Using Fundamental Motives to Understand Well-Being Around the Globe

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

People in some countries are happier, feel more fulfilled, and generally experience a greater sense of well-being than people in other countries. Psychological well-being is not simply the result of economic well-being; the wealthiest countries are not necessarily the happiest ones. This project involves a collaboration with researchers in 30 different countries to better understand the origins of happiness and subjective well-being. The project focuses on the concept of fundamental human motives. These motives include the satisfaction of basic physiological needs (such as hunger and thirst) along with important social needs (such as affiliation, self-protection, status, mate acquisition, mate retention, and kin care). The aim of the research is to better understand the relationship between fundamental human motives and well-being across different countries. It may be that people in poorer, but relatively happy, countries, are able to satisfy those fundamental motives, whereas people in richer, but relatively less happy, countries, are not. Preliminary research supports this conclusion, but also shows that fundamental motives are linked to happiness and well-being somewhat differently in different countries. The initial studies also suggest that some motives are linked to happiness at the national level, but not at the individual level. Governments, institutions, and corporations around the world place a high priority on improving the lives and well-being of people, because it promotes greater productivity, better health, and more cooperation among groups. The aim of this project is to gain greater insight into the factors that produce these desired outcomes. A large cross-cultural survey will be coupled with focused experimental studies to examine the factors that lead to life satisfaction, and how those are linked to fundamental human motives across different societies. The survey will include large samples from 30 countries, gathered by a network of collaborators located in each country. Using measures developed by the investigators along with other relevant variables, it will be possible to separate the contribution of fundamental social motives from the satisfaction of basic physiological needs as they contribute to psychological well-being. Experiments will then be conducted in the United States and in two other countries (one with very low scores and one with very high scores on measures of fundamental social motives), to achieve better insight into causal processes at the individual level, and how those work differently in different societies. The experiments will use a method designed to activate different motives in participants, calibrated appropriately to have similar effects in the different societies. Using fundamental social motives as a way to characterize cultures will provide new tools for scientists across a wide spectrum of disciplines who study the sources and consequences of cultural variation. The project lies at the intersection of cultural psychology, evolutionary psychology, and affective science, and will facilitate interdisciplinary training for a diverse group of students. The research will increase scientific understanding of the roots of cultural variations in everyday behaviors, as well as broadening understanding of cultural variations that contribute to intergroup cooperation and conflict. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.