Culture, Identity Consistency, and Subjective Well -Being

Abstract

All individuals have multiple views of themselves. Whereas the consistency among these multiple selves is traditionally emphasized in North American cultures, the different aspects of the self are more often viewed as coexisting realities rather than as contradictions in East Asian cultures. Two pilot studies were conducted to provide groundwork for the main study in which the cross-situational consistency of 123 Korean and 84 American college student's self-view was examined, in relation to their subjective well-being. Data were collected through self- and informant-reports (1 friend and 1 family member). The three key findings of the present study are that compared to North Americans, the Koreans view themselves less consistently across social roles, experience subjective well-being that is less dependent on identity consistency, and are less likely to receive positive social feedback from others for being self-consistent. A similar pattern of results, albeit weaker, emerged between genders in the U.S. The results underscore the importance of taking social and cultural factors into account in understanding why people try to be self-consistent. Theoretical discussions are centered on the notions of self-consistency, identity, subjective well-being, and personality stability.