Abstract
The chapter reviews the main explanations and interpretations for differences between cultures in mean levels of neuroticism. The relationships between neuroticism and cultural dimensions are also presented to provide a complex overview of current cross-cultural investigation in neuroticism. Three paradigmatic questions of current cross-cultural research in neuroticism were identified in the present study: the question of a) the heritability of neuroticism; b) randomness, i.e., if worldwide distribution of neuroticism is systematic or random; and c) independence of neuroticism in terms of the independence of its measurement with measurement of cultural dimensions. The present review distinguished six different interpretations for differences between cultures in mean levels of neuroticism that has emerged in current cross-cultural research:
1) intercultural differences in neuroticism reflect slight differences in culture-specific components of neuroticism, all cultures share a similar personality dimension of neuroticism, but this trait does not mean completely the same thing in various cultures;
2) the mainstream religion in a given culture influences the level of neuroticism in that culture;
3) geographically close cultures also show similar levels of neuroticism in comparison with geographically distant cultures;
4) intercultural differences in neuroticism are caused by culturally endorsed response styles;
5) intercultural differences in neuroticism reflect genetic differences between cultural groups;
6) intercultural differences in neuroticism may be caused by adaptations of psychometric personality questionnaires to other languages. Taking these interpretations together provides an intriguing theoretical background for further theoretical developments in this field. Various implications for both theory and empirical research are discussed in the Discussion subsection of this chapter.