A Cross-cultural Study On the Association Between Societal Conditions and the Idealization of Happiness

Xiaobin Lou (), Brian W. Haas, John M. Zelenski, Cai Xing, Vivian L. Vignoles, Christin-Melanie Vauclair, Wijnand A. P. Tilburg, Yukiko Uchida, Julien Teyssier, Claudio Torres, Chien-Ru Sun, Stanislava Stoyanova, Maria Stogianni, Iva Poláčková Šolcová, David Sirlopú, Ursula Serdarevich, Heyla A. Selim, Ruta Sargautyte, Espen Røysamb, Vladyslav Romashov, Muhammad Rizwan, Zoran Pavlovid, Vassilis Pavlopoulos, Joonha Park, Yvette Osch, Ayu Okvitawanli, Azar Nadi, Martin Nader, Nur Fariza Mustaffa, Elke Murdock, Oriana Mosca, Tamara Mohoric, Pablo Eduardo Barrientos Marroquin, Fridanna Maricchiolo, Arina Malyonova, Magdalena Łużniak-Piecha, Vivian Miu-Chi Lun, Xinhui Liu, Liman Man Wai Li, J. Hannah Lee, Anna Kwiatkowska, Nicole Kronberger, Olga Kostoula, Aleksandra Kosiarczyk, Agata Kocimska-Zych, Lucie Klůzová Kračmárová, Natalia Kascakova, İdil Işık, Eric Raymond Igou, David O. Igbokwe, Diana Boer, Alin Gavreliuc, Ragna B. Garðarsdóttir, Vladimer Gamsakhurdia, Márta Fülöp, Carla Sofia Esteves, Alejandra Dominguez-Espinosa, Patrick Denoux, Michael Harris Bond, Arno Baltin, Douglas Arevalo, Lily Appoh, Isabelle Albert, Charity S. Akotia, Mladen Adamovic and Kuba Krys
Additional contact information
Xiaobin Lou: University of Georgia
Brian W. Haas: University of Georgia
John M. Zelenski: Carleton University
Cai Xing: Renmin University of China
Vivian L. Vignoles: University of Sussex
Christin-Melanie Vauclair: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL
Wijnand A. P. Tilburg: University of Essex
Yukiko Uchida: Kyoto University
Julien Teyssier: Université Toulouse II
Claudio Torres: University of Brasilia
Chien-Ru Sun: National Chengchi University
Stanislava Stoyanova: South-West University “Neofit Rilski”
Maria Stogianni: Tilburg University
Iva Poláčková Šolcová: Czech Academy of Sciences
David Sirlopú: Universidad San Sebastián
Ursula Serdarevich: Universidad Nacional de La Matanza
Heyla A. Selim: King Saud University
Ruta Sargautyte: Vilnius University
Espen Røysamb: University of Oslo
Vladyslav Romashov: Polish Academy of Sciences
Muhammad Rizwan: The Delve Pvt Ltd
Zoran Pavlovid: University of Belgrade
Vassilis Pavlopoulos: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Joonha Park: Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University
Yvette Osch: Tilburg University
Ayu Okvitawanli: Universitas Sebelas Maret
Azar Nadi: Polish Academy of Sciences
Martin Nader: Universidad ICESI
Nur Fariza Mustaffa: International Islamic University Malaysia
Elke Murdock: University of Luxembourg
Oriana Mosca: University of Roma Tre
Tamara Mohoric: University of Rijeka
Pablo Eduardo Barrientos Marroquin: Universidad del Valle de Guatemala
Fridanna Maricchiolo: University of Roma Tre
Arina Malyonova: Dostoevsky Omsk State University
Magdalena Łużniak-Piecha: SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
Vivian Miu-Chi Lun: Lingnan University
Xinhui Liu: Renmin University of China
Liman Man Wai Li: The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po
J. Hannah Lee: Indiana University Northwest
Anna Kwiatkowska: Polish Academy of Sciences
Nicole Kronberger: Johannes Kepler University Linz
Olga Kostoula: Johannes Kepler University Linz
Aleksandra Kosiarczyk: SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
Agata Kocimska-Zych: SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities
Lucie Klůzová Kračmárová: Palacký University
Natalia Kascakova: Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University
İdil Işık: Istanbul Bilgi University
Eric Raymond Igou: University of Limerick
David O. Igbokwe: Baze University Abuja, Federal Capital Territory
Diana Boer: University of Koblenz
Alin Gavreliuc: West University of Timisoara
Ragna B. Garðarsdóttir: University of Iceland
Vladimer Gamsakhurdia: Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
Márta Fülöp: Research Centre of Natural Sciences and Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary
Carla Sofia Esteves: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL
Alejandra Dominguez-Espinosa: Iberoamerican University
Patrick Denoux: Université Toulouse II
Michael Harris Bond: Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Arno Baltin: Tallinn University
Douglas Arevalo: Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas
Lily Appoh: Nord University
Isabelle Albert: University of Luxembourg
Charity S. Akotia: University of Ghana
Mladen Adamovic: King’s College London
Kuba Krys: Polish Academy of Sciences

Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2025, vol. 20, issue 3, No 18, 1289-1313

Abstract: Abstract Although most people aspire to be happy, the extent to which people pursue or idealize experiencing high levels of happiness does differ according to sociocultural context. This study was designed to elucidate which societal and cultural indicators are the most conducive to fostering high levels of happiness idealization. To accomplish this goal, we measured levels of happiness idealization for 11,170 participants residing in 43 different countries. We utilized machine learning (random forests approach) to examine how well an array of 18 different societal and cultural-level indicators were associated with country-level happiness idealization. We found robust and consistent evidence that greater cultural religiosity was associated with reduced idealization of happiness across four different types of happiness, including life satisfaction and interdependent happiness. These findings demonstrated that how much happiness is pursued varies considerably according to sociocultural context and highlights the role of cultural religiosity in shaping how people think about high levels of happiness.

Keywords: Happiness idealization; Satisfaction with Life; Interdependent happiness; Family happiness; Religiosity; Random forests (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-025-10462-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:20:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11482-025-10462-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/11482

DOI: 10.1007/s11482-025-10462-w

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Research in Quality of Life is currently edited by Daniel Shek

More articles in Applied Research in Quality of Life from Springer, International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().