Reflecting the World “Out There”: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Worries, Values and Well-Being

Abstract

The study deals with the interrelation of values, worries, and well-being. It assumes that values govern worries, a central source of well-/ill-being. Relying on Schwartz's value theory, the hypothesis is tested that people with self-transcendence values (universalism, benevolence) experience macrosocial worries, whereas people with self-enhancement values (power, achievement) experience personal/microsocial worries. Furthermore, the hypothesis is tested that personal/microsocial worries are related to poor mental health, that macrosocial worries are related to good mental health, and that no direct relation between values and mental health exists. Samples from Germany (formerly East/West), Nepal, and Fiji are included. Predictions are supported that values relate differentially to worries and that personal/microsocial worries are related negatively to well-being, whereas macrosocial worries are related positively. Additionally, concordance with modal values of one's cultural reference group influences the strength of one's macrosocial worries, which are higher, the more similar individual values are to mean values in a culture.