16:00 - 17:30
Wed-H5-Talk 9--96
Wed-Talk 9
Room: H5
Chair/s:
Robin Willardt
Matching to other people is not equally beneficial: The role of social class for person-culture match effects on well-being
Wed-H5-Talk 9-9602
Presented by: Vera Vogel
Vera Vogel
University of Mannheim
People tend to experience higher well-being when their characteristics (e.g., beliefs, values) match with those of their culture. Recent research indicated that social class is also a relevant form of culture that should be considered when investigating person-culture match effects on well-being. Thus, the present research investigated person-culture match effects on well-being when individuals perceive a value match with people of different social classes. In particular, we manipulated whether participants’ value preferences match with the value preferences of people from their own social class, a lower social class, or a higher social class. Across four studies, we operationalized social class in terms of individuals´ educational attainment (N study 1 = 353), employment status (N study 2 = 402), and income level (N study 3 = 623) as well as individuals´ subjective social class (N study 4 = 479). Results suggest that perceiving a value match with other people is always beneficial for individuals´ well-being. However, the well-being benefits of a value match were dependent on the social class, individuals perceived a matched with. While matching to people from their own social class or to people from a higher social class resulted in a higher well-being, a value match with people from lower social class resulted in a lower well-being. Thereby, the results might point to the personal desirability of a match as key driver of person-culture match effects on well-being.
Keywords: social class, well-being, person-culture match, values