Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19
The present research studied Chinese and Euro-Canadian students during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on their affect, optimism, well-being, and meaning in life. The results revealed both differences and similarities across cultures. As predicted, Chinese participants reported more positive affect...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-07-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636062/full |
id |
doaj-6ea86caff3c64a7b82ace54c9e99b33c |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-6ea86caff3c64a7b82ace54c9e99b33c2021-07-12T10:06:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-07-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.636062636062Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19Suhui Yap0Albert Lee1Li-Jun Ji2Ye Li3Ying Dong4Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, SingaporeDepartment of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, ChinaFaculty of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, ChinaThe present research studied Chinese and Euro-Canadian students during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on their affect, optimism, well-being, and meaning in life. The results revealed both differences and similarities across cultures. As predicted, Chinese participants reported more positive affect and less negative affect, higher optimism, higher state psychological well-being, and higher meaning presence, compared to Euro-Canadian participants. The findings were replicated after a week’s delay. Analyses on longitudinal data showed that state optimism, state well-being, and meaning presence influenced one another over time. These variables also mediated the cultural differences in one another. These results are consistent with cultural work on naïve dialecticism and non-linear lay theory of change. Results also demonstrate underlying relationships among the constructs that are common to both cultural groups. Broadly, the present research highlights the impact of culture on people’s response to challenging life situations and the mechanisms underlying these cultural differences.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636062/fullCOVID-19state well - beingmeaning in lifeoptimismculture |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Suhui Yap Albert Lee Li-Jun Ji Ye Li Ying Dong |
spellingShingle |
Suhui Yap Albert Lee Li-Jun Ji Ye Li Ying Dong Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19 Frontiers in Psychology COVID-19 state well - being meaning in life optimism culture |
author_facet |
Suhui Yap Albert Lee Li-Jun Ji Ye Li Ying Dong |
author_sort |
Suhui Yap |
title |
Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19 |
title_short |
Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19 |
title_full |
Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19 |
title_fullStr |
Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cultural Differences in People’s Psychological Response to COVID-19 |
title_sort |
cultural differences in people’s psychological response to covid-19 |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
The present research studied Chinese and Euro-Canadian students during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on their affect, optimism, well-being, and meaning in life. The results revealed both differences and similarities across cultures. As predicted, Chinese participants reported more positive affect and less negative affect, higher optimism, higher state psychological well-being, and higher meaning presence, compared to Euro-Canadian participants. The findings were replicated after a week’s delay. Analyses on longitudinal data showed that state optimism, state well-being, and meaning presence influenced one another over time. These variables also mediated the cultural differences in one another. These results are consistent with cultural work on naïve dialecticism and non-linear lay theory of change. Results also demonstrate underlying relationships among the constructs that are common to both cultural groups. Broadly, the present research highlights the impact of culture on people’s response to challenging life situations and the mechanisms underlying these cultural differences. |
topic |
COVID-19 state well - being meaning in life optimism culture |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636062/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT suhuiyap culturaldifferencesinpeoplespsychologicalresponsetocovid19 AT albertlee culturaldifferencesinpeoplespsychologicalresponsetocovid19 AT lijunji culturaldifferencesinpeoplespsychologicalresponsetocovid19 AT yeli culturaldifferencesinpeoplespsychologicalresponsetocovid19 AT yingdong culturaldifferencesinpeoplespsychologicalresponsetocovid19 |
_version_ |
1721307434207674368 |