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.

doi:10.1177/0956797618768058

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

M.J. Hornsey

P.G. Bain

E.A. Harris

N. Lebedeva

E. Kashima

Professor Yanjun Guan yanjun.guan@durham.ac.uk
Professor

R. González

S.X. Chen

S. Blumen

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

Files

Accepted Journal Article (517 Kb)
PDF

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.