Cultural differences in coping with interpersonal tensions lead to divergent shorter- and longer-term affective consequences

Abstract

Culture influences how people cope with interpersonal tensions, with those from more collectivistic contexts (e.g. Chinese Americans (CA)) generally opting for strategies promoting social harmony whereas those from more individualistic contexts (e.g. European Americans (EA)) preferring confrontational strategies. The current study examined cultural differences in coping strategy choices and their linkages to immediate affective reactions and subsequent affective memories. Participants (N = 159) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with a disagreeable confederate matched by age group, gender, and cultural group. CA exhibited less positive affect reactivity (i.e. smaller decreases in positive affect) and greater positive affect recovery (i.e. greater increases in post-task positive affect) compared to EA, which was explained by CAs’ appraisals of greater emotional support from the confederate and lower endorsement of defending one’s opinions. In contrast, one week later, EA, but not CA, recalled experiencing more task positive affect and less task negative affect than originally reported. Cultural differences in negative affect memory discrepancies were explained by EAs’ greater tendency to defend their opinions, relative to CA. Culture shapes coping choices, which predict affective consequences over different time scales.