Culture, Personality and Well-Being

This book presents an integrative, interdisciplinary examination of how cultural, psychological, and structural factors shape human well-being, with a distinctive emphasis on the social contexts of Latin America and Spain. The book opens by reviewing the evolution of well-being research and highlights the need for culturally grounded concepts and measurements. It then explores how national cultural values—particularly autonomy, egalitarianism, and emotion norms—relate to subjective well-being, while illustrating the complexity of Latin American cultural profiles. Several chapters analyze identity and social structure, showing how ethnic–racial identity, social class, and inequality influence psychological outcomes through mechanisms such as discrimination, socialization, perceived control, and coping. Social relationships emerge as a central dimension of well-being, with evidence on social capital, social support, and social identity demonstrating their strong protective and regulatory effects. The book also incorporates personality science, detailing how traits, character strengths, spirituality, and religiosity contribute to flourishing or distress, and how culturally situated personality models and AI-driven approaches can enhance understanding. Additional chapters examine gender and emotional well-being, affect and emotion regulation, and the determinants of well-being in older adults, highlighting the “Latin American paradox”—moderately high well-being despite socioeconomic precarity. Across all chapters, the book underscores the interplay of personal, relational, and structural factors in shaping well-being.