Pleasure as a source of meaning or a motivator for meaning search: The Cross-cultural investigation

The present work investigates how the relation between pleasure and meaning may vary across cultures, focusing on comparisons between Koreans and Euro-Canadians. Guided by the idea that culture shapes people’s perceptions on pleasure, I proposed that the presence of pleasure would serve as a source of meaning in life among Euro-Canadians but as a motivator for the meaning search among Koreans. Specifically, I hypothesized that, relative to Euro-Canadians, Koreans show a greater tendency to search for meaning in the presence than in the absence of pleasure. Four studies, using between and within cultural comparisons, as well as a meta-analysis, provided some support for the prediction. This research provides a new insight into the dynamic association between pleasure and meaning from the cultural perspective.

Department dc:contributor.department

Psychology

Author dc:creator

• Hong, Emily

Advisor dc:contributor.supervisor

• Ji, Li-Jun

• Social Psychology
• Meaning in Life
• Culture
• Positive Affect
• Emotion
• Well-Being

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1974/26686

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:queensu.scholaris.ca:1974/26686