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. 2020 Oct 13;11(1):5150.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18831-9.

Well-being as a function of person-country fit in human values

Paul H P Hanel  1   2 , Uwe Wolfradt  3 , Lukas J Wolf  4   5 , Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho  5   6 , Gregory R Maio  4
Affiliations

Well-being as a function of person-country fit in human values

Paul H P Hanel et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

It is often assumed that incongruence between individuals' values and those of their country is distressing, but the evidence has been mixed. Across 29 countries, the present research investigated whether well-being is higher if people's values match with those of people living in the same country or region. Using representative samples, we find that person-country and person-region value congruence predict six well-being measures (e.g., emotional well-being, relationship support; N = 54,673). Crucially, however, value type moderates whether person-country fit is positively or negatively associated with well-being. People who value self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism more and live in countries and regions where people on average share these values report lower well-being. In contrast, people who value achievement, power, and security more and live in countries and regions where people on average share these values, report higher well-being. Additionally, we find that people who moderately value stimulation report the highest well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Model of human values.
Schwartz’ quasi-circumplex model of human values displaying four higher value types, ten value types (bold font), and examples of values in each type (normal font; adapted from ref. ).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Predicted associations between values and well-being.
Predicted pattern of results illustrated for security (positive interaction term (a)) and stimulation (negative interaction term (b)), with personal (P) and country (C) level values as predictors of well-being. Both graphs display interaction terms alone in the absence of linear and quadratic effects. Source data are provided as a Source data file.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Actual associations between values and well-being.
Four response surface plots based on the multilevel polynomial regression results with individual- (P) and country- (C) level values as predictors, including control variables, for security (a), stimulation (b), self-direction (c), and power (d) values. Predictors were standardized for illustrative purposes. Source data are provided as a Source data file.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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