Growth Motivation and Well-Being in the U.S., Japan, Guatemala, and India

The present study examined how the Growth Motivation Index (GMI; Bauer et al. in J Happiness Stud 16:185–210, 2015) related to well-being and identity exploration in samples from the U.S., Japan, Guatemala, and India. The GMI has two facets. GMI-reflective measures the motive to cultivate critical self-reflection and intellectual development, whereas GMI-experiential measures the motive to cultivate personally meaningful activities and relationships. We expected and found that, when comparing the two GMI facets simultaneously, GMI-reflective predicted well-being in countries ranked as having collectivist but not individualist cultures, whereas GMI-experiential predicted well-being in countries ranked as having individualist but not collectivist cultures. GMI-reflective predicted identity exploration across cultures. Implications for growth motivation and culture are discussed.