Cynthia S. Levine

Negative emotions predict elevated interleukin-6 in the United States but not in Japan

Previous studies conducted in Western cultures have shown that negative emotions predict higher levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers, specifically interleukin-6 (IL-6). This link between negative emotions and IL-6 may be specific to Western cultures where negative emotions are perceived to be problematic and thus may not extend to Eastern cultures where negative emotions are seen as acceptable and normal. Using samples of 1044 American and 382 Japanese middle-aged and older adults, we investigated whether the relationship between negative emotions and IL-6 varies by cultural context. Negative emotions predicted higher IL-6 among American adults, whereas no association was evident among Japanese adults. Furthermore, the interaction between culture and negative emotions remained even after controlling for demographic variables, psychological factors (positive emotions, neuroticism, extraversion), health behaviors (smoking status, alcohol consumption), and health status (chronic conditions, BMI). These findings highlight the role of cultural context in shaping how negative emotions affect inflammatory physiology and underscore the importance of cultural ideas and practices relevant to negative emotions for understanding of the interplay between psychology, physiology, and health.

Expression of Anger and Ill Health in Two Cultures: An Examination of Inflammation and Cardiovascular Risk

Expression of anger is associated with biological health risk (BHR) in Western cultures. However, recent evidence documenting culturally divergent functions of the expression of anger suggests that its link with BHR may be moderated by culture. To test this prediction, we examined large probability samples of both Japanese and Americans using multiple measures of BHR, including pro-inflammatory markers (interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein) and indices of cardiovascular malfunction (systolic blood pressure and ratio of total to HDL cholesterol). We found that the link between greater expression of anger and increased BHR was robust for Americans. As predicted, however, this association was diametrically reversed for Japanese, among whom greater expression of anger predicted reduced BHR. These patterns were unique to the expressive facet of anger and remained after we controlled for age, gender, health status, health behaviors, social status, and reported experience of negative emotions. Implications for sociocultural modulation of bio-physiological responses are discussed.

Opting Out or Denying Discrimination? How the Framework of Free Choice in American Society Influences Perceptions of Gender Inequality

American women still confront workplace barriers (e.g., bias against mothers, inflexible policies) that hinder their advancement at the upper levels of organizations. However, most Americans fail to recognize that such gender barriers still exist. Focusing on mothers who have left the workforce, we propose that the prevalent American assumption that actions are a product of choice conceals workplace barriers by communicating that opportunities are equal and that behavior is free from contextual influence. Study 1 reveals that stay-at-home mothers who view their own workplace departure as an individual choice experience greater well-being but less often recognize workplace barriers and discrimination as a source of inequality than do mothers who do not view their workplace departure as an individual choice. Study 2 shows that merely exposing participants to a message that frames actions in terms of individual choice increases participants’ belief that society provides equal opportunities and that gender discrimination no longer exists. By concealing the barriers that women still face in the workplace, this choice framework may hinder women’s long-term advancement in society.

Expression of Anger and Ill Health in Two Cultures

Expression of anger is associated with biological health risk (BHR) in Western cultures. However, recent evidence documenting culturally divergent functions of the expression of anger suggests that its link with BHR may be moderated by culture. To test this prediction, we examined large probability samples of both Japanese and Americans using multiple measures of BHR, including pro-inflammatory markers (interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein) and indices of cardiovascular malfunction (systolic blood pressure and ratio of total to HDL cholesterol). We found that the link between greater expression of anger and increased BHR was robust for Americans. As predicted, however, this association was diametrically reversed for Japanese, among whom greater expression of anger predicted reduced BHR. These patterns were unique to the expressive facet of anger and remained after we controlled for age, gender, health status, health behaviors, social status, and reported experience of negative emotions. Implications for sociocultural modulation of bio-physiological responses are discussed.

Race and the Fragility of the Legal Distinction between Juveniles and Adults

Legal precedent establishes juvenile offenders as inherently less culpable than adult offenders and thus protects juveniles from the most severe of punishments. But how fragile might these protections be? In the present study, simply bringing to mind a Black (vs. White) juvenile offender led participants to view juveniles in general as significantly more similar to adults in their inherent culpability and to express more support for severe sentencing. Indeed, these differences in participants’ perceptions of this foundational legal precedent distinguishing between juveniles and adults accounted for their greater support for severe punishment. These results highlight the fragility of protections for juveniles when race is in play. Furthermore, we suggest that this fragility may have broad implications for how juveniles are seen and treated in the criminal justice system.

Subjective and Objective Hierarchies and Their Relations to Psychological Well-Being: A U.S./Japan Comparison

Hierarchy can be conceptualized as objective social status (e.g., education level) or subjective social status (i.e., one’s own judgment of one’s status). Both forms predict well-being. This is the first investigation of the relative strength of these hierarchy–well-being relationships in the U.S. and Japan, cultural contexts with different normative ideas about how social status is understood and conferred. In probability samples of Japanese (N = 1,027) and U.S. (N = 1,805) adults, subjective social status more strongly predicted life satisfaction, positive affect, sense of purpose, and self-acceptance in the United States than in Japan. In contrast, objective social status more strongly predicted life satisfaction, positive relations with others, and self-acceptance in Japan than in the United States. These differences reflect divergent cultural models of self. The emphasis on independence characteristic of the United States affords credence to one’s own judgment (subjective status), and the interdependence characteristic of Japan gives weight to what others can observe (objective status).

Dimensions of Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Asthma Outcomes: Evidence for Distinct Behavioral and Biological Associations.

Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate 2 key dimensions of socioeconomic status (SES)—prestige and resources—and their associations with immune, behavioral, and clinical outcomes in childhood asthma. Methods Children ages 9 to 17 years with a physicians diagnosis of asthma (N = 150), and one of their parents participated in this study. Children and parents completed interviews and questionnaires about SES (prestige = parent education; resources = family assets), environmental exposures, and clinical asthma measures. Spirometry was conducted to assess childrens pulmonary function, and blood was collected to measure cytokine production in response to nonspecific stimulation, allergen-specific stimulation, and microbial stimulation. Results Higher scores on both dimensions of childhood SES were associated with better clinical outcomes in children (&bgr;s from |.18 to .27|, p values < .05). Higher prestige, but not resources, was associated with better home environment control behaviors and less exposure to smoke (&bgr;s from |.21 to .22|, p values < .05). Higher resources, but not prestige, was associated with more favorable immune regulation, as manifest in smaller peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) TH1 and TH2 cytokine responses (&bgr;s from −.18 to −.19; p values < .05), and smaller proinflammatory cytokine responses (&bgr; = −.19; p < .05) after ex vivo stimulation. Higher resources also were associated with more sensitivity to glucocorticoid inhibition of TH1 and TH2 cytokine production (&bgr;s from −.18 to −.22; p values < .05). Conclusions These results suggest that prestige and resources in childhood family environments have different implications for behavioral and immunological processes relevant to childhood asthma. They also suggest that childhood SES relates to multiple aspects of immunologic regulation of relevance to the pathophysiology of asthma.

Culture, inequality, and health: evidence from the MIDUS and MIDJA comparison.

This article seeks to forge scientific connections between three overarching themes (culture, inequality, health). Although the influence of cultural context on human experience has gained notable research prominence, it has rarely embraced another large arena of science focused on the influence social hierarchies have on how well and how long people live. That literature is increasingly focused psychosocial factors, working interactively with biological and brain-based mechanisms, to account for why those with low socioeconomic standing have poorer health. Our central question is whether and how these processes might vary by cultural context. We draw on emerging findings from two parallel studies, Midlife in the U.S. and Midlife in Japan, to illustrate the cultural specificity evident in how psychosocial and neurobiological factors are linked with each other as well as how position in social hierarchies matters for psychological experience and biology. We conclude with suggestions for future multidisciplinary research seeking to understand how social hierarchies matter for people’s health, albeit in ways that may possibly differ across cultural contexts.

Culture and Healthy Eating The Role of Independence and Interdependence in the United States and Japan

Healthy eating is important for physical health. Using large probability samples of middle-aged adults in the United States and Japan, we show that fitting with the culturally normative way of being predicts healthy eating. In the United States, a culture that prioritizes and emphasizes independence, being independent predicts eating a healthy diet (an index of fish, protein, fruit, vegetables, reverse-coded sugared beverages, and reverse-coded high fat meat consumption; Study 1) and not using nonmeat food as a way to cope with stress (Study 2a). In Japan, a culture that prioritizes and emphasizes interdependence, being interdependent predicts eating a healthy diet (Studies 1 and 2b). Furthermore, reflecting the types of agency that are prevalent in each context, these relationships are mediated by autonomy in the United States and positive relations with others in Japan. These findings highlight the importance of understanding cultural differences in shaping healthy behavior and have implications for designing health-promoting interventions.

Culture and social hierarchy: Self- and other-oriented correlates of socioeconomic status across cultures.

Current theorizing on socioeconomic status (SES) focuses on the availability of resources and the freedom they afford as a key determinant of the association between high SES and stronger orientation toward the self and, by implication, weaker orientation toward others. However, this work relies nearly exclusively on data from Western countries where self-orientation is strongly sanctioned. In the present work, we predicted and found that especially in East Asian countries, where other-orientation is strongly sanctioned, high SES is associated with stronger other-orientation as well as with self-orientation. We first examined both psychological attributes (Study 1, N = 2,832) and socialization values (Study 2a, N = 4,675) in Japan and the United States. In line with the existent evidence, SES was associated with greater self-oriented psychological attributes and socialization values in both the U.S. and Japan. Importantly, however, higher SES was associated with greater other orientation in Japan, whereas this association was weaker or even reversed in the United States. Study 2b (N = 85,296) indicated that the positive association between SES and self-orientation is found, overall, across 60 nations. Further, Study 2b showed that the positive association between SES and other-orientation in Japan can be generalized to other Confucian cultures, whereas the negative association between SES and other-orientation in the U.S. can be generalized to other Frontier cultures. Implications of the current findings for modernization and globalization are discussed.