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Interdependent Happiness: Progress and Implications

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Book cover Close Relationships and Happiness across Cultures

Part of the book series: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology ((CAPP,volume 13))

Abstract

We argue that interdependent happiness, predicated on interpersonal harmony, quiescence and ordinariness, is the core concept of shared meanings of happiness in interdependent cultural contexts. This paper presents its theoretical background based on culture and self studies, methods of measurement, and the latest available evidence from both the East and the West on interdependent happiness, while also elaborating on future directions. In particular, we investigate how interdependent happiness correlates with subjective well-being differently and flourishes differently across cultures. Our argument is an East Asian contribution to the recent world-wide interest in the measurement of culturally diverse types of happiness, that attempts to better appreciate the deeply rooted, socio-cultural nature of human ways of life.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We define happiness as a global, subjective assessment of whether one is a happy or unhappy person (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999). Also, subjective well-being is defined as the satisfaction of one’s life as a whole and the predominance of positive emotion over negative emotion (Diener et al., 1995).

  2. 2.

    There are also some methodological advantages in regional comparisons, such that within a nation, institutions that are often quite distinct across nations –political systems and economic situations, education and so on– can be held constant. Also the methodological problems due to translation (van de Vijver & Tanzer, 2004), response biases (Johnson, Kulesa, Cho, & Shavitt, 2005) and reference group effect (Heine, Lehman, Peng, & Greenholtz, 2002) can also be kept minimum.

  3. 3.

    In this regard, the positive relationships factor of the PWB apparently overlap with interdependent happiness. However, while the former involves active management of and control over relationships, the latter is predicated on a harmonious approach to relationships, such as maintaining quiescence and being ordinary without necessarily controlling it, as we discussed regarding face maintenance above. In fact, the two correlate modestly (Japan: r = .52, p < .001; U.S.: r = .40, p < .001, Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kyoto University, Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto, Japan

    Hidefumi Hitokoto & Yukiko Uchida

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  1. Hidefumi Hitokoto
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Correspondence to Hidefumi Hitokoto .

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  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

    Melikşah Demir

  2. Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

    Nebi Sümer

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Hitokoto, H., Uchida, Y. (2018). Interdependent Happiness: Progress and Implications. In: Demir, M., Sümer, N. (eds) Close Relationships and Happiness across Cultures. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89663-2_2

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