title: Explaining Differences in Subjective Well-Being Across 33 Nations Using Multilevel Models: Universal Personality, Cultural Relativity, and National Income.
abstract: This multinational study simultaneously tested three prominent hypotheses--universal disposition, cultural relativity, and livability--that explained differences in subjective well-being across nations. We performed multilevel structural equation modeling to examine the hypothesized relationships at both individual and cultural levels in 33 nations. Participants were 6,753 university students (2,215 men; 4,403 women; 135 did not specify), and the average age of the entire sample was 20.97 years (SD = 2.39). Both individual- and cultural-level analyses supported the universal disposition and cultural relativity hypotheses by revealing significant associations of subjective well-being with Extraversion, Neuroticism, and independent self-construal. In addition, interdependent self-construal was positively related to life satisfaction at the individual level only, whereas aggregated negative affect was positively linked with aggregate levels of Extraversion and interdependent self-construal at the cultural level only. Consistent with the livability hypothesis, gross national income (GNI) was related to aggregate levels of negative affect and life satisfaction. There was also a quadratic relationship between GNI and aggregated positive affect. Our findings reveal that universal disposition, cultural self-construal, and national income can elucidate differences in subjective well-being, but the multilevel analyses advance the literature by yielding new findings that cannot be identified in studies using individual-level analyses alone.
authors.affiliation: The University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: National University of Singapore.
authors.forename: Mike W-L
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Harvard University.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montasem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010551:Personality; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D012933:Social Identification; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult