Existential isolation and cultural orientation

• Published in: Personality and individual differences 2020-06, Vol.159, p.109891, Article 109891
• Main Authors: Park, Young Chin, Pinel, Elizabeth C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cultural psychology; Gender differences; Gender/sex role; Individualism; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonal relationship; Personality; Selfconstrual
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.109891

•We develop and validate a Korean version of the Existential Isolation Scale (K-EIS).•As with the EIS, a CFA confirms the one factor structure of the K-EIS.•Scores on the K-EIS differ from scores on interpersonal isolation measures.•The K-EIS correlates negatively with collectivism and interdependent self-construal.•Gender differences in existential isolation stem from differences in self-construal. Existential isolation is the subjective feeling of being alone in one's experience and differs from feeling lonely for lack of meaningful interpersonal relationships. The bulk of the work on existential isolation to date comes from individualistic cultures and thus overlooks the role played by cultural orientation in this experience. Here we validate a version of the Existential Isolation Scale for use in South Korea. Next, we look at existential isolation as a function of individualism/collectivism and independent/interdependent self-construals, drawing samples from both South Korea the United States. Across both samples, we witness that strong endorsement of collectivistic values corresponds with lower levels of existential isolation. In addition, in Study 2 we witness that gender differences in interdependent self-construal account for why we observe gender differences in existential isolation in the United States but not in South Korea. We close by contemplating the possibility that collectivistic values serve as a buffer against feelings of existential isolation.