The Cultural Construction of Self and Well-Being: A Tale of Two Cities - Plaut e.a. - 2012 - Article

This study had two purposes. First, it aimed to theorize a cycle of mutual constitution (also called: a culture cycle) between the individual self and well-being on the one hand and the historically derived ideas, norms, practices, and product prevalent in the city on the other hand. Second, it aimed to contrast the components of culture cyclus of two major cities in the United States: Boston and San Fransico.

There are many similarities between Boston and San Fransico. Both are characterized as "blue cities". They share various democratic political learnings, have a high number of universities, rank as top cities for high tech industry, are waterfrond urban areas with high median incomes and house prices. Perhaps most importantly, both Boston and San Fransico are strongholds of individualism. Yet, a recent survey of popular media reveals that Boston is commonly characterized as old, traditional, formal, hierarchical, status-conscious, and aware of history. San Fransico, on the other hand, is characterized as new, innovative, informal, tradition-free, sensation-seeking, egalitarian and focused on the future.

In this study, it is suggested that these differences in city narratives have deep historical roots and important consequences for the cultural construction of self and well-being. To examine this, seven studies were conducted, using various study methods: historical analysis, four studies of norms and cultural products (i.e., newspaper headlines, venture capital, hospital websites) as well as three studies that self and well-being.

Results indicate that the history of Boston emphasizes tradition, status, and community. In San Fransico, emphasis is put on unlimited possibility, egalitarianism, and innovation. In other words, Boston emphasizes themes of "old and established, whereas San Fransico emphasizes themes of "new and free. Further, in Boston attention is put on tighter social norms and products, emphasizing community, status and establishment. In other words, there is a high level of social contingency between the expectations of others and self-assessment. In contrast, San Fransico stresses the individual, uniqueness, and creativity. Hence, there is less social contingency between the expectations of others and self-assessment. The common themes of both cities are summarized in Table 1.

To conclude, the authors proposed a theory of distinct cyclus of mutual constitution between how to be (self) and how to be well (well-being) and historically derived ideas, norms, practices and products. With the illustration of Boston and San Fransico, it is shown why and how a local context such as a city of residence matters for self and well-being.