*1.3. Cultural Influences*

Examining relationships between conscientiousness and subjective and physical wellbeing in the context of Chinese culture, which attaches grea<sup>t</sup> importance to the cultivation of youth conscientiousness, can help to provide us with a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between conscientiousness and mental and physical health. Cultural differences in the links between personality traits and health-related outcomes can be explained by differences in behaviors and lifestyles [35], in other words, there are multiple pathways to achieve or maintain happiness and health, and they are somewhat different across the internalized cultural values, which have permeated and influenced individuals' subjective well-being [36] and health-seeking decisions [37]. For example, recent research has shown that conscientiousness is likely to have a stronger protective effect on stress perception in an eastern culture than in a western culture [38]. Additionally, the core factor in the process of personality development is the individual's self-concepts formed in a certain cultural environment [39]. Chinese youth acquire values, norms, and beliefs from traditional cultures that emphasize individual obligations and the needs of others [40].

#### *1.4. The Present Study*

Taken together, extant cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that conscientiousness is a robust predictor of subjective and physical well-being. Some longitudinal studies also revealed a reciprocal relationship between conscientiousness and subjective well-being. In addition, some researchers believe there is a reciprocal relationship between conscientiousness and physical health [11,12]. Given the limited research available, reciprocal relationships between conscientiousness and subjective and physical well-being need to be further examined. Particularly in the Chinese culture, the relationships between conscientiousness and aspects of well-being have received scant attention from investigators, even though conscientiousness is a highly valued personality trait. Therefore, the present study adopted a cross-lagged design to examine the reciprocal influence pattern of conscientiousness with subjective well-being (indexed by positive affect, negative affect, and life

satisfaction) and physical well-being (indexed by self-reported physical symptoms) among Chinese undergraduate students. The cross-lagged design is useful in assessing reciprocal relationships by examining the asymmetry of the predicted association between each variable at one point and another variable at a later point in time [41]. Based on preceding research findings [11,12], we hypothesized that there would be reciprocal relationships between conscientiousness and subjective and physical well-being over time.
