Comparison of Interdependent and Subjective Happiness between Japanese and Thai College Students: A Research Note

Hitomi Aoyama () and Satoshi Horiuchi
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Hitomi Aoyama: Graduate School of Contemporary Culture, Hijiyama University, Hiroshima 732-8509, Japan
Satoshi Horiuchi: Department of Social and Clinical Psychology, Hijiyama University, Hiroshima 732-8509, Japan

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-7

Abstract: Cross-cultural studies have suggested that happiness in Eastern countries is characterized by a greater extent of relationships and harmony with others than in Western countries; however, happiness levels may differ across Asian countries. A comparison of happiness levels between Japan and Thailand provides a unique opportunity to identify this difference. Thailand has experienced rapid economic growth, going from a low-income to an upper-middle-income country in the span of a single generation. Japan is a high-income country. This study compared levels of interdependent and subjective happiness between Japanese and Thai college students. Participants were 101 Japanese and 157 Thai college students who completed well-established multiple-item scales for interdependent and subjective happiness. The data were collected through online surveys. The level of subjective happiness was significantly higher among Thai college students than their Japanese counterparts, while that of interdependent happiness did not differ. The differences were small based on the effect sizes. These results extend previous findings by using established, multiple-item scales of interdependent and subjective happiness to demonstrate that Thai individuals show higher levels of happiness compared with their Japanese counterparts.

Keywords: interdependent happiness; subjective happiness; Japan; Thailand; college students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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