Title: Well being strategies in Japan and the United States
Description: In four studies I explored the prevalence of strategies for how to make life go well among high school-educated and college-educated midlife adults (age 40-59 years old) in both America and Japan. I examined both public artifacts (i.e., American self help books) and individuals' open-ended narratives about what they do to make life go well. Further, I tested the extent to which the most prevalent of these "well-being strategies" predicted experienced well-being, operationalized as individuals' scores on four physical health and four psychological health survey measures. I controlled for marital status, age, age cohort, and gender in these analyses. For all groups, the most salient well-being strategies involved: other people (family in particular), enjoyment experiences, health promotion behaviors, jobs, and having a positive outlook. Americans focused more than Japanese on spirituality, getting and giving social support, and adjusting to situations in their narratives, while Japanese more often emphasized health behaviors, communication, and specific pleasure behaviors (e.g., hobbies). Privately held American well-being strategies generally reflected the ideas propagated by popular American self help books, which most frequently advised readers to choose one's interpretations and reactions, know and love the self, develop one's spirituality, and support others. Physical and psychological health were best predicted by four well-being strategies: having a positive outlook, job-related strategies, fostering positive relationships, and moral or socially appropriate behavior. The former two strategies showed stronger effects for Americans; the latter two strategies showed stronger effects for Japanese. Strategies related to spirituality also showed positive effects for Americans.

In terms of within-nation differences, job-related strategies were particularly effective for American high school-educated adults, and moral behavior was particularly effective for Japanese high school-educated adults. In general, the effects associated with national cultural context were stronger and more frequent than the effects associated with social class context. This pattern suggests that on average a high school-educated adult and a college-educated adult from the same national cultural contexts are likely to be more similar in ideas and practices related to well-being than two people who have achieved the same level of education but reside in separate nations. There was one notable exception to this trend related to the construct of agency. In both nations, patterns in the frequency and effectiveness of well-being strategies reflected more adjustment on behalf of high school-educated adults to relatively uncontrollable environmental and social situations.

Notably, there were a few instances in which a group's salient well-being strategies negatively predicted experienced well-being. A focus on family showed some small negative effects on midlife individuals' physical and psychological health, and post hoc analyses suggested that care-giving responsibilities for children and aging parents were likely causes. Further, the somewhat negative associations between experienced well-being and (a) a focus on giving social support to others among Americans and (b) a focus on experiencing enjoyment among Japanese suggested that pursuing well-being strategies that are counter to cultural norms can decrease the individual's well-being. The results of these studies have theoretical and practical implications for the fields of psychology, education, and public health.
Subjects: Middle age, Social aspects, Health and hygiene, Psychological aspects
Places: Japan, United States