How the media construct happiness under cultural perspective in China: Through collectivistic and individualistic values

Abstract

Objective The attributes affecting happiness include endogenous material factors such as income and social comparison, and exogenous cultural factors like individual values and national ideology. And the latter is greatly affected by media in China. This study seeks to explore the influence path of media construction on happiness under cultural perspective in China. Methods Using Chinese General Social Survey 2015 data, we apply the ordered logit model to calculate the influence of the usage of television and Internet on happiness conspicuously. Results The use of television and Internet both have positive influence on happiness, and the influence path is that state media shapes collectivism and Internet shapes individualism. As the state‐controlled media in China, television continuously promotes nationalism and patriotism, thus strengthens audience's collectivistic value. Meanwhile, Internet which enjoys certain speech freedom in China boosts the user's individualistic value which makes a difference in promoting happiness. Conclusion The U‐shaped effect of “collectivism‐individualism” on happiness found in this paper empirically illustrates that collectivistic and individualistic values can both facilitate happiness, and also further shows that television and Internet can enhance happiness by influencing cultural values.

A Study of Digital Communication Paths in Contemporary Politics and Marxist Thought

“…Colleges and universities have always been the front line of ideological propaganda, and college students, in addition to being educated by the mainstream ideology of Marxism, are inevitably affected by the impact of other social trends. Therefore, as teachers in colleges and universities, they have the responsibility and obligation to guide college students to adhere to the dominant position of Marxism and promote the popularization of Marxism through the application of various emerging communication media [10][11].…”

Internet usage and the income gap between self‐employed individuals and employees: Evidence from China

“…The Chinese government launched the “Internet Plus” policy in the 2000s to encourage the development of ICT in the country (Liu & Xin, 2020; Ma & Li, 2022). However, this technological advancement has widened income gaps (Ma, 2022; Njangang, 2022; Zuo & Hong, 2021), creating a huge social divide and instability (Balcilar, Gupta, Ma, & Makena, 2021; Golin, 2022; Su, Zhou, Ye, & Li, 2021). Studies have also shown that an income gap exists between self‐employed individuals and employees of both developed and developing countries (Huang, Sheng, & Shui, 2020; ILO, 2015, 2018; Ma & Li, 2022).…”