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Well-Being and Cultures pp 31–49Cite as

Addressing Current Challenges in Cross-Cultural Measurement of Well-Being: The Pemberton Happiness Index

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Part of the book series: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology ((CAPP,volume 3))

Abstract

In this chapter, we detail some of the main challenges of cross-cultural studies on well-being. We argue that these challenges revolve around underlying problems concerning the definition and assessment of well-being. Our specific focus is on three main challenges: (a) what to measure, (b) how to measure, and (c) the need for time- and cost-efficient measures. We argue that these challenges are relevant for an accurate analysis and understanding of cross-cultural differences in well-being. Finally, we describe the development of a new instrument designed to address some of the problems raised. The Pemberton Happiness Index, a brief measure of integrative well-being, taps into general, hedonic, eudaemonic, and social well-being and combines two methodologies to comprise both remembered and experienced well-being.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A potential problem in cross-cultural research that we do not discuss here is the differential pattern of response styles among countries. For example, Vittersø et al. (2005) found that Norwegians and Greenlanders did not differ in their mean scores on a life satisfaction scale, but latent trait analyses showed that Greenlanders tended to answer all items of the questionnaire more randomly and more extremely. Kapteyn et al. (2010) described a similar effect when comparing life satisfaction estimations of American and Dutch participants: The Dutch were more avoidant of making extreme negative or positive evaluations. Other issues reviewed in the literature (e.g., order of items, item functioning, or scale numbers), although important independently (e.g., Deaton 2011), do not seem to substantially affect cross-cultural comparisons (see Oishi 2010).

  2. 2.

    Furthermore, people can judge life satisfaction from a general perspective or through specific domains of satisfaction (e.g., with friends, family, education, neighborhood, or work) which may lead to different results (Diener et al. 2000).

  3. 3.

    According to his review, in many countries, there has been a secular shift in the meaning of “­happiness” from an emphasis on “lucky and fortunate conditions” to inner feeling states. Incidentally, Diener (2000) found that in countries where “happiness” is mainly used to define satisfaction of one’s goals and desires (e.g., Spain or Italy), happiness is seen as more desirable than in countries or regions where happiness is defined in terms of luck (e.g., East Asia, France, Germany, and Russia).

  4. 4.

    Most current measures of well-being are based on self-reports, even though self-reports of ­emotional states can be vulnerable to self-presentation biases, memory biases, and the ability to perceive and label emotions. Some authors have proposed alternative procedures based on reaction time to probe stimulus or in experimental measures to assess implicit beliefs (e.g., Diaz et al. 2009).

  5. 5.

    Although there are several types of ESM procedures (see Scollon et al. 2003), this approach has provided valuable online data, which are not subject to cognitive biases linked to retrospective accounts.

  6. 6.

    These questions are included in the World Values Survey.

  7. 7.

    Chi-square analyses were conducted between each item and the criterion (i.e., overall satisfaction with the day before). Items that showed the highest overall mean eta-squared values were selected for inclusion in the final scale.

  8. 8.

    Pride and guilt are good examples of emotions that are relevant yet included neither in the PHI nor in many well-being scales. Using ESM, Scollon et al. (2004) found that Asian Americans, Indians in India, and Japanese in Japan all reported less pride and more guilt than European Americans and Hispanic Americans. Furthermore, whereas the authors did not find cross-cultural variability in sadness, the cross-cultural variability was three times greater for guilt and more than 10 times greater for pride.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Psychology, Complutense University, 28223, Madrid, Spain

    Carmelo Vazquez & Gonzalo Hervas

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  1. Carmelo Vazquez
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  2. Gonzalo Hervas
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Correspondence to Carmelo Vazquez .

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  1. , Department of Education, Aarhus University, Niels Juels Gade 84, Aarhus, 8000, Denmark

    Hans Henrik Knoop

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Luigi S, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G.B. Grassi 74, Milano, 20157, Italy

    Antonella Delle Fave

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Vazquez, C., Hervas, G. (2013). Addressing Current Challenges in Cross-Cultural Measurement of Well-Being: The Pemberton Happiness Index. In: Knoop, H., Delle Fave, A. (eds) Well-Being and Cultures. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4611-4_3

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