Is perceived emotional support beneficial?

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Is Perceived Emotional Support Beneficial? Well-Being and Health in Independent and Interdependent Cultures Yukiko Uchida, Shinobu Kitayama, Batja Mesquita, Jose Alberto S. Reyes and Beth Morling Pers Soc Psychol Bull 2008; 34; 741 originally published online Mar 21, 2008; DOI: 10.1177/0146167208315157 The online version of this article can be found at: http://psp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/6/741

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Is Perceived Emotional Support Beneficial? Well-Being and Health in Independent and Interdependent Cultures Yukiko Uchida Kyoto University Shinobu Kitayama University of Michigan Batja Mesquita University of Leuven Jose Alberto S. Reyes De La Salle University–Manila Beth Morling University of Delaware

Previous studies show there is little or no association between perceived emotional support and well-being in European American culture. The authors hypothesized that this paradoxical absence of any benefit of perceived support is unique to cultural contexts that privilege independence rather than interdependence of the self. Study 1 tested college students and found, as predicted, that among Euro-Americans a positive effect of perceived emotional support on subjective well-being (positive affect) was weak and, moreover, it disappeared entirely once selfesteem was statistically controlled. In contrast, among Asians in Asia (Japanese and Filipinos) perceived emotional support positively predicted subjective well-being even after self-esteem was controlled. Study 2 extended Study 1 by testing both Japanese and American adults in midlife with respect to multiple indicators of well-being and physical health. Overall, the evidence underscores the central significance of culture as a moderator of the effectiveness of perceived emotional support. Keywords:

perceived emotional support; self-esteem; wellbeing; culture; independence; interdependence

Bridgett, 1986). Emotional support is typically considered the primary vehicle by which friendship relations are formed and maintained (e.g., Fehr, 2004). Through such support one can be assured of the willingness of others to help, availability of more tangible support, and even one’s own worth in the eyes of these others. As may be expected, a growing body of literature on perceived availability of support shows a variety of beneficial effects of emotional support on health and well-being (e.g., Cohen & Wills, 1985; Uchino, Cacioppo, & KiecoltGlaser, 1996). For example, Cacioppo, Hawkley, and Bernston (2003) have demonstrated that loneliness (which implies the absence of emotional support) is a major predictor of compromised health and eventual mortality among American adults. It may come as a surprise, then, that several researchers have reported that perception

Authors’ Note: We thank Hazel Rose Markus for useful comments. Correspondence should be addressed to Yukiko Uchida, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 606-8501; e-mail: [email protected]. Editor’s Note: Dr. Yoshihisa Kashima served as guest action editor for this article.

A

variety of supportive acts such as compassion, encouragement, and compliment can be subsumed under the rubric of emotional support (Berndt &

PSPB, Vol. 34 No. 6, June 2008 741-754 DOI: 10.1177/0146167208315157 © 2008 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

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PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN

of emotional support sometimes has no positive effects or can even have adverse effects on subjective well-being (Barrera, 1986; Bolger & Amarel, 2007; Bolger, Foster, Vinokur, & Ng, 1996; Bolger, Zuckerman, & Kessler, 2000). The purpose of the current research was to examine cultural underpinnings of the benefits of perceived emotional support or the absence of such benefits. Drawing on an independence–interdependence theory of cultural self (Kitayama, Duffy, & Uchida, 2007; Kitayama & Uchida, 2005; Markus & Kitayama, 1991a, 2003), we argue that perceived emotional support may not always be directly linked to well-being and health in cultures that privilege independence because this perception can compromise the ever-important sense of the self as independent. In contrast, perceived emotional support is likely to be unequivocally beneficial in cultures that privilege interdependence. To investigate this cross-cultural prediction, we examine both subjective well-being and reported physical health. Furthermore, we test both college students (Study 1) and nonstudent adults (Study 2).

Culture and Self It has been proposed that cultures vary considerably in the relative emphasis on independence as opposed to interdependence (Kitayama & Uchida, 2005; Markus & Kitayama, 1991a, 2003; Shweder & Bourne, 1982; Triandis, 1995). In middle-class Euro-American cultural contexts, a variety of practices and meanings are organized in terms of independence of the self from others. This form of self is taken for granted, and furthermore, it is tacitly and yet strongly sanctioned. As a consequence, individuals engaged in these cultural contexts are motivated to discover and affirm positive dispositional attributes and then use them to guide and organize their thoughts and actions (Heine, Lehman, Markus, & Kitayama, 1999). In contrast, in many Asian contexts, a variety of practices and meanings are organized in terms of interdependence of the self with others. This form of self is thus taken for granted and, moreover, it is tacitly and yet strongly sanctioned. As a consequence, individuals engaged in these cultural contexts are motivated to fit in and adjust themselves to expectations and needs of others in a relationship (e.g., Morling, Kitayama, & Miyamoto, 2002). Evidence is mounting that as compared to EuroAmericans, Asians are interpersonally attuned (see Kitayama et al., 2007; Kitayama & Uchida, 2005, for reviews). In one recent study, for example, Kitayama, Mesquita, and Karasawa (2006) showed that Japanese were more likely to experience socially engaging emotions (which are linked to one’s interdependence, e.g., friendly feelings and guilt) than socially disengaging emotions (which are linked to one’s independence, e.g., pride and

anger). In contrast, Americans were more likely to experience socially disengaging emotions than socially engaging emotions (see also Mesquita & Karasawa, 2002). In another line of work, Asians—both Japanese and Filipinos—have been shown to be attentionally attuned to a relational cue (i.e., vocal tone) to a greater extent than are Euro-Americans (Ishii, Reyes, & Kitayama, 2003; Kitayama & Ishii, 2002). Additional evidence for the relational sensitivity of Asians comes from recent cross-cultural work on cognitive dissonance (HoshinoBrowne et al., 2005; Imada & Kitayama, 2007; Kitayama, Snibbe, Markus, & Suzuki, 2004) and intrinsic motivation (Na & Kitayama, 2007). These studies have shown that whereas Euro-Americans are motivated to protect their private esteem, East Asians are motivated to protect their public esteem. As may be expected from their focus on personal, disjointed aspects of the self, Euro-Americans seek to confirm their internal attributes such as competence and personality as positive and desirable (Heine et al., 1999; Kitayama, Markus, Matsumoto, & Norasakkunkit, 1997). Such tendencies, referred to as self-enhancement, are relatively rare for Asians, who are concerned more with social relations than with their personal self. One example of the predicted cross-cultural difference in selfenhancement can be found in the better-than-average effect, that is, a tendency to judge one’s internal attributes to be better than average others. Markus and Kitayama (1991b) replicated a robust better-than-average effect for Euro-Americans but found little evidence of it among Japanese. Although Asians occasionally show this bias (Brown & Kobayashi, 2003; Markus & Kitayama, 1991b), such a finding appears to be an exception rather than the rule (Heine, Kitayama, & Hamamura, 2007). Another important marker of the pursuit of positivity of self is self-serving attribution of success and failure. Social psychologists have long shown that EuroAmericans take credit for their successes and blame others or contextual factors for their failures. Such a biased attribution pattern is not common among Japanese, who are more balanced in their assessment of success and failure (Kitayama, Takagi, & Matsumoto, 1995).

Cultural Variations in Predictors of Well-Being Because Euro-Americans are independent, seeking to confirm their positive internal attributes of self, their sense of well-being and even their physical health may depend crucially on how well they achieve this cultural task. In contrast, Asians are interdependent, seeking to affirm their relationship with significant others. Thus, both their sense of well-being and health may depend more on how well they achieve this relational cultural task. Consistent with the foregoing reasoning for EuroAmericans, numerous studies have demonstrated the


Uchida et al. / PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND CULTURE pivotal roles that self-esteem plays in well-being and health of Euro-Americans (Taylor & Brown, 1988). Moreover, research has indicated that the sense of personal control and mastery is strongly associated with physical health and well-being (Lachman & Weaver, 1998). In fact, in Euro-American samples even very subtle manipulations designed to increase the sense of personal control are known to enhance both health (in the case of elderly, Langer & Rodin, 1976) and task performance (in the case of their younger counterparts, Iyengar & Lepper, 1999; Ji, Peng, & Nisbett, 2000). Further support for the present analysis comes from several cross-cultural studies. Diener and Diener (1995) have shown that the beneficial effect of self-esteem on life satisfaction judgment is greater in Western, individualistic countries than in Eastern, collectivist countries. This means that self-esteem is relatively less important for Asians. More recent studies have simultaneously examined both self-esteem and relational variables in predicting life satisfaction judgment. In one study, Kwan, Bond, and Singelis (1997) found that in the United States, life satisfaction judgment is predicted solely by self-esteem. There was no effect of perceived harmony attributed to significant relations. In contrast, they found that both self-esteem and relationship harmony significantly predicted life satisfaction judgment in Hong Kong (see also Kang, Shaver, Suh, Min, & Jing, 2003; Kitayama, Markus, & Kurokawa, 2000; Kitayama, et al., 2006; see Uchida, Norasakkunkit, & Kitayama, 2004, for a review).

Culture and Perceived Emotional Support Although important, the foregoing evidence on culture and well-being is rather limited in its implications for the question of whether perceived emotional support would be beneficial to well-being and health. The reason is that this evidence draws nearly exclusively on social harmony with others and its close correlates. Social harmony can be quite distinct from perceived emotional support. For example, in some social relations, some degree of harmony may be achieved precisely because people in the relationship are indifferent to one another’s affairs. Conversely, emotional support may sometimes be exchanged in the context of conflictridden, discordant relations. The present analysis on perceived emotional support starts with an explicit acknowledgment that social relations are bound to be very important even for EuroAmericans. Drawing on their work with Americans, Ryff and colleagues (e.g., Ryff & Keyes, 1995) have identified positive relations with others as one of several key eudaimonic dimensions of well-being. Likewise, self-determination theory proposes that relatedness is

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one of three fundamental factors underlying adaptation and optimal functioning (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Ryan, Sheldon, Kasser, & Deci, 1996). The other two dimensions are autonomy and competence. The theory has received support in a wide variety of cultural contexts in both West and East. More recently, Kim and colleagues (Kim, Sherman, Ko, & Taylor, 2006; Taylor et al., 2002) have observed that Americans explicitly seek support—in fact, they do so more frequently than Asians do. This shows that Euro-Americans are far from asocial. They are likely to be just as social as anyone else, including interdependent Asians. In line with the strong emphasis on self-esteem among Americans, however, we propose that for those engaging in Euro-American cultures social relations are important because they affirm the sense of positive selfworth or self-esteem (Leary, Tambor, Terdal, & Downs, 1995). Positive regard by others can boost individuals’ confidence and reassure them of their worth. This explains why the perceived availability of emotional support can be beneficial to well-being and health even among Euro-Americans (e.g., Cutrona, 1986; Reis, 1984) and, conversely, why the perceived absence of emotional support (e.g., loneliness) is extremely damaging to well-being and health in the same population (e.g., Cacioppo et al., 2003). The present analysis casts new light on the question of why perceived emotional support sometimes fails to have any positive effects on well-being and health among Euro-Americans (Bolger & Amarel, 2007; Bolger et al., 1996; Bolger et al., 2000; Fisher, Nadler, & WhitcherAlagner, 1982; Seidman, Shrout, & Bolger, 2006). Such phenomena may occur because emotional support can sometimes imply dependency on others. It can also entail unwanted social influence from others. Together, under these circumstances, emotional support is likely to call into serious question the much-valued efficacy and independence of the self. Consistent with this analysis, Fisher et al. (1982) reviewed existing studies and observed that recipients of support often “experience negative consequences including feelings of failure, inferiority, and dependency” and thus “in many instances ‘[they] bite the hands that feed them’” (p. 27).1 Admittedly, we know very little about under what circumstances perceived emotional support would have positive or negative effects on well-being and health among Euro-Americans (but see Note 1). In some cases, perceived emotional support can be so damaging to selfesteem that it may have little or no positive effect on well-being and health (Fisher et al., 1982; Seidman et al., 2006). In other cases, however, perceived emotional support might not damage self-esteem. In fact, as implied by the sociometer hypothesis (Leary et al., 1995), perceived emotional support may contribute to


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enhancing self-esteem. In such circumstances, there would be a positive association between perceived emotional support and well-being. Nevertheless, the present analysis makes one unequivocal prediction, namely, that among Euro-Americans perceived emotional support would have a positive effect on well-being and health only to the extent that it positively influences selfesteem. This means that even when perceived emotional support is positively associated with well-being and health, this association should be diminished once selfesteem is controlled in Euro-American cultures. Will the foregoing analysis generalize to people engaging in Asian, interdependent cultural contexts? We hypothesize that emotional support affirms Asians’ ever-important sense of the self as interdependent. Because Asians are motivated toward interdependence to a greater extent than toward independence, they may be expected to obtain all kinds of benefits from perceived emotional support from others, especially if the support comes unsolicited and thus one can feel connected with others. Thus, perceived emotional support would be positively associated with self-esteem, wellbeing, and health. Of importance, our analysis implies that the benefit of perceived emotional support on wellbeing and health is likely to be due in large part to the support’s function in affirming interdependence and connectedness. We therefore expected that the association between perceived emotional support and wellbeing or health would remain highly reliable even when self-esteem was controlled in Asian cultures.

Present Research The purpose of the present work was to test the foregoing cross-cultural predictions of the associations between perceived emotional support and well-being. On one hand, among Euro-Americans the relationship between perceived emotional support and well-being would be weak; even when such a relationship existed, it would be entirely mediated by self-esteem. On other hand, among Asians the relationship between perceived emotional support and well-being would be strong and positive; moreover, this relationship would not be mediated by self-esteem. We also addressed two important shortcomings of the current literature on culture and well-being. One major limitation of the existing literature comes from the fact that the evidence is based entirely on East Asian samples such as Japanese (Kitayama et al., 2000), Koreans (Kang et al., 2003), and Chinese (Kwan et al., 1997). It is therefore important to determine whether the predicted pattern can extend to other Asian cultures that are considered equally interdependent. Study 1 thus tested Filipinos. Filipino culture has been described as relatively collectivistic and interdependent (Bulatao,

1964; Church, 1986, 1987; Enriquez, 1994). In one study, Ishii et al. (2003) used attentional sensitivity to vocal tone as an index of relational orientation and found that, like Japanese, Filipinos are more relational than Americans. Second, nearly all cross-cultural evidence is based on a narrow range of indicators of well-being and health, such as judgment of life satisfaction (Kang et al., 2003; Kwan et al., 1997) and happiness (Kitayama et al., 2000); furthermore, samples are almost always college students. In Study 2 we tested a wider range of indicators of well-being and health with older, nonstudent adult samples.

STUDY 1: BENEFIT OF PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT IN THREE CULTURES Study 1 tested college students from one independent culture (United States) and two interdependent cultures (Japan and the Philippines). Our prediction was that perceived emotional support would have much smaller effects on well-being in the United States than in either of the two Asian cultures. This should be the case especially when self-esteem is statistically controlled.

Method Participants and procedure. We tested 160 EuroAmerican undergraduates (67 males, 93 females) in two American universities (Wake Forest University and the University of Michigan), 243 Filipino undergraduates (134 males, 109 females) in one Filipino university (De La Salle University), and 256 Japanese undergraduates (119 males, 137 females) in two Japanese universities (Kyoto University and Konan Women’s University) in Study 1. Both Japanese universities were located in Japan mainland, close to the city of Osaka. Participants of this study were 18 to 22 years old, and there were no significant differences in average age across the three cultures. Participants were tested in groups. They were given a questionnaire booklet and asked to fill it out at their own pace. The questionnaire booklet contained the scales for positive affect (our measure of well-being), self-esteem, and perceived emotional support from others. To measure positive affect, we followed Kitayama et al.’s (2000) procedure and asked participants how frequently they experienced each of four positive affective states that have relatively unspecific antecedents (happy, elated, calm, and relaxed). Kitayama et al. showed that the four items are correlated to form a reasonably coherent scale. In the current samples, Cronbach’s alphas were .62, .69, and .67, for Americans, Filipinos, and Japanese, respectively. Self-esteem was measured with the Rosenberg (1965) scale, one of the most commonly used


Uchida et al. / PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND CULTURE TABLE 1:

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Regressions Predicting Positive Affect in the Japan, the Philippines, and the United States (Study 1) Interaction With Culture (Asia vs. U.S.)

Beta

Perceived emotional support Perceived emotional support (self-esteem controlled) Self-esteem (perceived emotional support controlled)

Japan

Philippines

.42*** .35*** .31***

.39*** .30*** .27***

U.S. .25** .08 .45***

t 2.20 2.95 –1.32

p < .03 < .03 ns

NOTE: In one analysis self-esteem is not controlled and in the other it is controlled. The t statistics for interaction with cultures in the betas are calculated by multiple regression analysis, in which culture, perceived emotional support, and the Culture × Perceived Emotional Support interaction term are dependent variables. Self-esteem and the Culture × Self-Esteem interaction term are added to the regression when self-esteem is controlled. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

in the literature. Numerous studies have demonstrated high reliabilities for the scale in many different cultures. In the current samples, alphas were .86, .78, and .86, for Americans, Filipinos, and Japanese, respectively. To measure perceived emotional support, we adopted a 16-item scale that was originally developed by Sarason, Shearin, Pierece, and Sarason (1987) and subsequently modified by Hisada, Senda, and Minoguchi (1989). This scale assesses the perception of receiving encouragement, compassion, and other forms of emotional support from close others. Participants were asked to think about close others and then to indicate the extent to which these others provided each of 16 types of emotional support (see the appendix). In the current samples, alphas were .91, .92, and .91, for Americans, Filipinos, and Japanese, respectively.

Results We computed the mean scores for each of the scales for each participant. These means were used to test our predictions. Preliminary analysis showed no gender effect; therefore, gender was subsequently dropped. To test whether perceived emotional support would predict positive affect, we first regressed positive affect on perceived emotional support separately in each culture. As can be seen in the first row of Table 1, the regression coefficient was significantly positive in all the three countries although, as might be predicted, it was greater in the two Asian countries than in the United States. Nevertheless, if our analysis is correct, the positive effect of perceived emotional support on positive affect should disappear for Euro-Americans once self-esteem is controlled. To test this possibility, we subsequently regressed positive affect on both perceived emotional support and self-esteem separately in each culture. This analysis shows the effect of perceived emotional support independent of the effect of self-esteem. It also shows an independent contribution of self-esteem on positive affect. As predicted, the standardized regression coefficient for perceived emotional support was larger in

Japan (.35) and the Philippines (.30) than in the United States (.08; the second row of Table 1). Indeed, as predicted, the U.S. coefficient vanished once the effect of self-esteem was controlled. In the United States, therefore, the link between perceived emotional support and positive affect was entirely mediated by self-esteem. A Sobel test (Preacher & Hayes, 2004; Sobel, 1982) indicated that the mediating effect of self-esteem was significant for all three cultures (Sobel test z = 3.26, 3.36, and 3.95, ps < .001, for Japanese, Filipinos, and American samples, respectively). That is, the association between perceived emotional support and positive affect was significantly reduced once self-esteem was taken into account. For the two Asian groups, however, the regression coefficients for perceived emotional support still remained statistically significant. Thus, the mediational effect of self-esteem was only partial. In contrast, for Euro-Americans, the regression coefficient for perceived emotional support was no longer statistically significant; therefore, the data show that the effect of perceived emotional support on positive affect was fully mediated by self-esteem. To statistically test the cross-cultural differences observed here, we followed Aiken and West (1991) and performed a multiple regression analysis on positive affect with two continuous variables (self-esteem and perceived emotional support) and one categorical dummy-coded variable of culture (0 = United States, 1 = Asia, combining the Philippines and Japan). The Japanese and Filipino samples were collapsed because preliminary analysis found no significant differences between them. Both perceived emotional support and self-esteem were centered. To this multiple regression analysis, we added the perceived Emotional Support × Culture interaction and the Self-Esteem × Culture interaction. Underscoring the observation that the effect of perceived emotional support on positive affect was stronger in Asia than in the United States, the interaction term between perceived emotional support and culture proved significant (β = .27), t(658) = 2.95, p < .003. As predicted, perceived emotional support


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positively predicted positive affect for Asians (β = .38, p < .0001) but it had no effect on positive affect for Euro-Americans (β = .08, ns). The effect of self-esteem on well-being was somewhat larger in the United States (.45) than in either Japan (.31) or the Philippines (.27). This pattern replicates previous studies that examined the effect of selfesteem on life satisfaction (e.g., Diener & Diener, 1995; Kang et al., 2003; Kwan et al., 1997), underscoring the pivotal role of self-esteem in mediating the effect of perceived emotional support on well-being for Euro-Americans. Caution is warranted, however, because the Self-Esteem × Culture interaction did not reach statistical significance, β = –.11, t(658) = –1.32, ns. We also tested for a relationship between perceived emotional support and self-esteem. In all three countries, the correlation coefficient was positive (rs = .39, .31, and .25 for Americans, Filipinos, and Japanese, respectively; all ps < .001). If anything, the association appears somewhat stronger in the United States than in the two Asian cultures. To carry out a statistical test of this difference, we performed a multiple regression analysis predicting self-esteem as a function of perceived emotional support and culture. To this multiple regression we added a critical interaction between culture and perceived emotional support. The analysis showed that the interaction effect was negligible (t < 1).

Discussion We predicted that perceived emotional support would have a less beneficial effect on well-being among Euro-Americans than among Asians. In support of this prediction, among both Japanese and Filipinos there was a highly positive effect of perceived emotional support on both self-esteem and positive affect. Moreover, the effect of perceived emotional support on positive affect remained highly significant even when the effect of self-esteem was controlled in a regression analysis. In contrast, among Euro-Americans the effect of perceived emotional support on positive affect was weak compared to the two Asian groups. Importantly, although reliable when tested alone, this effect vanished once the effect of self-esteem was statistically controlled in a regression analysis. Two additional findings are noteworthy. First, the effect of perceived emotional support on self-esteem was strong regardless of culture. The evidence that perceived emotional support predicts self-esteem is congruous with the sociometer hypothesis (Leary et al., 1995), which proposes that quality social relations vindicate one’s sense of self-worth. Furthermore, this provides support for the present finding that, for Euro-Americans,

perceived emotional support has positive effects on well-being and health by increasing self-esteem. Second, the effect of self-esteem on positive affect was robust across all the three cultural groups. Consistent with previous research (e.g., Diener & Diener, 1995; Kang et al., 2003; Kwan et al., 1997), the effect was weaker in Asia than in the United States but the difference did not reach statistical significance in the present study. Overall, then, Study 1 indicates that Euro-Americans value independence. Interestingly, their sense of independence as captured by high self-esteem seems highly dependent on the availability of supporting social others. This data pattern suggests that in Euro-American cultural contexts, social relationships are important because of their potential to affirm one’s sense of independence. This instrumental notion of social relationship, however, may be relatively unique to independent cultural contexts. Nevertheless, caution is warranted on the generality of this finding. Study 1 tested only college students, and it is possible that adolescence is a period when peer relationships play an especially important role in the formation of the self (e.g., Burwell & Shirk, 2006). Moreover, most of the students we tested were freshmen and sophomores. The college environment is relatively novel and unfamiliar for them. Again, social means of self-verification such as social feedback and social comparison might play an especially significant role in this period of life (Erikson, 1959). This could explain why perceived emotional support had a positive association with self-esteem even among Americans in Study 1. If anything, it is important to determine whether the findings among Americans in Study 1 would generalize to older, nonstudent adult samples. Study 1 also indicated that Asians value interdependence, and yet, this does not prevent them from having a sense of self-esteem. Moreover, this sense of personal self did have a positive effect on well-being (positive affect). Yet, it is possible that adolescence is a period when a degree of independence and autonomy is required and encouraged even in cultural contexts that strongly sanction social connectedness, social harmony, and interdependence. It is also important, then, to determine whether the reliable effect of self-esteem on wellbeing would generalize to older, nonstudent adult samples in Asia. Study 2 was conducted to address these concerns by testing older adult samples in both Japan and the United States. Furthermore, Study 1 tested only one index of well-being. Although the measure has an obvious face validity as an index of well-being, it is not clear whether the findings can generalize to other equally valid measures of well-being, including affect balance and life satisfaction.


Uchida et al. / PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND CULTURE Furthermore, it is also important to examine health indicators (e.g., somatic symptoms). Study 2 addressed these issues, as well.

STUDY 2: ADULTS IN MIDLIFE IN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES

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Finally, to determine whether the findings can generalize to physical health, we used a self-report measure of somatic symptoms. Participants indicated how frequently (1 = not at all, 5 = very frequently) they experienced each of nine symptoms (e.g., headache, back pain, and stiff joints). These symptoms were taken from the MIDUS item pool. Cronbach’s alphas were .84 for Americans and .75 for Japanese.

Method Participants and procedure. We tested 56 Caucasian Americans (21 males, 35 females; family members of students at Muhlenberg College) and 80 Japanese (36 males, 44 females; family members of students at Kyoto University, in mainland Japan) in Study 2. The participants were recruited through students at the universities. The average ages of participants were 48.61 (range = 32 to 66) in the United States and 51.96 (range = 30 to 78) in Japan, and there were no significant differences in average age between the two cultures. The participants filled out a questionnaire individually. Mean scale scores were computed for each respondent after reversing the scores for reverse-coded items. As in Study 1, the Rosenberg (1965) self-esteem scale and the Sarason et al. (1987) perceived emotional support scale were used. We modified three items of the perceived emotional support scale slightly to make them more appropriate for adults. Importantly, we included additional measures of well-being and health. First, we expanded the positive affect scale. Positive affect was thus measured with 9 items (e.g., happy, calm, joy, satisfied). In addition, we assessed negative affect with 12 items (e.g., depressed, bored, sad, nervous). All of these items have been successfully used in a survey of Midlife Development in the U.S. (the MIDUS; Brim, Ryff, & Kessler, 2004). Participants reported how frequently they experienced each of these affective states (1 = not at all, 5 = very frequently). In the current samples, Cronbach’s alphas for the positive affect were .85 for Americans and .86 for Japanese. The alphas for the negative affect were .89 for Americans and .92 for Japanese. We subtracted the negative affect score from the positive affect score to yield an index of affect balance for each participant. This measure has been repeatedly used in the literature (e.g., Schimmack, Radhakrishnan, Oishi, Dzokoto, & Ahadi, 2002). We also used a measure of life satisfaction. A 5-point scale devised by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin (1985) was used. Participants reported the degree to which each statement applied to themselves (1 = not at all, 5 = applies very well). In the current samples, Cronbach’s alphas were .86 for Americans and .81 for Japanese.

Results Preliminary analysis showed no gender effects; therefore, this variable was dropped. As in Study 1, we tested whether perceived emotional support would predict the measures of well-being and physical health. In one analysis we did not include self-esteem in the regression (the first row of Table 2), whereas in the other we did (the second row of Table 2). The latter analysis enabled us to control for effects of self-esteem. As shown in Table 2, the effect of perceived emotional support was significant and positive in all cases for Japanese. It was substantially weaker and in fact nonsignificant in all cases for Euro-Americans. This was true regardless of whether the effect of self-esteem was controlled. Next, we regressed each dependent measure on age, culture (0 = United States, 1 = Japan), perceived emotional support, self-esteem, the Culture × Perceived Emotional Support interaction, and the Culture × Self-Esteem interaction. Both self-esteem and perceived emotional support were centered. For affect balance, as predicted, the interaction between perceived emotional support and culture was significant (β = .31), t(133) = 2.57, p < .02. Perceived emotional support positively predicted affect balance in Japan (β = .34, p < .002), but this association was negligible in the United States (β = –.05, ns). Furthermore, there was a strong main effect of self-esteem (β = .76), t(133) = 6.42, p < .0001, showing that self-esteem positively predicts affect balance. As indicated by a marginally significant interaction with culture (β = –.21), t(133) = –1.94, p < .06, the association between self-esteem and affect balance was stronger for Americans (β = .72, p < .0001) than for Japanese (β = .40, p < .0001). Finally, replicating numerous studies demonstrating greater positivity associated with aging (Charles, Reynolds, & Gatz, 2001; Diener & Suh, 1997; Mroczek & Kolarz, 1998; Shmotkin, 1990), the age main effect was significant (β =.17), t(133) = 2.81, p < .01, indicating that older adults reported a relatively greater amount of positive (vs. negative) affect. A similar pattern was observed for life satisfaction, but the results were weaker. The main effect of culture was significant (β = –.35), t(133) = –4.98, p < .0001, but the Culture × Perceived Emotional Support interaction did not reach statistical significance (β = .18), t(133) = 1.60, p > .10. The interaction between self-esteem and culture was marginally


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.72*** –1.94

.39***

Japan .51***

.37***

.31**

p < .03 < .02

< .06

Beta

.55***

.07

.20

U.S.

–1.75

1.60

1.41

t

< .08

ns

ns

p

Interaction With Culture

Life Satisfaction

–.36***

–.29**

–.45***

Japan

Beta

–.52***

.12

–.01

U.S.

1.30

–2.34

–2.26

t

ns

< .03

< .03

p


Somatic Symptoms

.43***

.39***

.58 ***

Japan

Beta

.74***

–.05

.13

U.S.

–2.29

3.02

2.50

t

< .03

< .00

< .05

p


Overall Well-Being

NOTE: In one analysis self-esteem is not controlled and in the other it is controlled. The t statistics for interaction with cultures in the betas are calculated by multiple regression analysis, in which age, culture, perceived emotional support, and the Culture × Perceived Emotional Support interaction term are dependent variables. Self-esteem and the Culture × Self-Esteem interaction term are added to the regression when self-esteem is controlled. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

2.57

–.05

.34**

2.24

t

.12

U.S.

.51***

Japan

Beta


Affect Balance

Regressions Predicting Each of the Four Measures of Well-Being and Somatic Symptoms as a Function of Perceived Emotional Support in Japan and the United States (Study 2)

Perceived emotional support Perceived emotional support (self-esteem controlled) Self-esteem (perceived emotional support controlled)

TABLE 2:

Uchida et al. / PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND CULTURE significant (β = –.18), t(133) = –1.75, p = .08. The association between self-esteem and life satisfaction turned out to be stronger in the U.S. (β = .55) than in Japan (β = .31). With age, people reported a greater degree of life satisfaction (β = .14), t(133) = 2. 42, p < .02. This conceptually replicates the pattern in affect balance. For the measure of physical health (the reported frequency of somatic symptoms), the predicted interaction between perceived emotional support and culture proved significant (β = –.33), t(133) = –2.34, p < .03. The reported frequency of somatic symptoms decreased with perceived emotional support for Japanese (β = –.29, p < .01), but this association was negligible for Americans (β = .12, ns). The reported frequency of somatic symptoms decreased with self-esteem (β = –.63), t(133) = –4.48, p < .001. This effect was not qualified by culture (β = .17), t(133) = 1.30, p > .15. The reported frequency of somatic problems did not increase with age (β = –.03), t(133) < 1, ns. All measures of well-being and health were substantially correlated with one another within each culture. Once the score for somatic symptoms was reversed, the correlations ranged between .31 and .65. In a factor analysis, they loaded on a single factor in both cultures. We thus collapsed them to form an overall factor score of well-being. This overall index of well-being was regressed on culture, age, self-esteem, perceived emotional support, the Perceived Emotional Support × Culture interaction, and the Self-Esteem × Culture interaction. As predicted, the Perceived Emotional Support × Culture interaction proved significant (β = .32), t(133) = 3.02, p < .003. Overall well-being increased with perceived emotional support for Japanese (β = .38, p < .0001), but there was no such association for Americans (β = –.05, ns). We also found a significant Self-Esteem × Culture interaction (β = –.22), t(133) = –2.29, p < .03. Although well-being increased with self-esteem in both cultures, this association was stronger for Americans (β = .74, p < .0001) than for Japanese (β = .43, p < .0001). The correlation between perceived emotional support and self-esteem was positive in both countries. Importantly, the correlation was substantial for Japanese (r = .46, p < .001). But it was small, and in fact not statistically significant, for Euro-Americans (r = .24, p > .07). We performed a regression analysis to determine whether this apparent cultural difference is reliable. The analysis predicted selfesteem as a function of culture, perceived emotional support, and the Culture × Perceived Emotional Support interaction. The effect of perceived emotional support was marginal (β = .25), t(133) = 1.80, p < .08. Moreover, the Culture × Perceived Emotional Support interaction did not reach statistical significance (β = .13), t(133) = 0.99, p > .32. The most prudent conclusion, then, is that regardless of culture, perceived emotional support has a somewhat positive effect on self-esteem.

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Discussion Study 2 largely replicated the cross-cultural difference observed in Study 1 among nonstudent Japanese and American adults. In particular, perceived emotional support positively predicted well-being and health for Japanese adults, but such effects were virtually absent for American adults. Clearly, the finding from Study 1 can be generalized, for the most part, to both adult populations and to an array of well-being and health measures. In Study 2, we employed affect balance, life satisfaction, and somatic symptom as measures of well-being and health. There were some slight discrepancies across the measures. Among others, the Culture × Perceived Emotional Support interaction reached statistical significance in affect balance and somatic symptom but not in life satisfaction. It is not clear whether this variation across the dependent variables can replicate. Moreover, the overall pattern was similar across measures. Hence, we refrain from interpreting the apparent variation in the pattern across outcome measures. Interestingly, the American nonstudent adult participants did not show any significant effect of perceived emotional support on self-esteem, health, or well-being (affect balance and life satisfaction). Thus, the link between perceived emotional support and self-esteem is weaker among nonstudent adult Americans (Study 2) than among American college students (Study 1). Future work should examine the age trend of the need for independence among Euro-Americans. It might be that perceived emotional support is especially beneficial to one’s self-esteem during adolescence when peer relationship supposedly plays an important role in developing culturally expected forms of self.2

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Perceived Emotional Support and Well-Being In the current research we examined whether perceived emotional support would be positively related to well-being and health in independent and interdependent cultural contexts. We argued that whereas perceived emotional support is likely to be highly beneficial in cultures that privilege interdependence, it may not always be directly linked to well-being and health in cultures that privilege independence. Two studies reported here lend support to this analysis. First, perceived emotional support had positive effects on well-being and health even in Euro-American, independent cultural contexts. But this positive link to well-being and health existed only among college students. Bolger and Amarel (2007) demonstrated that college students do show such a positive effect of social


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support as long as the support is subtle enough. Such a positive effect of support was very weak among nonstudent adult Americans. Moreover, even among college students, the positive association between perceived emotional support and well-being disappeared once self-esteem was statistically controlled. In contrast, in Asian, interdependent contexts, perceived emotional support had positive effects on well-being and health independent of its effect on self-esteem. This was true for both college students (Study 1) and nonstudent adults (Study 2). We may then conclude that whereas Euro-American college students value emotional support because it signifies the internal deservedness, worthiness, and thus independence of the self, Asians in a wide age range appreciate emotional support provided by others because it affirms the ever-important sense of the self as interdependent.

Relations as a Source of Self-Esteem It is noteworthy that the effect of perceived emotional support on self-esteem, well-being, and health was negligible among nonstudent Euro-American adults. It is possible that Euro-American adults experience the sense of inadequacy when they receive emotional support, thereby offsetting potentially positive effects of emotional support. The cultural norm of independence may be more strictly applicable in the “real world” than in college (see Note 2). As may also be expected from the assumption that peer relations are important during adolescence (Erikson, 1959), Euro-American college students showed a strong association between perceived emotional support and self-esteem. Consistent with this finding, Tesser’s (1986) self-esteem maintenance theory suggests that Euro-Americans tactically choose their friends so as to sustain their own positive self-esteem. Likewise, the sociometer hypothesis (Leary et al., 1995) asserts that self-esteem is an indicator of quality social relations. Moreover, Kitayama, Uchida, et al. (2007) suggested that Euro-American college students show a strong tendency to try to foster a strong sense of selfesteem and independence in their friends. These mechanisms may be relatively unique to adolescents even within Euro-American culture. Maintaining a friend’s self-esteem may be even less important in Asian cultures. Consistent with this reasoning, Kitayama, Uchida, et al. showed that Asians extend much less effort than EuroAmericans to enhance their friends’ self-esteem.

Solicited Versus Unsolicited Support The present analysis has implications for one curious cross-cultural difference that might initially appear to

go against the hypothesized independence of EuroAmericans and interdependence of Asians. In a series of studies, Kim and colleagues (Kim et al., 2006; Taylor et al., 2002) demonstrated that Euro-Americans are more likely than Asian Americans to make explicit requests for social support. The finding was replicated in a comparison between Euro-Americans and Japanese (Hashimoto, Imada, & Kitayama, 2007). Because an act of explicitly requesting support is a clear indication of sociality, the finding might seem puzzling at first glance: Why are independent Americans more likely than interdependent Asians to make such explicit requests? Kim and colleagues (Kim et al., 2006; Taylor et al., 2002) argued that people with interdependent orientations (i.e., Asians) are more likely than those with independent orientations (i.e., Euro-Americans) to worry about burdens they might impose on others by requesting support. Because of this worry, Asians, but not Euro-Americans, hesitate to ask their friends for help. Although we agree that the cultural difference in worrying about interpersonal impositions is potentially important, we suspect that other factors may also contribute to the curious cross-cultural difference. Our literature review indicated that for EuroAmericans, perceived emotional support compromises the ever-important sense of independence especially when it highlights social dependency and, thus, a crucial inadequacy of the self. In line with this notion, we suggest that by making an explicit request before actually receiving support, Euro-Americans may be protecting the sense of the self as independent by framing the support as explicitly solicited by, and thus under the control of, the self. Receiving the requested support, in fact, can invigorate the self’s efficacy and power (Leary et al., 1995). In other words, Euro-Americans strategically make frequent requests for support to minimize independence-threatening implications of the support when it is actually provided. The current work also suggests that for Asians, perceived emotional support affirms the sense of the self as interdependent especially when the support is unsolicited. Under these circumstances, the support can be seen as a genuine expression of the care and the concern others hold toward the self. Accordingly, Asians might refrain from asking for help and support so as to manage the image of the self as fully supported and cared for by others. The desire to maintain the sense of the self as well connected and interdependent, therefore, can account for Asians’ reluctance to explicitly request help and support even when they need it. If so, Asians’ hesitation to ask for help should persist even in the absence of any concern for interpersonal impositions.


Uchida et al. / PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND CULTURE

Limitations and Future Directions Overall, the present theoretical analysis provides an integrative framework for understanding some important cross-cultural differences involving emotional support, well-being, and health. We note, however, that the present data are correlational and, as such, do not lend themselves to any causal interpretations. Our preferred interpretation is that perceived emotional support gives rise to well-being at least among Asians. An alternative interpretation is that relatively well-adjusted Asians receive more emotional support or at least they are more prepared to perceive such support. We find this alternative rather implausible because, especially in Asian contexts, emotional support is likely to take forms such as sympathy and compassion that are contingent on another person’s misfortunes or other types of negative states (Kitayama & Markus, 2000; Kitayama, Uchida, et al., 2007). Those who have high achievement and self-esteem may then have a diminished chance of getting support. As a Japanese proverb goes, “A nail that sticks up shall get pounded down.” In addition, future research should examine in greater detail when perceived emotional support might have positive effects on self-esteem and well-being among Euro-Americans. The hypothesis that emotional support would enhance well-being only if it does not pose a significant threat to self-esteem should further be examined. For example, a manipulation designed to affirm the self might eliminate any threat to emotional support. If so, it might have a doubly positive effect on well-being and health (Sherman & Cohen, 2007). Thus, emotional support may be effective in enhancing EuroAmericans’ well-being when combined with an effort to affirm the self’s independence. Equally important, future work should experimentally manipulate perceived emotional support and test the predicted effect of this manipulation on measures of well-being and health. Researchers should follow up on an earlier study by Langer and Rodin (1976) to investigate the effect of various intervention efforts on wellbeing and health. In all likelihood, the most effective mode of intervention is different across cultures. On the basis of the current analysis, we may expect that an intervention to increase the sense of control may be useful in Euro-American cultures but probably not in Asian cultures. In the latter cultural contexts, interventions to highlight socially supportive networks may prove to be highly effective. In this regard, it is instructive that indigenous psychotherapies in Japan such as Naikan therapy and Morita therapy focus on cultivation of each patient’s reflective awareness of his or her dependencies

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and indebtedness to various others (Ishiyama, 1986; Reynolds, 1976, 1983). The fact that such therapies are effective seems to fly in the face of the common wisdom of American therapies that focus on self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) and coherent self-perspective (e.g., Beck, 1976; Ellis, 1962). Yet another agenda for the future is to examine regional variations within each of global cultural contexts such as the United States and Japan. For example, Kitayama, Ishii, Imada, Takemura, and Ramaswamy (2006) have shown that there are some elements of independence in a northern island of Japan called Hokkaido. Hokkaido was a wilderness until 150 years ago and has been actively settled by ethnic Japanese since then. The researchers interpreted the evidence as supporting the hypothesis that voluntary settlement in a frontier breeds ethos of independence. Other types of regional variations have been uncovered by other researchers as well (e.g., Kashima et al., 2004; Kitayama, Park, Sevincer, & Karasawa, 2007; Vandello & Cohen, 1999). These findings inform of mechanisms for cultural change and persistence.

Conclusion In sum, we have shown that the effect of perceived emotional support on well-being and health is moderated by culture. In Euro-American independent cultural contexts, the effect of perceived emotional support tended to be weak, especially among nonstudent adults. Such an effect did exist among college students; however, it was entirely mediated by selfesteem. By contrast, in Asian interdependent cultural contexts, the link between perceived emotional support and well-being was more direct. This is consistent with the hypothesis that perceived emotional support affirms the ever-important sense of the self as interdependent and connected with others. Importantly, the current work provides the first evidence in the literature that cultural variation exists not only among college students but also among nonstudent adults. Moreover, it applies to measures of both well-being and physical health. Altogether, the present work has added yet another piece of evidence to a growing body of literature on cultural psychology that demonstrates the significant role culture plays in shaping the nature of various psychological processes. Specifically, we showed that the effectiveness of perceived emotional support in enhancing well-being and health is indeterminate until the nature of cultural context is fully taken into account.


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PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN APPENDIX ITEMS OF THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SCALE (HISADA, SENDA, & MINOGUCHI, 1989)

1. He/she cheers you up when you are depressed. 2. If he/she finds out that you fell out of love, he/she sympathizes with you from the bottom of his/her heart. (*If he/she finds out that you are shocked, he/she will sympathize with you from the bottom of his/her heart) 3. When something good happens to you, he/she is as happy as if it were his/her own good fortune. 4. If you fall into a situation that you cannot do anything about, he/she sees to it that something is done. 5. He/she almost always listens to your story with interest. 6. If he/she finds out that you failed an important exam, he/she sincerely tries to console you. (*If he/she finds out that you failed in an important thing, he/she will sincerely try to console you). 7. If you are feeling down, he/she notices right away and cares for you. 8. If you want to vent your frustration, he/she is there to take it. 9. If you make a mistake, he/she picks up the slack for you. 10. If you accomplish something, he/she congratulates you with sincerity. 11. If you have work you cannot finish by yourself, he/she is glad to help you. 12. He/she recognizes your ability and regards you highly on a daily basis. 13. He/she always understands your true feelings. 14. If he/she finds out the you are having a hard time with some people at school, he/she gives you advice on how to solve the problem. (*If he/she finds out that you are having a hard time with some people, he/she will give you advice on how to solve the problem). 15. He/she accepts you for who you are, including your strengths and weaknesses. 16. He/she loves you from the bottom of his/her heart. NOTE: For the nonstudent adult sample in Study 2, the items in parentheses marked with an asterisk were used (items 2, 6, and 14).

NOTES 1. Such negative consequences of perceived emotional support might be especially likely in long-term relations where support is bound to be highly recurrent; thus, it is likely to evoke a concern that the self might be perceived as incompetent by the relationship partner. Consistent with this conjecture, Bolger and colleagues (Bolger, Foster, Vinokur, & Ng, 1996; Bolger, Zuckerman, & Kessler, 2000) have tested romantic partners and consistently observed that there is little or no benefit of perceived emotional support. 2. It is possible that many of the nonstudent adults in the Study 2 sample thought about their spouses as “close others” in responding to the emotional support scale. As implied by the notion of “sacred couple” (Shweder, Jensen, & Goldstein, 1995), the marital relationship may be one of the few sanctuaries left for many nonstudent adults to maintain meaningful long-term relations in the contemporary American culture. As we speculate in Note 1, emotional support may be more likely to be recurrent and thus to imply dependency in long-term relations (e.g., marital relations) than in relatively short-term relations (e.g., peer relations). This might also explain the absence of any positive association between perceived emotional support and well-being among Euro-American adults.

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