The Relationship Between Culture Orientation, Loneliness and Subjective Well-Being Among Russian and Chinese Youth

In recent years a number of studies have been devoted to the relationship of loneliness and subjective well-being. However, a multidimensional structure of loneliness in this regard remains unaddressed. The main goal of the current study was to fill in the gaps in the existing literature on the influence of various aspects of loneliness on subjective well-being and to explore the relationship between subjective well-being, culture orientations and loneliness. The sample of the study - young people from Russia (n=208) and China (n=196), aged from 18 to 25. Participants completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale by Dinner, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Perceived cultural context by Chirkov and Multidimensional Inventory of Loneliness Experience by Osin and Leontiev. The results of this study showed general loneliness to be significant predictor of subjective well-being for both cultural groups. Moreover, for Chinese sample positive loneliness positively affects life satisfaction and negatively affect negative self-esteem, as well as dependence on communication negatively influence negative self-esteem. In addition, horizontal collectivism and horizontal individualism partially mediate the relationships between positive loneliness and life satisfaction among Chinese participants, moreover horizontal individualism shown full mediations of this connection. Our findings show comprehensive schema of the relationships between target constructs and enhance the need for further exploration of these interconnections in other cultural contexts.