Transcultural differences in the perception of life events

The perception of life events of Italian and English subjects was compared. Psychiatric patients and relatives rated 58 life events according to the degree to which the event was regarded as upsetting. The similarity between the two groups was noted, although Italian subjects tended to rate events as less upsetting than the English. The findings excluded that the rating differences between the two groups reflected differences in reaction to life and confirmed the existence of scaling similarity over national groups.