

Sanchez-Rodriguez, A;Vignoles, VL;Bond, MH;Adamovic, M;Akotia, CS;Albert, I;Appoh, L;Baltin, A;Barrientos, PE;Denoux, P;Dominguez-Espinosa, A;Esteves, CS;Fueloep, M;Gamsakhurdia, V;Garoarsdottir, RB;Gavreliuc, A;Hanke-Boer, D;Haas, BW;Igbokwe, DO;Isik, I;Kascakova, N;Kracmarova, LK;Kocimska-Zych, A;Kosiarczyk, A;Kostoula, O;Kronberger, N;Krys, K;Kwiatkowska, A;Lee, JH;Liu, XH;Luzniak-Piecha, M;Malyonova, A;Maricchiolo, F;Mira, A;Mohoric, T;Mosca, O;Murdock, E;Mustaffa, NF;Lun, VMC;Nader, M;Nadi, A;Okvitawanli, A;van Osch, Y;Park, J;Pavlopoulos, V;Pavlovic, Z;Solcova, IP;Igou, ER;Rizwan, M;Romashov, V;Roysamb, E;Sargautyte, R;Schwarz, B;Selim, HA;Serdarevich, U;Sirlopu, D;Stogianni, M;Stoyanova, S;Sun, CR;Teyssier, J;van Tilburg, WAP;Torres, C;Uchida, Y;Vauclair, CM;Xing, C;Zelenski, JM

2023-01-01

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Abstract

We explore to what extent previously observed pan-cultural association between dimensions of self-construal and personal life satisfaction (PLS) may be moderated by three national-contextual variables: national wealth, economic inequality, and religious heritage. The results showed that MSelf-reliance (vs. dependence on others) predicted PLSpositively in poorer countries but negatively in richer countries. Connectedness to others (vs. self-containment) predicted PLS more strongly in Protestant-heritage countries. Self-expression (vs. harmony) predicted PLS more weakly (and non-significantly) in Muslim-heritage countries. In contrast, previously reported associations of self-direction (vs. reception-to-influence), consistency (vs. variability), and decontextualized (vs. contextualized) self-understanding with personal life satisfaction were not significantly moderated by these aspects of societal context. These results show the importance of considering the impact of national religious and economic context.