People in more individualist cultures are more motivated to make others feel better

In many Western cultures, trying to make others feel better is considered critical for psychological health and social relationships. However, given that people think about emotions and relationships differently across cultures, the desirability, means, and benefits of making others feel better may also vary by culture. In two multicountry survey studies (Study 1: N = 3,154, 13 countries; Study 2: N = 3,503, 17 countries) and in a daily dairy study (Study 3: N = 243, 2 countries), we assessed motivation and strategies used for influencing others’ and one’s own emotions. To test whether potential cross-cultural differences in motivation and strategies in emotion regulation are unique to social interactions, we compared cultural differences in making others feel better to making oneself feel better. Across studies, cultural differences in influencing others’ emotions were greater than those in influencing one’s own emotions. Members of more individualist (vs. collectivist) cultures were more motivated to make others (but not themselves) feel better, were more likely to express care and less likely to encourage others to suppress their emotions or to ruminate. These patterns, in turn, were linked to an index of relationship closeness in an individualist (but not a collectivist) culture. These findings suggest that helping others feel better may not be equally desirable across cultures.

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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2026-06-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2533994123
Primary Topic
Cultural Differences and Values
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

People in more individualist cultures are more motivated to make others feel better

Cláudio Torres, Nevin Solak, M.A. Padun, María Isabel Huerta-Carvajal et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Cultural Differences and Values
article

People in more individualist cultures are more motivated to make others feel better

Cláudio Torres, Nevin Solak, M.A. Padun, María Isabel Huerta-Carvajal, Verónica Janneth García Ibarra, Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi, Aldo Álvarez-Risco, Stefania Mannarini, Arobindu Dash, Jan Cieciuch, Adote Anum, Allon Vishkin, Babita Singh, Yukiko Uchida, Xiaoqin Wang, Yuri Miyamoto, Michaela Riediger, Sieun An, Yulia E. Chentsova-Dutton, Alessandro Rossi, Vivian Dzokoto, Antje Rauers, Maya Tamir, Erika Galindo-Bello, Thiago Gomes Do Nascimento, Min Young Kim, Rakesh Singh, Shanmukh V. Kamble, Shir Ginosar Yaari, Jiang Qiu, Yaniv Hanoch, Mariana Gurevich, Julia Anne Freitag
article en

Abstract

In many Western cultures, trying to make others feel better is considered critical for psychological health and social relationships. However, given that people think about emotions and relationships differently across cultures, the desirability, means, and benefits of making others feel better may also vary by culture. In two multicountry survey studies (Study 1: N = 3,154, 13 countries; Study 2: N = 3,503, 17 countries) and in a daily dairy study (Study 3: N = 243, 2 countries), we assessed motivation and strategies used for influencing others’ and one’s own emotions. To test whether potential cross-cultural differences in motivation and strategies in emotion regulation are unique to social interactions, we compared cultural differences in making others feel better to making oneself feel better. Across studies, cultural differences in influencing others’ emotions were greater than those in influencing one’s own emotions. Members of more individualist (vs. collectivist) cultures were more motivated to make others (but not themselves) feel better, were more likely to express care and less likely to encourage others to suppress their emotions or to ruminate. These patterns, in turn, were linked to an index of relationship closeness in an individualist (but not a collectivist) culture. These findings suggest that helping others feel better may not be equally desirable across cultures.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 123(27)
Karnatak University (IN), Hitotsubashi University (JP), University of Wolverhampton (GB), World Health Organization - Pakistan (PK), Zhejiang Normal University (CN), University of Padua (IT), University of Ghana (GH), Universidade de Brasília (BR), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL), Georgetown University (US), Fayetteville State University (US), Virginia Commonwealth University (US), Schiller International University (FR), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), Kyoto University (JP), Department of Human Services (US), International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (BD), Institute for the Future (US), Universidad Politécnica Estatal del Carchi (EC), Universidad Tecnológica del Perú (PE), Institute of Psychology (RU), National College Of Nursing (JP), Keimyung University (KR), Hacettepe University (TR), Universidad de las Américas Puebla (MX), Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE), EAE Business School (ES), Hologic (Germany) (DE)
Israel Science Foundation
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Cultural Differences and Values
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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