Perspectives of future health in self and others: The moderating role of culture

Abstract

People tend to perceive themselves more favourably than others, but the degree to which individuals exhibit this bias may be influenced by cultural upbringing. Korean (n = 271) and American (n = 503) participants were asked to evaluate current and future health expectations for themselves and others. Results showed that American participants rated their own future health more positively than others’ future health, whereas Korean participants rated their own and others’ future health similarly. Given its role in patient health behaviour, implications for creating context-sensitive interventions for future health expectations are discussed.