Cultural religiosity moderates the relationship between being in love and subjective well-being

Olechowski M.; Górski M.R.; Joshanloo M.; Hussain M.A.; Wasiel A.; Yeung V.W.L.; Bond M.H.; 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.; Ndiaye D.G.; Fülöp M.; Igbokwe D.; Adamovic M.; Garðarsdóttir R.B.; Soboleva N.; Teyssier J.; Glückstad F.K.; Park J.; Akaliyski P.; Akello G.; Akotia C.; Al-Zoubi M.; Albert I.; Almakaeva A.; Andrade L.; Appoh L.; Mira D.M.A.; Bakyono-Nabaloum R.; Baltin A.; Marroquin P.E.B.; Boer D.; Costin V.; Espinosa A.D.; Espinosa A.; Esteves C.S.; Gamsakhurdia V.; Gavreliuc A.; Gjoneska B.; Hasanov R.; Igou E.R.; Imran M.A.; Iqbal N.; Kascakova N.; Kračmárová L.K.; Kocimska-Bortnowska A.; Kosiarczyk A.; Kostoula O.; Kronberger N.; Kwiatkowska A.; Lauri M.A.; Lee J.H.; Łużniak-Piecha M.; Malyonov A.; Malyonova A.; Maricchiolo F.; Mohammed L.; Mohorić T.; Mokadem F.; Mosanya M.; Mosca O.; Murdock E.; Mustaffa N.F.; Myślińska-Szarek K.; Nader M.; Nadi A.; Ochoa D.; Okvitawanli A.; Palikot E.; Denoux P.; Pavlopoulos V.; Pavlović Z.; Šolcová I.P.; Rizwan M.; Rocha A.M.; Romashov V.; Røysamb E.; Samekin A.; Sargautyte R.; Schwarz B.; Selim H.; Serdarevich U.; Sirlopú D.; Sobhie R.; Sokolov B.; Stogianni M.; Stoyanova S.; Streng M.; Sun C.-R.; Tønnessen M.; Torres C.; Trà K.T.T.; Turjačanin V.; Uchida Y.; van Osch Y.; van Tilburg W.; Vauclair C.-M.; Vergara-Morales J.; Vignoles V.L.; Xing C.; Yakhlef B.; Yau E.K.; Yeung J.C.; Zelenski J.; Krys K. · International Journal of Intercultural Relations (2025) · DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102227

Resumen

Previous research indicates that the significance of love varies considerably across cultures. In the present study, we introduce an often-overlooked cultural factor – religiosity – to explore its influence on the relationship between being in love and five dimensions of subjective well-being. We conducted two cross-cultural studies with 31,608 participants from 117 samples across 83 societies. Our findings reveal that, in more religious cultures, being in love is a weaker predictor of well-being compared to more secular cultures in four out of six models. These findings indicate that national context influences the relative importance of various emotions and experiences for well-being, underscoring the need to account for cultural context in research on love.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú