Does Valuing Happiness Enhance Subjective Well-Being? The Age-Differential Effect of Interdependence

Natalie Wong (), Xianmin Gong () and Helene H. Fung ()
Additional contact information
Natalie Wong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Xianmin Gong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Helene H. Fung: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2020, vol. 21, issue 1, No 1, 14 pages

Abstract: Abstract Previous studies found that the association between valuing happiness and well-being could be mediated by interdependence, and such mediation differed across cultures. We hypothesize a similar disparity between younger and older generations within the same culture. To test this hypothesis, the current study assessed Chinese younger and older adults’ self-construal (independence and interdependence), subjective well-being, and the extent to which they valued happiness. The results showed that valuing happiness was only significantly associated with independent self-construal and was not associated with subjective well-being in younger adults. Valuing happiness was positively associated with both independent and interdependent self-construal among older adults, but only the latter mediated the relationship between valuing happiness and subjective well-being. Our findings suggest that the effect of valuing happiness may change with age.

Keywords: Valuing happiness; Pursuit of happiness; Subjective well-being; Interdependence; Independence; Aging (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-018-00068-5 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:jhappi:v:21:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-018-00068-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... fe/journal/10902/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-018-00068-5

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Happiness Studies is currently edited by Antonella Delle Fave

More articles in Journal of Happiness Studies from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().