Cultural differences in the appraisal of stress

Résumé En

We examined the form of the relationship between estimated stress level, on the one hand, and situation strain, personal resources and social support, on the other hand, among students from a collectivist culture (Tunisia), and compared these results with the ones already observed among students from an individualistic culture (France). Participants were presented with two or three pieces of information about strain and personal or social resources through the use of concrete scenarios, and were asked to infer a certain level of stress. Situational strain had less impact and social support had more impact on stress judgments among Tunisian than among French students. In addition, the information integration rule differed from one group to the other. Among Tunisian participants, stress level was conceived as a function of the perceived imbalance between strain and resources (personal and social). Among French participants, it was conceived as a function of the perceived imbalance between residual strain (original strain diminished, to some extent, through the implementation of personal resources), and social resources.