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Happiness around the world: A combined etic-emic approach across 63 countries

Gardiner, Gwendolyn; Lee, Daniel; Baranski, Erica; Funder, David; the International Situations Project, Members of; Fragkiadaki, Eva

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Authors

Gwendolyn Gardiner

Daniel Lee

Erica Baranski

David Funder

Members of the International Situations Project

Eva Fragkiadaki Eva.Fragkiadaki@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Counselling Psychology



Abstract

All rights reserved. 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 emic-etic 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.

Citation

Gardiner, G., Lee, D., Baranski, E., Funder, D., the International Situations Project, M. O., & Fragkiadaki, E. (2020). Happiness around the world: A combined etic-emic approach across 63 countries. PLoS ONE, 15(12), Article e0242718. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242718

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 14, 2020
Online Publication Date Dec 9, 2020
Publication Date Dec 9, 2020
Deposit Date Feb 10, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal PLoS ONE
Electronic ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Issue 12
Article Number e0242718
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242718
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7079890

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