Impact of Culture on Life Satisfaction of Students

Human societies are quite complex if one considers the number of rules and norms which exist. And those norms and social behavioral patterns which govern human society are often known as cultures. Culture is also a very central concept in the field of anthropology and it has also been able to successfully generate interest in other social, scientific, and behavioral fields. One such field in which culture has generated a lot of interest is that of psychology. According to different psychologists, culture comprises of a range of phenomenon which is also transmitted in the entire human society with the help of social learning. There are also different forms of cultures which are present universally. And some of those forms of cultures include music, dance, art, religion, rituals, and many other practices. However, there are also many differences which exist in most cultures. And that has sparked an interest in many researchers to look at the level of life satisfaction in different cultures. And in this academic writing piece, the readers will be able to learn about the impact of culture on life satisfaction scores from all across the globe.

Culture and Cultural Psychology

As it was mentioned above, culture can be defined as the set of norms or social behavioral patterns which dictate human behavior. And cultural psychology is a branch in which the focus is on studying cultures and how those cultures shape up different psychological processes. There have been many psychologists who have tried to understand the relationship which exists between cultures and the level of life satisfaction. Most of those studies indicate that there are certain cultures which show a higher level of life satisfaction while there are other cultures which depict lower life satisfaction scores.

However, before discussing about that particular topic, it is first important to understand the two types of cultures which are often distinguished in the field of psychology. According to different psychologists, there are two types of cultures. And those two types of cultures are mentioned below.

·       Eastern Cultures

As the name suggests, eastern cultures are located on the east side of the globe. These cultures are often inflexible in terms of their beliefs and ideologies. These cultures are also known as collectivistic cultures. These cultures do not place a lot of emphasis on individualism but instead, focus on the growth and development of the entire group. There is a lot of emphasis which is placed on family, hard work, and struggle in these cultures.

·       Western Cultures

These cultures also exist on the western side of the globe and are also known as individualistic cultures. These cultures focus on the idea of creativity and the growth of every individual. These cultures are more relaxed and casual in their approach to various issues, ideologies, and beliefs. It is important for the readers to remember that in this type of culture, all individuals are taught to focus on their own growth and development before others.

These are the two types of cultures and their major points of difference. In the next section, the readers will be able to learn more about the concept of life satisfaction.

Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction is often known by its abbreviated form of LS and it is defined as the way or method in which an individual might depict their feelings, emotions, and the ways in which they feel about their options and directions for the future. There are many psychologists who also define life satisfaction as the measure of well-being which is assessed in terms of satisfaction in terms of relationship, mood, self-concepts, achieved goals, and the self-perceived ability of an individual to cope with the everyday life of an individual.

If an individual has a higher or positive life satisfaction score then that means that the individual has a favorable attitude towards life. This particular concept of life satisfaction has also been measured against various other concepts like the degree of education, economic standing, residence, experiences, culture, and many other topics. There are many factors which affect life satisfaction. And some of those factors are mentioned below.

·       The personality of the individual

·       Level of self-esteem

·       The kind of outlook on life which is held by an individual

·       Age of an individual

·       Difference in life experiences and events

·       The personal values of an individual

·       The culture with which one is in contact with

·       The family bonds which are held by an individual

·       Career choices of an individual

These are some of the major factors which can have an effect on life satisfaction.

Culture and Life Satisfaction

In this section, the readers will be able to learn how culture and life satisfaction scores or levels are related. A number of researchers have conducted research on this topic since a number of decades. As it was expected, in western culture life satisfaction was strongly associated with the development and growth of an individual. When one thinks of life satisfaction in that culture then one often thinks of it as a personal right and often relates the concept of life satisfaction with that of personal achievement of an individual. On the other hand, when it comes to eastern cultures, life satisfaction is related to social harmony, the collective growth of the culture, and other such aims which are related to the entire group.

One of the most prominent studies which were done on this topic spanned over a time period of four decades. This research was conducted in a total of 182 countries and was also consisted of around 97 studies. This particular research also arrived at somewhat similar results which were mentioned above. It is important for the readers to note that there are still many studies which are being conducted on this topic from all across the globe. There are also some recent studies which show that the difference between the eastern and western cultures is being reduced as the western culture is putting out a lot of emphasis on the eastern cultures. It is also important for the readers to note that because of these cultural differences students in the eastern culture have to work harder and often have to prove their worth to the entire cultural group for them to feel satisfied with their life. However, since the western culture is more relaxed in its approach so students have an easier understanding of life satisfaction in those cultures.

How to be satisfied in Life?

Before ending this academic writing piece, it is important for the readers to also know about some ways through which the readers can be more satisfied with life. And some of those ways are mentioned below.

·       Try having a more open and accepting group of friends

·     Understand the importance of having close friends and try to bond with them

·       Fall back on the community every once in a while. This means that if one goes through a tough spot then one should consider taking the support of the people around him or her

·       Try to have as many exciting experiences in your life as possible

These are some of the most common ways in which an individual can become more satisfied with his or her life.

The Conclusion:

Culture is often defined as the norm or social behavioral patterns which dictates the behavior of all individuals. According to different experts, there are two types of cultures. And those two types of cultures are the western culture and eastern culture. There are many differences which exist between both those cultures. And because of that, it has also been observed that culture has a significant impact on the life satisfaction of students. The eastern cultures place a lot of importance on hard work while the western cultures are more individualistic in their approach.

The References

https://www.ukessays.com/dissertation/examples/psychology/life-satisfaction-across-different-cultures.php

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4105842/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13504850802552309

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-010-0271-4_6

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098014524609

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0092656606000079

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-cultures/201605/how-does-culture-affect-our-happiness

https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture

http://theresearcherjournal.org/pdfs/01021220163.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_satisfaction