Rumination in Daily Life Is Linked to Poorer Psychological Health in the United States Than in Japan

Rumination has been linked to worse psychological health. Yet, some cross-cultural research suggests that associations between trait rumination and psychological health may be stronger in Western than East Asian cultures. This investigation tested, for the first time, whether using rumination to regulate emotions in daily life is differentially linked to psychological health in different cultural contexts. In two preregistered studies that involved baseline (trait level) and ecological momentary assessments (state level), we tested links between rumination and psychological health in college student samples from the United States ( N s = 128 and 105) and Japan ( N s = 93 and 113), at both trait and state levels. In both studies, rumination in daily life was associated with lower well-being, but these associations were stronger in the United States than in Japan. These findings emphasize the importance of culturally sensitive approaches to understanding emotion regulation and psychological health.