TY - JOUR
T1 - Happiness around the world
T2 - A combined etic-emic approach across 63 countries
AU - International Situations Project
AU - Gardiner, Gwendolyn
AU - Lee, Daniel
AU - Baranski, Erica
AU - Funder, David
AU - Beramendi, Maite
AU - Bastian, Brock
AU - Neubauer, Aljoscha
AU - De Fruyt, Filip
AU - Cortez, Diego
AU - Roth, Eric
AU - Torres, Ana
AU - Zanini, Daniela S.
AU - Petkova, Kristina
AU - Tracy, Jessica
AU - Amiot, Catherine
AU - Pelletier-Dumas, Mathieu
AU - González, Roberto
AU - Rosenbluth, Ana
AU - Salgado, Sergio
AU - Guan, Yanjun
AU - Yang, Yu
AU - Forero, Diego
AU - Camargo, Andrés
AU - Jerneić, Željko
AU - Hřebíčková, Martina
AU - Graf, Sylvie
AU - Strobak, Pernille
AU - Realo, Anu
AU - Becker, Maja
AU - Maisonneuve, Christelle
AU - El-Astal, Sofian
AU - Gamsakhurdi, Vladimer Lado
AU - Ziegler, Matthias
AU - Penke, Lars
AU - Rauthmann, John
AU - Papastefanakis, Emmanouil
AU - Kritsotakis, Georgios
AU - Spyridaki, Irene
AU - Fragkiadaki, Evangelia
AU - Buchtel, Emma E.
AU - Yeung, Victoria Wai Lan
AU - Kun, Ágota
AU - Gadanecz, Peter
AU - Vass, Zoltán
AU - Smohai, Máté
AU - Lavalekar, Anagha
AU - Aurelia, Meta Zahro
AU - Kinayung, Dian
AU - Gaffar, Vanessa
AU - Espinosa, Agustín
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Public Library of Science. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - What does it mean to be happy? The vast majority of cross-cultural studies on happiness have employed a Western-origin, or "WEIRD" measure of happiness that conceptualizes it as a self-centered (or "independent"), high-arousal emotion. However, research from Eastern cultures, particularly Japan, conceptualizes happiness as including an interpersonal aspect emphasizing harmony and connectedness to others. Following a combined emicetic approach (Cheung, van de Vijver & Leong, 2011), we assessed the cross-cultural applicability of a measure of independent happiness developed in the US (Subjective Happiness Scale; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) and a measure of interdependent happiness developed in Japan (Interdependent Happiness Scale; Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015), with data from 63 countries representing 7 sociocultural regions. Results indicate that the schema of independent happiness was more coherent in more WEIRD countries. In contrast, the coherence of interdependent happiness was unrelated to a country's "WEIRD-ness." Reliabilities of both happiness measures were lowest in African and Middle Eastern countries, suggesting these two conceptualizations of happiness may not be globally comprehensive. Overall, while the two measures had many similar correlates and properties, the self-focused concept of independent happiness is "WEIRD-er" than interdependent happiness, suggesting cross-cultural researchers should attend to both conceptualizations.
AB - What does it mean to be happy? The vast majority of cross-cultural studies on happiness have employed a Western-origin, or "WEIRD" measure of happiness that conceptualizes it as a self-centered (or "independent"), high-arousal emotion. However, research from Eastern cultures, particularly Japan, conceptualizes happiness as including an interpersonal aspect emphasizing harmony and connectedness to others. Following a combined emicetic approach (Cheung, van de Vijver & Leong, 2011), we assessed the cross-cultural applicability of a measure of independent happiness developed in the US (Subjective Happiness Scale; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999) and a measure of interdependent happiness developed in Japan (Interdependent Happiness Scale; Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015), with data from 63 countries representing 7 sociocultural regions. Results indicate that the schema of independent happiness was more coherent in more WEIRD countries. In contrast, the coherence of interdependent happiness was unrelated to a country's "WEIRD-ness." Reliabilities of both happiness measures were lowest in African and Middle Eastern countries, suggesting these two conceptualizations of happiness may not be globally comprehensive. Overall, while the two measures had many similar correlates and properties, the self-focused concept of independent happiness is "WEIRD-er" than interdependent happiness, suggesting cross-cultural researchers should attend to both conceptualizations.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097916786&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0242718
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0242718
M3 - Article
C2 - 33296388
AN - SCOPUS:85097916786
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 12
M1 - e0242718
ER -