How much is enough in a perfect world? Cultural variation in ideal levels of happiness, pleasure, freedom, health, self-esteem, longevity, and intelligence
Hornsey, M.J.; Bain, P.G.; Harris, E.A.; Lebedeva, N.; Kashima, E.; Guan, Y.; González, R.; Chen, S.X.; Blumen, S.
Authors
Abstract
The maximization principle—that people aspire to the highest possible level of something good if all practical constraints are removed—is a common yet untested assumption about human nature. We predict that in holistic cultures—where contradiction, change, and context are emphasized—ideal states of being for the self will be more moderate than in other cultures. In two studies (Ns = 2,392 and 6,239), we asked this question: If participants could choose their ideal level of happiness, pleasure, freedom, health, self-esteem, longevity, and intelligence, what level would they choose? Consistent with predictions, results showed that maximization was less pronounced in holistic cultures; members of holistic cultures aspired to less happiness, pleasure, freedom, health, self-esteem, longevity, and IQ than did members of other cultures. In contrast, no differences emerged on ideals for society. The studies show that the maximization principle is not a universal aspect of human nature and that there are predictable cultural differences in people’s notions of perfection.
Citation
Hornsey, M., Bain, P., Harris, E., Lebedeva, N., Kashima, E., Guan, Y., …Blumen, S. (2018). How much is enough in a perfect world? Cultural variation in ideal levels of happiness, pleasure, freedom, health, self-esteem, longevity, and intelligence. Psychological Science, 29(9), 1393-1404. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618768058
| Journal Article Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Acceptance Date | Mar 9, 2018 |
| Online Publication Date | Jun 11, 2018 |
| Publication Date | Sep 30, 2018 |
| Deposit Date | Feb 22, 2018 |
| Publicly Available Date | Feb 23, 2018 |
| Journal | Psychological Science |
| Print ISSN | 0956-7976 |
| Electronic ISSN | 1467-9280 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications |
| Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 1393-1404 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618768058 |
| Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1334080 |
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Copyright Statement
Hornsey, M.J., Bain, P.G., Harris, E.A. Lebedeva, N., Kashima, E., Guan, Y., González, R., Chen, S.X. & Blumen, S. (2018). How much is enough in a perfect world? Cultural variation in ideal levels of happiness, pleasure, freedom, health, self-esteem, longevity, and intelligence. Psychological Science 29(9): 1393-1404. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.