Cultural Differences in the Construal of Suffering and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Social Psychological and Personality Science
; : 1948550620958807, 2020.
Article
| Sage | ID: covidwho-788579
ABSTRACT
The present research examines how suffering is construed across cultures. Study 1 (N 1 = 264;N 2 = 745) asked participants to provide free associations for suffering. Chinese individuals generated more positive associations than did Euro-Canadians. Study 2 (N = 522) had participants create a hypothetical potion of suffering to represent what people would experience while suffering. Chinese participants added more positive ingredients and fewer negative ingredients than Euro-Canadians did. How would cultural differences in the construal of suffering matter in a real-life negative situation? Study 3 (N = 608) showed that Chinese participants generated a greater proportion of potential positive outcomes for the COVID-19 outbreak and reported more positive affect during the pandemic than did Euro-Canadians. Thus, Chinese construe suffering more positively than Euro-Canadians. These findings are consistent with previous research on cultural differences in dialectical thinking and lay theory of change and have implications for coping and resilience.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
Sage
Journal:
Social Psychological and Personality Science
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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