The correlation of the characteristics of subjective and psychological well-being with cultural dimensions of the Russians and Kazakhs

The paper analyzes the correlation of cultural dimensions of individualism and collectivism with the characteristics of subjective and psychological well-being of the personality. Four proportional samples of the Russians and Kazakhs from Russia and Kazakhstan were surveyed. Each sample comprised 75 people. The research involved 300 males and females (29 % of males) with an average age of M = 38 years, SD = 11.57, 69 % of city dwellers, 31 % of villagers. The study employed such methods as the Satisfaction with Life Scale by E. Diener and the Subjective Happiness Scale by S. Lyubomirsky and H. Lepper both adapted by D.A. Leontiev and E.N. Osin. The Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being modified by L.V. Zhukovskaya and E.G. Troshikhina were used to measure dimensions of autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, self-acceptance, positive relations with others, and overall rate. Cultural dimensions (individualism, collectivism) were measured by the Perceived Cultural Context Scale by V.I. Chirkov. The primary data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 19.0). The parametric technique (Student’s t-test), correlation and regression analysis were used to compare the samples. The study reveals the ethnic and national differences in properties under review. The paper identifies that horizontal strategies are typical for Russian people. The psychological well-being of the Russians and both characteristics of well-being of the Kazakhs are determined by the cultural dimension of horizontal individualism. The horizontal strategies prevail among the Kazakhs as well. However, the subjective well-being of the Russians is determined by horizontal collectivism, and their psychological well-being is explained by horizontal individualism. For the Kazakh sample, both characteristics of well-being are determined by the cultural dimension of horizontal collectivism.