Cultural differences in coping with interpersonal tensions lead to divergent shorter- and longer-term affective consequences.

ABSTRACT: Culture influences how people cope with interpersonal tensions, with those from more collectivistic contexts (e.g. Chinese Americans (CA)) generally opting for strategies promoting social harmony whereas those from more individualistic contexts (e.g. European Americans (EA)) preferring confrontational strategies. The current study examined cultural differences in coping strategy choices and their linkages to immediate affective reactions and subsequent affective memories. Participants (N = 159) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with a disagreeable confederate matched by age group, gender, and cultural group. CA exhibited less positive affect reactivity (i.e. smaller decreases in positive affect) and greater positive affect recovery (i.e. greater increases in post-task positive affect)

SUBMITTER: Luong G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7554095 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature