Under vs. over Primary Control Discrepancies and Their Relationships to Well-Being in a Primary Control Culture

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between "under" and "over" cultural self discrepancy, and the individual's well-being. "Under cultural self discrepancy" occurs when the individual expects that s/he would fail to behave in specific situations in accordance with the culture norms. In "over cultural self discrepancy" the individual expects to over react and exaggerate the expected behavior. The hypothesis of this paper is that in a culture that emphasizes primary control, "under cultural discrepancy" would be negatively correlated with well being, while "over cultural discrepancy" would not be. To that end, four equstionnaires were adiminstered to130 first-year, Israeli Psychology undergraduates: The Primary and Secondary Control Dilemmas Questionnaire; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale; Depressive Experiences Questionnaire; and Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results clearly demonstrate that "under primary control self discrepancy" correlates negatively with well being, while "over primary control self discrepancy" does not. Since Israeli culture emphasizes primary control, these results support the hypothesis that "under cultural self discrepancy" is negatively correlated with well being, while "over cultural self discrepancy" is not in such cultures.