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Happiness and Subjective Wellbeing in Mainland China

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Abstract

The study of happiness and subjective wellbeing (SWB) has received increased interest among scholars in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), who published their findings nationally in Chinese language journals. This paper introduces their work to the international audience. The first study appeared in the journals in 1999, and about 800 research papers have been published to date. The field is anchored in ten areas: the most salient are the general surveying of SWB; areas within health psychology; and personality research. There was a paucity of research in most areas, and a disproportional amount of research in relation to geographical area. Most research was conducted in Shandong (North East China) and Guangdong (South China), whereas no studies reported in the Chinese journals have been conducted in regions such as Inner Mongolia and Tibet. The majority of studies used augmented versions of Western scales as their measurement instrument, although Chinese scholars have developed their own scales. The research field is developing rapidly, but is limited currently by its infancy, overuse of student samples, inadequate descriptions of research methodology, and isolation from studies published outside the country. Recommendations are provided to overcome these issues and to advance the field further.

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Notes

  1. The PRC consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four central administrative municipalities, and two special administrative regions (SARs). The analysis in the present article is not applicable to the SARs (Hong Kong and Macau) because they developed different academic research frameworks during colonial rule by Britain and Portugal respectively.

  2. Note that a few international online collections of published scientific research have begun to list selected Chinese journals. An example is the Science Direct China collection, which is a series of prestigious Chinese science, technology and medical journals. Although the number of available journals is currently small, the collection is expected to grow in the future, and other collections may follow suit.

  3. The analysis of studies published in the Journal of Happiness Studies is presented here only to exemplify the independence of the Chinese and international research traditions in the context of happiness/SWB field. It is certainly not intended to represent an analysis of the extent to which the research of Chinese scholars is represented in international publications.

  4. For purpose of clarity in the present study, the term ‘Chinese journal” denotes only journals published nationally, within the mainland of the PRC. It does not refer to journals published within other Chinese societies (e.g. in Taiwan).

  5. As in English, the notion of happiness also has many meanings in Mandarin Chinese. The Chinese translation for subjective wellbeing and happiness is “zhuguan xingfu gan” and “xingfu”, respectively, which both include the word “xingfu”. Therefore, in the present analysis, the keyword “xingfu” was considered to be the most appropriate keyword, which means happiness in the context of subjective wellbeing, and yields the search results as those obtained when both keywords are used. The keyword was also chosen because a pilot search of the database revealed that it is commonly used and representative of most research; the papers retrieved with alternative keywords (e.g. life satisfaction) were minimal. Note that the main aim of current paper is to introduce the Chinese journals internationally, and deliberately avoids a detailed analysis of the traditional meanings of happiness in China and the West.

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Acknowledgement

We greatly appreciate encouragement and helpful comments from Dr. Anna Lau.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai Campus, Zhuhai, China

    Zhenghui Chen

  2. Psychology Department, University of Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 4BJ, UK

    Gareth Davey

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  1. Zhenghui Chen
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  2. Gareth Davey
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Correspondence to Gareth Davey.

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Chen, Z., Davey, G. Happiness and Subjective Wellbeing in Mainland China. J Happiness Stud 9, 589–600 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9092-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9092-7

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