Love, culture, and well-being: How values moderate the link between relationship status and well-being across 57 countries

Śmieja M. Walczak A. Cacek J. Górski M.R. Bond M.H. Gjoneska B. Hussain M.A. Joshanloo M. Szumowska E. Teyssier J. Yeung V.W.L. Haas B.W. Guemaz F. Boussena M. Sánchez-Rodríguez Á. Iter N. Vlasenko O. Lun V.M.-C. Li L.M.W. Aminnuddin N.A. Işık İ. Ngom-Dieng L. Fülöp M. Igbokwe D. Adamovic M. Garðarsdóttir R.B. Soboleva N. Glückstad F.K. Park J. Akaliyski P. Akello G. Al-Zoubi M. Almakaeva A. Anić P. Appoh L. Baltin A. Denoux P. Espinosa A.D. Gamsakhurdia V. Garvanova M. Gavreliuc A. Igou E.R. Kascakova N. Kocimska-Bortnowska A. Kronberger N. Lee J.H. Malyonov A. Malyonova A. Mokadem F. Mosca O. Murdock E. Myślińska-Szarek K. Nader M. Okvitawanli A. Olechowski M. Palikot E. Pavlović Z. Šolcová I.P. Samekin A. Selim H. Sirlopú D. Sokolov B. Sun C.-R. Torres C. Trà K.T.T. Turjačanin V. van Tilburg W. Vauclair C.-M. Wasiel A. Xing C. Yakhlef B. Yang J.-W. Yeung J.C. Zelenski J. Krys K.
September 2025 Elsevier Ltd

International Journal of Intercultural Relations
2025 #108

This study examines the interplay between relationship status, well-being, and values across 57 countries. We hypothesized that individuals in romantic relationships would report higher well-being (measured as happiness, harmony, and meaning in life) compared to singles. We anticipated that in cultures prioritizing relationships, the benefits of being coupled would be amplified, while in societies emphasizing autonomy, the well-being gap would diminish. Specifically, we posited that values prevalent in WEIRD societies (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic)–such as self-direction and achievement–would positively moderate the association between relationship status and well-being, whereas values characteristic of non-WEIRD societies–such as tradition and conformity–would have a negative moderating effect. Our findings support that coupled individuals generally report higher well-being; however, the moderating effects of cultural values were more complex than expected. Cultural classifications of WEIRD and non-WEIRD did not consistently explain the well-being gap. Interestingly, in cultures emphasizing conformity, single and coupled individuals both reported greater meaning, leading to an overall decrease in the well-being gap. Conversely, higher self-direction values were associated with a wider well-being gap, with singles experiencing decreased happiness and meaning. These findings suggest that values such as conformity and self-direction exert domain-specific effects on well-being, influenced by broader social context and individual perceptions. Our research highlights the necessity of integrating cultural and individual factors in well-being research to achieve a more nuanced understanding of the quality of life for singles and those in relationships.

Culture , Relationship status , Schwartz values , Singles , Well-being

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Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Kraków, Poland
Doctoral School in the Social Sciences, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Kraków, Poland
Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, North Macedonia
Department of Finance and Economics, College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
Department of Psychology, Keimyung University, South Korea
University of Maryland, College Park, United States
Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet, Université Toulouse II, Toulouse, France
Department of Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Mohamed Lamine Debaghine, Setif 2, Setif, Algeria
Department of Social Psychology and Anthropology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
Faculty of Arts and Educational Sciences, Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie, Tulkarm, Palestine
Institute of Education Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Brunei Darussalam
Department of Psychology, Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
Institute of Psychology, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Budapest, Hungary
HUN-REN Research Centre of Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Budapest, Hungary
Department of Psychology, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria
Kings Business School, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
Faculty of Psychology, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
Ronald F. Inglehart Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation
Department of Management, Society & Communication, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
of Education, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
Faculty of Medicine, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University, Bodø, Norway
School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
Psychology Department, Iberoamerican University, Mexico City, Mexico
Department of Psychology, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Department of Information Systems and Technologies, University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Sofia, Bulgaria
Department of Psychology, West University of Timișoara, Timișoara, Romania
Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Psychiatric Clinic Pro Mente Sana, Bratislava, Slovakia
Department of Psychology, SWPS University, Wrocław, Poland
Institute of Education and Psychology, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria
Department of Psychology, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana, United States
Department of General and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Dostoevsky Omsk State University, Omsk, Russian Federation
Department of Education, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
Research Unit INSIDE, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Department of Psychology, SWPS University, Sopot, Poland
Department of Organizational Management, Universidad ICESI, Cali, Colombia
Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
School of Liberal Arts, M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Astana, Kazakhstan
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Faculty of Psychology and Humanities, Universidad San Sebastián, Concepción, Chile
Department of Psychology, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Institute of Psychology, University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
Department of Psychology, HCMC University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
École Normale Supérieure of Constantine, Constantine, Algeria
Department of Psychology, The Catholic University of Korea, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

Institute of Psychology
Doctoral School in the Social Sciences
Institute of Psychology
Faculty of Psychology
Department of Management and Marketing
Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Department of Finance and Economics
Department of Social Sciences and Business
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland
Département Psychologie Clinique Du Sujet
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Department of Social Psychology and Anthropology
Faculty of Arts and Educational Sciences
Institute of Education Science
Department of Applied Psychology
Department of Psychology and Centre for Psychosocial Health
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies
Department of Psychology
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Institute of Psychology
HUN-REN Research Centre of Natural Sciences
Department of Psychology
Kings Business School
Faculty of Psychology
Ronald F. Inglehart Laboratory for Comparative Social Research
Department of Management
of Education
Department of Sociology and Social Policy
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences
School of Natural Sciences and Health
Psychology Department
Department of Psychology
Department of Information Systems and Technologies
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Olomouc University Social Health Institute
Psychiatric Clinic Pro Mente Sana
Department of Psychology
Institute of Education and Psychology
Department of Psychology
Department of General and Social Psychology
Department of Education
Research Unit INSIDE
Department of Psychology
Department of Organizational Management
Faculty of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Institute of Psychology
School of Liberal Arts
King Saud University
Faculty of Psychology and Humanities
Department of Psychology
Institute of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Faculty of Philosophy
Department of Psychology
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
Department of Psychology
École Normale Supérieure of Constantine
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology

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