Cultural values and happiness: an East-West dialogue.
Happiness as a state of mind may be universal, but its meaning is complex and ambiguous. The authors directly examined the relationships between cultural values and experiences of happiness in 2 samples, by using a measurement of values derived from Chinese culture and a measurement of subjective well-being balanced for sources of happiness salient in both the East and the West. The participants were university students-439 from an Eastern culture (Taiwan) and 344 from a Western culture (the United Kingdom). Although general patterns were similar in the 2 samples, the relationships between values and happiness were stronger in the Taiwanese sample than in the British sample. The values social integration and human-heartedness had culture-dependent effects on happiness, whereas the value Confucian work dynamism had a culture-general effect on happiness.
Luo
L
L
Graduate Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University,Taiwan, ROC, luolu@cc.kmu.edu.tw
Gilmour
R
R
Kao
S F
SF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012933:Social Identification; D012945:Social Values; D013624:Taiwan