「Paper Express」Surveying happiness in China

Surveying happiness in China: comparing measures of subjective well-being

Becky Hsu, Weiwei Zhang and Christine Kim 

Influential cross-national studies have combined measures for subjective well-being(SWB) or used them interchangeably (Deaton 2008; Hagerty and Veenhoven 2003). A prominent example is Richard Easterlin’s work, which uses cross-national data to argue for the “happiness-income paradox,” or “Easterlin paradox.” Easterlin has found that countries with higher gross domestic product are not happier, even though wealthier individuals are happier within each country, with China as the most significant case(Easterlin 1974; Easterlin et al. 2010). Because of the scarcity of data over time, these studies have combined data sets using different terms for happiness, but treat them as the same concept. Easterlin et al. (2012) combines seven data sets using three terms:satisfaction (manyi) (World Values Survey), happiness (xingfu) (Asiabarometer), and the “ladder of life” (Pew). The most recent update finds that there is a U-shaped pattern in China, falling in the 2000–05 period and then moving upward again since. As part of the analysis, the authors present trend lines from 1990 to 2015 using five datasets; one trend line begins with Gallup1 (satisfaction manyi) and continues with CGSS(happiness xingfu) (Easterlin et al. 2017: 50).

The different SWB terms have qualitatively different meanings and histories, so we wonder whether they can be used interchangeably. Additionally, some SWB terms connote emotion or mood, while others are about a broad evaluation of life. Finally, we wonder whether the different measures can be used as part of a construct for a larger assessment of well-being on the part of the respondent.

Comparisons between subjective well-being measures

There are several data sets in China that include more than one SWB measure, which makes it possible to compare measures. In this paper, we examine five SWB terms—happiness (xingfu), satisfaction (manyi), good life (hao sheng huo), happy(yukuai), enjoying life (xiangshou shenghuo)—which all have slightly different connotations. Because these measures have not been compared before, we take a “first look”and compare all the terms to each other. Each term is different from the others, and some, like happiness (xingfu) have especially complex histories.

Happiness (xingfu) is a modern word from Japan’s late imperial period that began tobe used in the early twentieth century (Chen 2014). A concept influenced by Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, xingfu encompasses friendship, learning,self-knowledge, virtue and living in simplicity. Colloquially, to say that someoneis happy (xingfu) could mean that one feels very good about one’s life, that their relationships with friends and family (especially parents) are good. To say, “my family is happy (wo jiating hen xingfu),” might indicate that my parents are healthy, my children are well, that I have lots of friends, and personal accomplishments (like career or material wealth).

Happiness (xingfu) is a term that has been used in the past decade quite a bit by the government, which may affect the way people respond to it. Since around 2000, the Chinese government has been consciously promoting a notion of happiness as something given to the people by the state (Sun 2014). The official discourse adopts a Confucian language of benevolent politics (仁政ren zheng), which suggests that the people receive a happiness made possible by the state, emphasizing the common good andsocial stability. On March 17, 2013, China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, pronounced a new slogan of “the China Dream” at the Party Congress with this statement: “The China Dream is about strengthening the state and making it powerful and prosperous;achieving a renaissance of the Chinese nation; and promoting the happiness (xingfu)of the people” (Xi 2013: 71). This use of the term happiness (xingfu) is part of rhetoric justifying the government’s ruling power, using it as a characteristic of a paternal relationship. Xingfu has therefore been part of the endeavors to instruct the people about how to think about happiness and the common good.

The other broad life evaluations are not quite as complex as happiness (xingfu), but they do have a variety of connotations. Life satisfaction (manyi) is translated as “satisfaction” in the Xinhua dictionary. As with its English equivalent, manyi denotes met expectations and hopes. Good life (haoshenghuo) is a broad, overall evaluation of life that refers to material or physical comfort, including good health and material or financial security.

Three terms we examine primarily denote positive emotion or good mood: happy(kuaile) and happy (yukuai). Enjoying life (xiangshou shenghuo) is also a feeling, but it is more specific in that it connotes being anxiety-free and comfortable. It is the picture of someone luxuriating in the sun on a beach and saying to herself, “This is the life.”

The role of emotion in self-evaluation

People use different criteria for self-evaluation, so “cultural prototypes” for life satisfaction vary around the world (Suh 2000: 66). The evaluation of life can vary in regards to how important emotion is in that assessment. In English-language surveys, reliability tests between affect and evaluation show that both types of measures show a serial correlation of about 0.60 (not as high as reliability ratios found for education and income,but high enough to support the research on SWB that combines or substitutes terms) (Krueger and Schkade 2008). However, tests of SWB measures have not been done with Chinese-language surveys.

Evidence from cross-cultural psychology suggests that self-judgment happens differently in China and locations where the English-language SWB surveys are used. Some SWB measures focus on affect (mood or emotional state) while others measure a broad evaluation of one’s life. In China, relational and interdependent aspects of the self are emphasized rather than the unique, individuated aspects of the self (Suh et al. 1998).Emotion is not as important to self-judgment and interpersonal considerations (“How am I viewed by others?”) in China, and external standards are salient concerns. Relationship harmony predicts life satisfaction more in Hong Kong than in the United States (Kwan et al. 1997). In contrast, in North America, individuals treat their emotions as important evidence for evaluating well-being (Suh 2000). If emotion is not as important to self-judgment in China, the SWB terms referring to emotion, like happy(kuaile), happy (yukuai), or enjoying life (xiangshou shenghuo) may not be as similar to self-evaluation terms like happiness (xingfu), life satisfaction (manyi), or good life (haoshenghuo). 

Working together as a construct

If the SWB measures are not interchangeable, they could work together as a construct.Positive psychology has conceptualized human flourishing as a construct that is made up of five components: positive emotions, feeling engaged with one’s activities, social relationships going well, meaning, a sense of accomplishment, and physical well-being(health and wealth) (Seligman 2011).

In China, people may not use emotion as criteria for self-evaluation as much as in North America, but people may still consider emotion one component among othersthat are about a broader well-being. As for other elements that approximate the construct people may be using to evaluate their lives, we may be able to tap into feeling engaged with one’s activities and a sense of accomplishment with a measure on career satisfaction. Finally, though few cross-national surveys include a question on meaning(yiyi), this sense of whether one feels that one’s life has a sense of significance, is part of something larger than oneself, and is important would be good to include where possible. 

原文链接：

https://journalofchinesesociology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40711-017-0062-5

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