| Both philosophers and scientists have agreed that happiness is important to people and may be varied across time and culture. This project proposed that the difference in what leads to happiness lies in individual's cultural orientation: collectivism (where relationship is emphasized) vs. individualism (where individual self is the main focus). Similarly, gratitude has been a basic and desirable facet of human interaction and personality across time and culture; however, has received little attention from cross cultural research. Therefore, this project also aimed to narrow this gap by examining the relationships among gratitude, happiness, relational and achievement priming in both collectivistic (Cambodian) and individualistic (American) culture. Contrary to what were hypothesized, the results indicate that American participants reported higher subjective well-being than did Cambodian participants despite what priming condition (achievement vs. relationship) they were in. The results also indicate that there were no differences in gratitude level reported by Cambodian and American participants regardless of what priming condition they were in. However, a difference in gratitude level was observed between participants who were identified as more collectivistic and those who were identified as more individualistic. Collectivistic individuals reported higher level of gratitude than did individualistic individuals. The present findings and their implications for clinical settings and future studies on cultural notions of well-being were discussed. |
