Interdependent Happiness Research Articles

Family Harmony and Flourishing in Turkey: The Roles of Interdependent Happiness and Harmony in Life

Family Harmony and Flourishing in Turkey: The Roles of Interdependent Happiness and Harmony in Life

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

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.

Character strengths, academic self-efficacy, and well-being outcomes in the Philippines: A longitudinal study

Abstract This research explored the association of character strengths with positive emotions, negative emotions, interdependent happiness, and academic self-efficacy in selected Filipino high school students using a longitudinal design. A survey comprising measures on character strengths, academic self-efficacy, and well-being outcomes was administered to 320 Filipino junior and senior high school students at two different time points. Results demonstrated that Time 1 fairness, Time 1 gratitude, and Time 1 hope positively predicted Time 2 academic self-efficacy after controlling for auto-regressor effects and demographic covariates such as age and gender. Time 1 love of learning positively predicted Time 2 interdependent happiness. Time 1 gratitude positively predicted Time 2 positive emotions. However, Time 1 kindness negatively predicted Time 2 affect balance. Findings underscore the importance of cultivating selected character strengths such as gratitude, fairness, hope, and love of learning in non-Western societies.

Interdependent happiness across age in Costa Rica, Japan, and the Netherlands

Age‐related patterns of interdependent happiness were compared across general adult samples from Costa Rica, Japan, and the Netherlands using surveys. Interdependent happiness is the individual perception of one’s degree of interpersonal harmony, quiescence, and ordinariness. Based on the available evidence concerning age‐related changes in well‐being, the authors predicted and found that interdependent happiness is positively correlated with age in Costa Rica and Japan, but not in the Netherlands. The cultural meaning of happiness and its life‐long nourishment are discussed.

Relationships of involvement and interdependent happiness across a revised Masters Games participant typology

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine the relationships between involvement and happiness across a typology of Masters Games participants. The typology of Trauer, Ryan, and Lockyer [(2003). The South Pacific Masters’ Games – competitor involvement and games development: Implications for management and tourism. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 8(4), 240–259. doi:10.1080/1477508032000161564] was revised and the following four groups of Masters Games participants were created: Games Competitor (high fun-orientation, high competition-orientation), Games Enthusiast (high fun-orientation, low competition-orientation), Serious Competitor (low fun-orientation, high competition-orientation), and Novice (low fun-orientation, low competition-orientation). An online survey was conducted by 449 Japanese people who had participated in Masters Games within the last three years. An importance-performance analysis was employed to categorise the participants into the four groups. Multiple regression analyses were subsequently performed for each of the four groups. The analyses identified that with interdependent happiness, (a) attraction was positively correlated for Games Competitor, Serious Competitor, and Novice, (b) centrality was positively correlated for Games Competitor and Games Enthusiast, and (c) social bonding was positively correlated for Games Competitor, Games Enthusiast, and Novice. These results suggest that this revised typology for Masters Games participants is an effective framework for understanding involvement and interdependent happiness and can be used in the development of promotional/marketing strategies. In particular, under the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which people show less concern for leisure activities including masters sports, such evidence-based promotional/marketing strategies will be needed for re-energising the Masters Games culture and for enhancing participants’ health and well-being following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives for Activities: Measurement Invariance and Psychometric Properties in an Adult Japanese Sample.

Hedonic pleasure orientation (seeking enjoyment), hedonic relaxation orientation (seeking comfort), and eudaimonic orientation (seeking meaning) are major ways that people pursue well-being. We investigated the measurement invariance and psychometric properties of the Hedonic and Eudamonic Motives for Activities (HEMA) scale in a Japanese adult sample (N = 1,892). The Japanese HEMA scale demonstrated measurement invariance at the configural, metric, scalar, and strict levels across gender and age groups. Latent mean differences of the scale across these demographic groups were less than small. The scale showed high internal consistency and six-week test-retest reliability and reasonable correlations with life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, psychological well-being, and interdependent happiness. In sum, these findings suggest that the Japanese HEMA scale is useful to capture hedonic and eudaimonic conceptions of well-being as orientations. It is hoped that our findings will stimulate further research on well-being using the HEMA scale.

The role of urbanization of place of living in the relation between individual features and happiness (El papel del desarrollo urbanístico del lugar de residencia en la relación entre las características individuales y la felicidad)

Happiness research tradition is focused on an independent form of happiness (Satisfaction with life, SWL), which in part neglects the social context and group well-being. We considered interdependent happiness (IH) to evaluate a collectivist conceptualization of happiness, which is based on harmony with others. We also considered the role of the perceived urbanization level of the place of living in the independent and interdependent happiness of people since in the literature there is no consensus about the impact of rural vs urban characterization of the living context on happiness. We hypothesized that place of living – rural vs urban – differently impacts on factors influencing independent or interdependent personal or familiar happiness. 290 university students of the Lazio Region in Italy participated to an online survey aimed to investigate the relation among self-construal, familism, personal and familiar independent and interdependent happiness. Results show that for people living in urban places, self-oriented individual factors concerned with self-realization, predicted satisfaction with life and interdependent happiness. For people living in rural places, other-oriented factors, more anchored to the group and community dimension, affected happiness for self and the family. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Survey of the effects of internet usage on the happiness of Japanese university students

BackgroundBesides research on psychiatric diseases related to problematic Internet use (PIU), a growing number of studies focus on the impact of Internet on subjective well-being (SWB). However, in previous studies on the relationship between PIU and SWB, there is little data for Japanese people specifically, and there is a lack of consideration for differences in perception of happiness due to cultural differences. Therefore, we aimed to clarify how happiness is interdependent on PIU measures, with a focus on how the concept of happiness is interpreted among Japanese people, and specifically among Japanese university students.MethodsA paper-based survey was conducted with 1258 Japanese university students. Respondents were asked to fill out self-report scales regarding their happiness using the Interdependent Happiness Scale (IHS). The relationship between IHS and Internet use (Japanese version of the Internet addiction test, JIAT), use of social networking services, as well as social function and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI) were sought using multiple regression analyses.ResultsBased on multiple regression analyses, the following factors related positively to IHS: female gender and the number of Twitter followers. Conversely, the following factors related negatively to IHS: poor sleep, high- PIU, and the number of times the subject skipped a whole day of school.ConclusionsIt was shown that there was a significant negative correlation between Japanese youths’ happiness and PIU. Since epidemiological research on happiness that reflects the cultural background is still scarce, we believe future studies shall accumulate similar evidence in this regard.

72 EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF SEX DIFFERENCES IN BRAIN GENE EXPRESSION IN SUICIDES

The Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality has been repeatedly found to predict life satisfaction (LS), but cultural variations have been noted in the effects of each FFM dimension. In this research, we compared the prediction of LS with Extraversion and Neuroticism via the pathways of individual depressive state and interdependent happiness between American (n = 155) and Chinese community adults (n = 248). In both samples, Extraversion and interdependent happiness positively predicted LS, whereas Neuroticism and depressive state negatively predicted LS. Using structural equation modeling, we found that interdependent happiness mediated the effects of Extraversion and Neuroticism on LS in both samples, and there was no significant cultural difference in the indirect effect of interdependent happiness. Depressive state mediated the effect of Neuroticism on LS in American adults, but it did not explain the effects of Extraversion and Neuroticism on LS for the Hong Kong Chinese adults. We interpret the different effect of depressive state by referring to the literature on cultural differences in emotion. These findings support the notion that the specific effect of each FFM dimension on LS should be examined with reference to the cultural context.

Putting the “We” Into Well‐being: Using Collectivism‐Themed Measures of Well‐Being Attenuates Well‐being's Association With Individualism

Studies repeatedly have documented that societal well‐being is associated with individualism. Most of these studies, however, have conceptualized/measured well‐being as individual life satisfaction—a type of well‐being that originates in Western research traditions. Drawing from the latest research on interdependent happiness and on family well‐being, we posit that people across cultures pursue different types of well‐being, and test whether more collectivism‐themed types of well‐being that originate in Confucian traditions also are associated with individualism. Based on data collected from 2,036 participants across 12 countries, we find support for the association between individual life satisfaction and individualism at the societal level, but show that well‐being's association with individualism is attenuated when some collectivism‐themed measures of well‐being are considered. Our article advances knowledge on the flourishing of societies by suggesting that individualism may not always be strongly linked with societal well‐being. Implications for public policies are signaled.

Relationships of involvement and interdependent happiness between domestic and international Japanese masters games tourists

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research note is to examine (a) how involvement with masters games participation is associated with interdependent happiness among Japanese masters athletes, and (b) how the relationship differs between Japanese sport tourists who have competed at domestic and international masters games events. A questionnaire survey was conducted at the International Japan Masters Athletics Championships and, based on the experiences of international masters games athletes, 169 and 96 Japanese study participants were categorized as the domestic and international group, respectively. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that the attraction dimension of involvement was positively related to interdependent happiness for both groups, whereas the social bonding dimension of involvement was positively related to interdependent happiness only for the domestic group. Our research note suggests that masters games promotion as well as health promotion through masters sports need to consider such similarity and difference between domestic and international sport tourists.

‘Better policies for better lives’?: constructive critique of the OECD’s (mis)measure of student well-being

ABSTRACTFacing increasing critique that PISA focuses too narrowly on cognitive achievement and human/knowledge capital, the OECD has recently shifted some of its focus to student happiness. The 2017 Students’ Well-Being report distinguishes between ‘happy schools’ and ‘unhappy schools’, showing that among students who combined high performance and life satisfaction, northern European countries topped the charts. Meanwhile, students in East Asian countries including Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea registered the lowest ‘life satisfaction’ scores among all participating countries. This piece points out some of the problems inherent in the OECD’s recent turn to happiness, problematizing the OECD yardstick of life satisfaction. Attempting to keep the critique constructive, we suggest that the OECD may want to consider using alternative metrics, then briefly highlight one developed in East Asia from different first assumptions: the Interdependent Happiness Scale. In conclusion we flag, but cannot answer, some related educational questions concerning policy, pedagogy, and priorities for the future.

Elaborating on the effect of culture on the relations of extraversion and neuroticism to life satisfaction

The Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality has been repeatedly found to predict life satisfaction (LS), but cultural variations have been noted in the effects of each FFM dimension. In this research, we compared the prediction of LS with Extraversion and Neuroticism via the pathways of individual depressive state and interdependent happiness between American (n = 155) and Chinese community adults (n = 248). In both samples, Extraversion and interdependent happiness positively predicted LS, whereas Neuroticism and depressive state negatively predicted LS. Using structural equation modeling, we found that interdependent happiness mediated the effects of Extraversion and Neuroticism on LS in both samples, and there was no significant cultural difference in the indirect effect of interdependent happiness. Depressive state mediated the effect of Neuroticism on LS in American adults, but it did not explain the effects of Extraversion and Neuroticism on LS for the Hong Kong Chinese adults. We interpret the different effect of depressive state by referring to the literature on cultural differences in emotion. These findings support the notion that the specific effect of each FFM dimension on LS should be examined with reference to the cultural context.

レジャー参加パターン間におけるマスターズ大会参加者の 大会参加へののめり込み度と相互協調的幸福感の関連性について オンライン調査を用いた事例研究

レジャー参加パターン間におけるマスターズ大会参加者の 大会参加へののめり込み度と相互協調的幸福感の関連性について オンライン調査を用いた事例研究

Differences in Compassion, Well-being, and Social Anxiety between Japan and the USA.

Research has shown that self-compassion can improve individual well-being in many cultures; however, little research has examined cultural differences regarding compassion for others and individual well-being. Cross-cultural research has indicated that interdependent happiness and Taijin Kyofusho (TKS) (other-focused social anxiety) are aspects of well-being and psychopathology, respectively, related to interdependent (i.e., collectivistic) cultures such as Japan. First, we hypothesized that self-compassion would foster greater positive affect and satisfaction with life in the US than in Japan. Our second hypothesis was that the compassion for others would be association with greater interdependent happiness, and with less TKS symptoms in Japan than in the US. Through a web-based survey of Japanese and American adults, we found that self-compassion was related to positive and negative affect, SAD and TKS symptoms, and well-being in both countries. Compassion for others was found to be associated with increased positive affect and decreased TKS symptoms across both cultures. Simple slope tests revealed that self-compassion had a stronger relation with positive affect among U.S. adults than their Japanese counterparts, whereas compassion for others was related to interdependent happiness only in Japan. These findings suggest that the link between compassion, well-being, and psychopathology might be universal, although the effects of two types of compassion have different patterns between the two cultures.

The triarchic model of grit is linked to academic success and well-being among Filipino high school students.

Previous investigations mostly relied on the two-factor model of grit (with perseverance of effort and consistency of interests as major dimensions) which received a number criticisms in the extant literature. Recent studies have provided promising lines of evidence regarding the triarchic model of grit (TMG) which posits three dimensions of grit in a collectivist setting: perseverance of effort, consistency of interests, and adaptability to situations. However, little is known about how this model of grit may be linked to various indicators of positive educational and psychological functioning. The present research filled this gap through examining the association of the TMG with academic (Study 1) and well-being outcomes (Study 2) among Filipino high school students. Results demonstrated that grit positively predicted academic agentic, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement. Findings of multiple mediation analyses showed that grit had indirect effects on academic engagement via the intermediate variable autonomous motivation even after controlling for age, gender, and conscientiousness. Study 2 showed grit positively predicted life satisfaction, positive affect, and interdependent happiness even after controlling for demographic covariates and neuroticism. Grit negatively predicted psychological distress. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Interdependent Happiness is Associated With Higher Levels of Behavioral and Emotional Engagement Among Filipino University Students

Interdependent Happiness is Associated With Higher Levels of Behavioral and Emotional Engagement Among Filipino University Students

THE EFFECT OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS ON COLLEGIATE ATHLETES' LIVES WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION TO GENDER DIFFERENCES

Romantic partners are an important entourage for athletes. The purpose of the present study was to examine the difference in well-being and positive spillover effect between nationwide collegiate athletes with and without romantic partners. Furthermore, it is expected that the difference would depend on gender as well; hence, the quality of the relationship between an athlete and their romantic partner and its effects were examined with respect to gender. An internet survey was conducted for 205 collegiate athletes (mean age = 19.78, SD = 1.03) via registered monitors at Japanese social research companies. The chi-square test showed that the effect of the presence or absence of romantic partner did not differ according to gender (p = 0.074). The ANOVAs revealed that the romantic partner × gender interaction had an effect on positive spillover between athletic life and life outside sports (p = .047). According to sub effect tests, positive spillover was higher in male athletes having romantic partners than those who did not (p = .001). The result of correlational analyses among those having romantic partners showed that for males, satisfaction with a romantic partner was related to interdependent happiness (p = .004) and positive spillover (p = .002). For females, satisfaction with a romantic partner was related to subjective happiness (p = .001) and interdependent happiness (p = .001). Thus, the present study identified that irrespective of gender, athletes having romantic partners had better well-being and spillover effect than who did not, proving the importance of romantic partners in collegiate athletes’ lives. Article visualizations:

The academic rewards of socially-oriented happiness: Interdependent happiness promotes academic engagement

Interdependent happiness has been found to be positively associated with optimal psychological outcomes in collectivist cultures. However, the association between interdependent happiness and key academic outcomes has remained unexplored. The current study examined the association of interdependent happiness with key academic outcomes such as autonomous motivation, engagement, and achievement using both cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) approaches. Study 1 revealed that interdependent happiness positively predicted academic engagement (partly) via autonomous motivation. Study 2 showed that prior interdependent happiness positively predicted subsequent academic engagement even after controlling for autoregressor effects. In addition, reciprocal associations among the key variables were found. Taken together, results of the two studies suggest that interdependent happiness plays an adaptive role in the academic context especially in a collectivist cultural setting. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Benefits of Socially-Oriented Happiness: Validation of the Interdependent Happiness Scale in the Philippines

Cultural theories of well-being emphasize the importance of establishing and maintaining satisfying interpersonal relationships to achieve happiness in collectivist societies. Yet, widely used measures of subjective well-being have failed to capture the social dimension of happiness. To address this research gap, Hitokoto and Uchida (2015) developed the Interdependent Happiness Scale (IHS), a measure of happiness that was based on interpersonal harmony, quiescence, and ordinariness. The current research assessed the psychometric validity of IHS among Filipino high school students (Study 1) and to examine the incremental validity of interdependent happiness over sense of relatedness in predicting well-being outcomes (Study 2). The results of Study 1 revealed that the hierarchical model of interdependent happiness with relationship oriented happiness, quiescent happiness, and ordinary happiness as first-order factors was applicable for Filipino high school students and the higher-order interdependent happiness construct had stronger predictive impact than each dimension on flourishing and life satisfaction. In Study 2, the hierarchical model of interdependent happiness was also supported and interdependent happiness was found to have incremental validity beyond sense of relatedness in optimizing well-being indices (i.e., flourishing and life satisfaction). The theoretical and practical implications of the results are elucidated.