The Happy Culture: A Theoretical, Meta-Analytic, and Empirical Review of the Relationship Between Culture and Wealth and Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

Do cultural values enhance financial and subjective well-being (SWB)? Taking a multidisciplinary approach, we meta-analytically reviewed the field, found it thinly covered, and focused on individualism. In counter, we collected a broad array of individual-level data, specifically an Internet sample of 8,438 adult respondents. Individual SWB was most strongly associated with cultural values that foster relationships and social capital, which typically accounted for more unique variance in life satisfaction than an individual’s salary. At a national level, we used mean-based meta-analysis to construct a comprehensive cultural and SWB database. Results show some reversals from the individual level, particularly masculinity’s facet of achievement orientation. In all, the happy nation has low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance, but is high in femininity and individualism, and these effects are interrelated but still partially independent from political and economic institutions. In short, culture matters for individual and national well-being.

metaBUS: A Tool for Informing HRD Theory, Practice, and Research

“…It is important to note that meta‐analytic correlations derived from metaBUS are similar to meta‐analytic correlations derived from other academic databases (Lee, Bosco, Steel, & Uggerslev, ; Steel, Taras, Uggerslev, & Bosco, ). One study that utilized metaBUS derived meta‐analytic correlations on career satisfaction and compared the findings with previously published meta‐analytic findings, confirmed the relative sizes of the effects as well as the direction of the effects (Lee et al).…”

“…One study that utilized metaBUS derived meta‐analytic correlations on career satisfaction and compared the findings with previously published meta‐analytic findings, confirmed the relative sizes of the effects as well as the direction of the effects (Lee et al). Another study used metaBUS to check the validity of the intercorrelations derived based on a literature search utilizing several academic databases (Steel et al, ). Findings indicated that metaBUS derived intercorrelations closely approximated the intercorrelations derived from the literature search with an average difference of 0.07 and an absolute average difference of 0.09 (Steel et al).…”

What predicts the quality of life in Turkey: The results of a country representative study

“…Even these concepts are used for each other's, but there are some differences between these concepts regarding meaning and content (Camfield & Skevington, ; Diener, Oish, & Tay, ; Keser, ; Saris, Veenhoven, Scherpenzeel, & Bunting, ). Especially subjective well‐being is a key component of quality of life (Diener & Ryan, ) and it also combines satisfaction and happiness (Steel, Taras, Uggerslev, & Bosco, ). Thus, it is not easy to separate these concepts from each other exactly.…”

Civic engagement in the Indonesia health sector

“…The religiosity and materialism were inversely related, whereby religious people tend to become less materialistic (Bakar et al, 2013). Value from financial success is different from the feminine value that is related with modesty, caring, harmony and a focus on improving the quality of life (Steel et al, 2018).…”