Perceived quality of life in Taiwan and Hong Kong: an intra-culture comparison

Abstract

Cross-society comparisons have become increasingly important to the study of the perceived quality of life. A major critique of these studies, however, is the lack of attention to intra-culture variation. This paper examines how subjective quality of life differs, at both societal and individual levels, between Taiwan and Hong Kong, two Chinese societies that share their cultural heritage but vary in their social and political systems. We draw upon data from synchronic surveys conducted in November 2000 in Taiwan (n=1222) and Hong Kong (n=1044). Ordinal regression analyses confirm that, for both societies, reported satisfaction at the societal level contributes to the variance in individuals’ quality of life. Moreover, the perceived fairness with regard to personal effort within the opportunity structure provided by the society also significantly affects an individual’s quality of life. Different factors accounting for quality of life variation in Taiwan and in Hong Kong are discussed. This paper suggests that for the intra-cultural, cross-society comparisons on quality of life, inclusion of various societal level indicators is not only important, but the subjective perception of the fairness that society also contributes a significant effect. Copyright Springer 2005happiness, intra-culture comparisons quality of life, relative deprivation,

The Effects of Community Quality of Life on Local Policy Decisions

“…Quality of Life (QoL), is a complicated concept that has been shaped by contributions from various academic fields such as philosophy, geography, sociology, economics, and psychology (Dissart & Deller, 2000;Liao, Fu, & Yi, 2005;Massam, 2002). A number of partially overlapping and conflicting conceptual definitions have evolved for understanding and measuring QoL depending on research purpose (Myers, 1988).…”

“…This challenge has led to the development of the subjective indicators approach (Cummins, 2000;Diener & Suh, 1997;Dissart & Deller, 2000;McCrea et al, 2006). The subjective indicators approach is based on citizens' assessments of their life situations including both tangible conditions such as per capita income, crime rate, and air and water quality (Phillips, 2006;Sirgy, 2001) and intangible values such as social equity, freedom, morality, and ethics (Falkenberg, 1998;Liao et al, 2005;Zagonari, 2011). Subjective QoL entails experiences, perceptions, attitudes, and values combined with life conditions (Massam, 2002).…”

“…An individual's life situation consists of a variety of life domains 8 such as interpersonal relations, personal development, conditions of work, material well-being, and family ties (Dissart & Deller, 2000;Grzeskowiak et al, 2003;Liao et al, 2005;Sirgy, 2001). Although the classification of the life domains is diverse (e.g., Andrews & Withey, 1976;Campbell, Converse, & Rodgers, 1976;Cohen, 2000;Michalos et al, 1995), many researchers agree that QoL as a whole is based upon an overall evaluation of an individual's various life domains (Evans, 1994;Liao et al, 2005;8 Life domains generally refer to areas of action or aspects of people's lives creating the whole person (Sirgy, 2001). Sirgy, 2001).…”

“…Many studies provide a number of distinctive components of subjective QoL such as life satisfaction (global judgments of one's life), satisfaction with important domains (e.g., satisfaction with work, family, social network), high levels of positive affect (experiencing many pleasant emotions and moods), and low levels of negative affect (experiencing few unpleasant emotions and moods) (Diener, 2000;Liao, 2009;Liao et al, 2005;Phillips, 2006;Sirgy, 2001). …”

“…Fourth, QoL is a relative perception based on either internal or external references (Dissart & Deller, 2000;Evans, 1994;Liao et al, 2005;Sirgy, 2001). People evaluate their life circumstances based on relative criteria, such as a person's own experience and the situations of other people, which partially result in QoL inequality in similar social conditions (Hagerty, 2000;Veenhoven & Ehrhardt, 1995).…”