A Cross-Cultural Experimental Approach to the Contribution of Health, Religion and Personal Relations to Subjective Satisfaction with Life as a Whole

University of Valencia. Dept. Metodologia, Facultad de Psicologia, Avda. Blasco Ibanez 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain. Tel: +34-96-386-4100; Web site: http://www.uv.es/revispsi/

Y

18

Foreign Countries; Life Satisfaction; Quality of Life; Cross Cultural Studies; Health; Religion; Interpersonal Relationship; Cultural Differences; Well Being; Undergraduate Students

Algeria; Belgium; Poland

0211-2159

In cross-cultural research on quality of life, researchers must deal with the fundamental incomparability of subjective wellbeing assessments across cultural groups. This incompatibility most probably results from an identification problem: cultural groups most likely differ in both objective achievements in different life domains as well as in the appraisal thereof. Information Integration Theory provides a framework that allows to better understand the composition of the concept of "satisfaction with life as a whole" across culturally different groups. In three web-based experiments, using Percentile Stimulus Metrics, it was studied how students in Algeria, Belgium and Poland integrate information on various life domains into an appraisal of satisfaction with life as a whole. It was found that different integration models coexist in the 3 studied groups, and that the prevalence of these strategies differs across groups. (Contains 4 figures, 2 footnotes, and 4 tables.)

As Provided

34

2012

EJ980496