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Positivity Leads to Success? : Cultural Differences in Emotional Experiences During Goal Pursuit

초록/요약

Previous research shows that compared to Westerners who want to maximize positivity, East Asians appreciate higher utility of negative emotion and depreciate utility of positive emotion. We predicted that this cultural difference in emotion values would lead to different emotional experiences during goal pursuit: Koreans experience more negative emotions and less positive emotions than Americans. In support of this prediction, Koreans reported a higher proportion of negative emotions than Americans when inferring the emotional experiences of successful others (Study 1) and also recalling one’s own success (Study 2). Furthermore, in Study 2, such cultural differences were mediated by dialectical views of emotions (i.e., lower utility of positive emotions & higher utility of negative emotions). Specifically, Koreans held more dialectical views of emotions than Americans, which in turn led to a higher proportion of negative emotions during the pursuit of personal goals. The results suggest that one’s emotional experiences during goal pursuit depends on culturally ascribed values of positive/negative emotions.

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