Not All Forms of Independence Are Created Equal: Only Being Independent the “Right Way” Is Associated With Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction

Frontiers in Psychology

Smaranda Ioana Lawrie¹  Heejung S. Kim¹  Laurențiu P. Maricuțoiu²  Alin Gavreliuc²  Daniela Moza² 

[1] Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States;Department of Psychology, West University of Timişoara, Timișoara, Romania;

关键词: culture;    self-construal;    independence;    self-esteem;    life satisfaction;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.606354

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Past research has found a strong and positive association between the independent self-construal and life satisfaction, mediated through self-esteem, in both individualistic and collectivistic cultures. In Study 1, we collected data from four countries (the United States, Japan, Romania, and Hungary; N = 736) and replicated these findings in cultures which have received little attention in past research. In Study 2, we treated independence as a multifaceted construct and further examined its relationship with self-esteem and life satisfaction using samples from the United States and Romania (N = 370). Different ways of being independent are associated with self-esteem and life satisfaction in the two cultures, suggesting that it is not independence as a global concept that predicts self-esteem and life satisfaction, but rather, feeling independent in culturally appropriate ways is a signal that one’s way of being fits in and is valued in one’s context.

【 授权许可】

CC BY