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Social Indicators Research
Published in: Social Indicators Research 2/2009

01-06-2009

Avowed Happiness in Confucian Asia: Ascertaining its Distribution, Patterns, and Sources

Authors: Doh Chull Shin, Takashi Inoguchi

Published in: Social Indicators Research | Issue 2/2009

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Abstract

This study reviewed three philosophical accounts of happiness, and then tested those accounts with the Asiabarometer surveys conducted in six Confucian societies during the summer of 2006. Statistical analyses of these surveys reveal that East Asians tend to experience happiness to a greater extent when they experience enjoyment together with achievement and/or satisfaction. The preponderance of such multi-dimensional conceptions in all those societies poses a direct challenge to a single dimensional account of happiness in the West. The analyses also reveal that positive assessments of interpersonal relationships matter more than the amount of knowledge or wealth in living a happy life in Confucian societies.
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Footnotes
1
The term “gross national happiness” was coined in 1972 by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan, the east Himalayan Buddhist monarchy of approximately 800,000 people. It has recently become a subject of increasing and widespread concern in the international scholarly community and policy circles (New York Times 2005).
 
2
Lu (2001, p. 411) reviews the Confucian literature on happiness and concludes that “Confucians regard happiness as spiritual, not material; as moral, not circumstantial; as self-identified, not other-judged.”
 
3
In all six societies, person-to-person interviews were conducted with the samples of males and females representative of their entire adult populations.
 
4
The exact wording of this item is: “How would you describe your standard of living: high, relatively high, average, relatively low, or low?”
 
5
These seven types are: (1) enjoyment, (2) achievement, (3) satisfaction, (4) enjoyment and achievement, (5) enjoyment and satisfaction, (6) achievement and satisfaction, and (7) enjoyment, achievement and satisfaction.
 
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Metadata
Title
Avowed Happiness in Confucian Asia: Ascertaining its Distribution, Patterns, and Sources
Authors
Doh Chull Shin
Takashi Inoguchi
Publication date
01-06-2009
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Social Indicators Research / Issue 2/2009
Print ISSN: 0303-8300
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0921
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9354-0

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