Societal emotional environments and cross-cultural differences in life satisfaction: A forty-nine country study
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
In this paper, we introduce the concept of ‘societal emotional environment’: the emotional climate
of a society (operationalized as the degree to which positive and negative emotions are expressed
in a society). Using data collected from 12,888 participants across 49 countries, we show how
societal emotional environments vary across countries and cultural clusters, and we consider the
potential importance of these differences for well-being. Multilevel analyses supported a ‘double-edged sword’ model of negative emotion expression, where expression of negative emotions
predicted higher life satisfaction for the expresser but lower life satisfaction for society. In contrast,
partial support was found for higher societal life satisfaction in positive societal emotional environments. Our study highlights the potential utility and importance of distinguishing between
positive and negative emotion expression, and adopting both individual and societal perspectives
in well-being research. Individual pathways to happiness may not necessarily promote the happiness of others.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Societal emotional environment, societal well-being, emotion regulation, emotion expression, life satisfaction, culture, Latin America