Concepts of Health and Disease in Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures: A Cross-Cultural Study

10.18869/acadpub.rph.9.4.1
Abstract
Although in the literature of the study the concepts of health and disease have been considered deeply dependent on each other, it seems that to differentiate them , indexes are needed which make clear both similar cultural characteristics and different cultural characteristics .In this study, an attempt was made to provide a new description of the classification of the mental health and disease and to investigate the role of different feelings in differentiating health from disease in Iranian collectivistic culture and Swedish individualistic culture. In this study, of a group of Iranian students (n=296) and of a group of Swedish students (n=310), a sample of students were selected. Results of the study showed that in the Iranian society there was a relationship between the mental health and balance affect while in the Swedish society there was a more significant relationship between the mental health and positive affect. It seems that in the typology of healthy and sick people there are four flourishing, languishing, trouble and symptomatic groups and that the positive and balance affects can differentiate these groups.
Keywords
Health
disease
individualistic culture
collectivistic culture
affects
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