Love Yourself
In more ways than one, Eastern culture and Western culture can differ massively. Love, of course, is no exception with all the intricacies it comes with. Narcissism, an example of love gone awry, is a word often tossed around with negative connotations, yet it is tied to positive well-being in the Western world. Would it surprise you that Eastern cultures may receive this notion differently, and perhaps even have it related to negative outcomes due to cultural differences? Researchers from Vietnam wondered if narcissism was tied to negative well-being, based on the idea that the collectivistic culture of the Eastern hemisphere would look down on any excessive self-love that individualized Western culture accepts so readily.
By investigating responses on a variety of tests used to assess narcissism (Narcissistic Personality Inventory), well-being (Keyes’ Mental Health Continuum), and love (Sternberg Love Scale), the researchers were able to answer their inquiries into the associations between these variables.
As expected and shared with Western culture, Eastern culture enjoy a fruitful and positive association between love and well-being. However, contrary to the believed effect collectivism may have on the reception of narcissism, the investigators were not able to find any negative correlation between grandiose self-love and well-being but instead found a positive correlation.
This unexpected result may be explained in the fact that Vietnamese culture has been radically changing to uphold more individualistic values in the midst of its economic and social development. This would undoubtedly lead to greater acceptance of the notion to be more self-loving as means to feel better, in an ever growing individualist environment.
While the universal effects of love is once again nicely depicted in its positive effects towards well being, the other results paint a refreshing outlook on how Eastern cultures are rapidly evolving and reflecting new values. This points to the need to constantly re-evaluate how we all uphold essential values like love, in the face of social dynamics and time.
Source:
Ha, T. T. K., Hoang, N. H., & Yen, P. T. (2018). Relationship between Romantic Love, Narcissism, and Subjective Well-Being. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 6(09), 183.
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