Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T08:58:05.950Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

How Contemporary Publics Understand and Experience Happiness: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2010

DOH CHULL SHIN*
Affiliation:
University of Missouri, Department of Political Science, 113 Professional Building, Columbia, Missouri 65211, [email protected]

Abstract

How do contemporary publics understand happiness? What makes them experience it? Do conceptions and sources of their happiness vary across culturally different societies? This paper addresses these questions, utilizing the 2008 round of the AsiaBarometer surveys conducted in six countries scattered over four different continents. Analyses of these surveys, conducted in Japan, China, and India from the East; and the United States, Russia, and Australia from the West, reveal a number of interesting cross-cultural differences and similarities in the way the people of the East and West understand and experience happiness. Specifically, the former are much less multidimensional than the latter in their conceptions of happiness. Yet, they are alike in that their sense of relative achievement or deprivation is the most pervasive and powerful influence on happiness.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, Frank et al. (1973), Multiplication Classification Analysis, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.Google Scholar
Andrews, Frank M. and Withey, Stephen B. (1976), Social Indicators of Well-Being: Americans’ Perceptions of Life Quality, New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Annas, Julia (2004), ‘Happiness as Achievement’, Daedalus, 133 (2): 4451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Argyle, Michael (1987), The Psychology of Happiness, London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Aristotle (1998), Nichomachean Ethics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Austin, John (1968), ‘Pleasure and Happiness’, Philosophy, 43: 5162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beneditt, R. (1974), ‘Happiness’, Philosophical Studies, 25: 120.Google Scholar
Bentham, Jeremy (1996), An Introduction to the Principle of Morals and Legislation, eds.Burns, J. H. and Hart, H. L., Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Biswas-Dienter, Robert,Diener, Ed, and Tamir, Maya (2004), ‘The Psychology of Subjective Well-Being’, Daedalus, 133 (2): 1825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradburn, Norman (1969), The Structure of Psychological Well-Being, Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Bradburn, Norman and Capilovitz, David (1965), Reports on Happiness, Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Cameron, Peter (1975), ‘Social Stereotypes: Three Faces of Happiness’, Psychology Today.Google Scholar
Campbell, Angus (1981), The Sense of Well-Being in America: Recent Patterns and Trends, New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Campbell, Angus,Converse, Philip E., and Rodgers, Willard L. (1976), The Quality of American Life, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Chiang, S. M (1996), The Philosophy of Happiness: A History of Chinese Life Philosophy, Taipei: Hong Yei Publication.Google Scholar
Chu, Kim-Prieto et al. (2005), ‘Integrating the Diverse Definitions of Happiness’, Journal of Happiness, 6 (3): 261300.Google Scholar
Christakis, Nicholas A. and Fowler, James H. (2008), ‘Social Networks and Happiness’, http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/christakisfowler08/christakis_fowler08_index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Robert, Cumins (2000), ‘Personal Income and Subjective Well-Being’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 1 (2): 133158.Google Scholar
Ed, Diener (2000), ‘Subjective Well-Being: The Science of Happiness and a Proposal for a National Index’, American Psychologist, 55 (1): 3443.Google Scholar
Dienter, Ed. and Suh, E. M. (2000), Culture and Subjective Well-Being, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diener, Ed, Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., and Smith, H. L. (1999), ‘Subjective Well-Being: Three Decades of Progress’, Psychological Bulletin, 125: 276302.Google Scholar
Easterlin, Richard (2001), ‘Income and Happiness: Towards a Unified Theory’, The Economic Journal, 111 (July 2001): 465484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Easterlin, Richard (2003), ‘Explaining Happiness’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100 (19): 1117611183.Google Scholar
Fletcher, J. (1975), ‘Being Happy, Being Human’, The Humanist, 36: 1315.Google Scholar
Frey, Bruno S. and Stutzer, Alois (2000), ‘Happiness Prospers in Democracy’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 1 (1): 79102.Google Scholar
Frey, Bruno S. and Stutzer, Alois (2002), Happiness and Economics: How the Economy and Institutions Affect Human Well-Being, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Furman, Adrian and Cheng, Helen (1999), ‘Personality as Predictor of Mental Health and Happiness in the East and West’, Personality and Individual Differences, 27: 395403.Google Scholar
Furnham, Adrian and Cheng, Helen (2000), ‘Lay Theories of Happiness’, Journal of Happiness, 1 (2): 227246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldstein, L. (1973), ‘Happiness: The Role of Non-Hedonic Criteria in Its Evaluation’, International Studies Quarterly, 14: 523534.Google Scholar
Hudson, Deal W. (1996), Happiness and the Limits of Satisfaction, Lantham: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Haybron, Daniel (2000), ‘Two Philosophical Problems in the Study of Happiness’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 1 (1): 207225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helliwell, John F. and Putnam, Robert D., (2004), ‘The Social Context of Well-being’, The Royal Society, 359: 14351446.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald and Klingemann, Hans-Dieter (2000), ‘Genes, Culture, Democracy and Happiness’, inDinner, E. and Suh, E. (eds.), Subjective Well-being Across Cultures, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 165183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald,Foa, Robert, Peterson, Christoper, and Welzel, Christian (2008), ‘Development, Freedom, and Happiness’, available at http://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pps/3_4_inpress/inglehart.pdfCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingwell, Mark (2000), In Pursuit of Happiness: Better Living from Plato to Prozac, Crown Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Lama, Dalai and Cutler, Howard C. (1998), The Art of Happiness, New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Lane, Robert E. (2000), The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies, New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Lane, Robert (1993), ‘Does Money Buy Happiness?’, Public Interest, 113 (Fall): 5664.Google Scholar
Lu, Luo (2001), ‘Understanding Happiness: A Look into the Chinese Folk Psychology’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 2: 407432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, Luo and Gilmour, Robin (2004), ‘Culture and Conceptions of Happiness’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 5 (3): 269291.Google Scholar
Lu, Lou and Shih, J. B. (1997), ‘Sources of Happiness: A Qualitative Approach’, Journal of Social Psychology, 137: 181187.Google Scholar
Margolis, J. (1975), ‘Two Concepts of Happiness’, The Humanist, 35: 2223.Google Scholar
McCall, S. (1975), ‘Quality of Life’, Social Indicators Research, 2: 229248.Google Scholar
McKeon, R. (1941), The Basic Works of Aristotle, New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Ng, Yew-Kwang (1996), ‘Happiness Surveys’, Social Indicators Research, 38: 127.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, Martha C. (2004), ‘Mill between Aristotle and Bentham’, Daedalus, 133 (2): 6068.Google Scholar
Park, Shelly M. (2005), ‘In Defense of Happiness’, Florida Philosophical Review, 5 (1).Google Scholar
Schaar, John (1970), ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’, Virginia Quarterly Review, 46: 126.Google Scholar
Seligman, Martin (2002), Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Simpson, R. (1975), ‘Happiness’, American Philosophical Quarterly, 12: 169176.Google Scholar
Sumner, L. W. (1996), Welfare, Happiness and Ethics, Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Tefler, Elizabeth (1980), Happiness, London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. (1968), ‘Happiness’, Philosophical Quarterly, 18: 97113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Twerski, Abraham J. (2007), Happiness and the Human Spirit, Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing.Google Scholar
Uchida, Yukiko,Norasakkunkit, Vinai, and Kitayama, Shinobu (2004), ‘Cultural Constructions of Happiness: Theory and Empirical Evidence’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 5 (3): 223239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanier, Jean (2002), Happiness: A Guide to the Good Life, Aristotle for the New Century, New York: Arcade Publisher.Google Scholar
Veenhoven, Ruut (2006), ‘How Do We Assess How Happy We Are? Tenets, Implications and Tenability of Three Theories’, presented at the conference on ‘New Directions in the Study of Happiness: United States and International Perspectives’, University of Notre Dame, USA, 22–24 October 2006.Google Scholar
Veenhoven, Ruut (1991), ‘Is Happiness Relative?’, Social Indicators Research, 24 (1): 124.Google Scholar
Veenhoven, Ruut (2000), ‘The Four Qualities of Life’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 1 (1): 139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Wright, Georg Henrik (1963), The Varieties of Goodness, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Wilson, Warner (1967), ‘Correlates of Avowed Happiness’, Psychological Bulletin, 67 (4): 294306.Google Scholar
Wu, J. H. (1992), Sources of Inner Happiness, Taipei: Tong Da Books.Google Scholar
Yang, Yang (2008), ‘Social Inequalities in Happiness in the US 1972–2004: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis’, American Sociological Review, 73: 204226.Google Scholar