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Self-Concordance and Subjective Well-Being in Four Cultures

University of Missouri-Columbia, SheldonK{at}missouri.edu

Andrew J. Elliot

University of Rochester

Richard M. Ryan

University of Rochester

Valery Chirkov

University of Saskatchewan

Youngmee Kim

American Cancer Society

Cindy Wu

Baylor University

Meliksah Demir

Wayne State University

Zhigang Sun

University of Missouri-Columbia

Sheldon and colleagues have recently focused research attention on the concept of self-concordance, in which people feel that they pursue their goals because the goals fit with their underlying interests and values rather than because others say they should pursue them. Self-concordant individuals typically evidence higher subjective well-being (SWB). But is this also true in non-Western cultures, which emphasize people’s duty to conform to societal expectations and group-centered norms? To address this question, this study assessed goal self-concordance and SWB in four different cultures. U.S., Chinese, and South Korean samples evidenced equal levels of self-concordance, whereas a Taiwanese sample evidenced somewhat less self-concordance. More importantly, self-concordance predicted SWB within every culture. It appears that "owning one’s actions"—that is, feeling that one’s goals are consistent with the self—may be important for most if not all humans.

Key Words: motivation • goals • well-being • culture

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 35, No. 2, 209-223 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0022022103262245


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