The characterization of cultures as independent-interdependent and individualistic-collectivistic has provided the foundation for a tremendous amount of research which has revealed the strong influence of culture on psychological processes. Recent years have witnessed an effort by researchers to develop finer-grained distinctions within these overarching cultural dimensions. In line with this work, and inspired by the theoretical model laid out by Campos and Kim (2017), which distinguished between Harmony Collectivism, more common among East Asian populations, and Convivial Collectivism, more common among Latin American populations, the present research was conducted to develop and validate the Harmony and Convivial Collectivism Scale (HCCS). A preliminary pilot study involved a survey in Mechanical Turk (N = 97) and several rounds of expert focus groups. Study 2 (N = 220) used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a large sample of undergraduates and found best fit for a three-factor, 13-item model (Harmony, Convivial-Recognition, Convivial-Display). Study 3 (N = 330) confirmed the 3-factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and demonstrated adequate validity and reliability. Additionally, Study 3 used the entire data set to examine cultural mean differences on the factors between Asian-Americans, Latino-Americans, and European-Americans.

Past research found a mixed relationship between age and subjective well-being. The current research advances the understanding of these findings by incorporating a cultural perspective. We tested whether the relationship between age and well-being is moderated by uncertainty avoidance (UA), a cultural dimension that deals with a society’s tolerance for ambiguity. In Study 1, using a multilevel approach with a large international database (N = 61,256), we found that older age is associated with lower well-being in countries higher in UA, but not in countries lower in UA, and this cultural variation is mediated by sense of control. In Study 2, we compared a low (United States) and high (Romania) UA culture (N=1,025) and found a consistent pattern; age is negatively associated with well-being in Romania but not the United States. This cultural difference is mediated by use of different coping strategies reflective of different levels of sense of control.

The current dissertation is made up of four parts. Parts I and II are based on a single one year, three-wave longitudinal study, but data was separated into two data sets. Students who completed only one or two of the three-wave study (i.e. “non-completes) were analyzed in Part I, whereas students who completed all three waves of the study (i.e. “completes”) were analyzed in Part II. Part I provides initial evidence of differences in emotional profiles between first- and continuing-generation students. Specifically, continuing-generation freshmen showed greater emotional fit with the “majority” college culture (that of continuing-generation upperclassmen) compared to first-generation freshmen. However, Part II showed no evidence for emotional acculturation; there was no evidence of change in emotional fit scores for either first- or continuing-generation students over the course of the one-year study. Part III is an additional cross-sectional study that found that emotional accuracy may be more important than emotional fit in terms of student outcomes such as stress, ability uncertainty, and identity overlap with college. Finally, Part IV empirically distinguished between social and academic belonging to determine the implications of different combinations of belonging on student outcomes.