Abstract
How do we assess the value of our lives? What makes the life we live a good or worthy one in our own eyes? What are its aims?
The answers to these questions are implicit in the often unarticulated commitments by which people define their selves, purposes,
and actions. These commitments structure the moral framework that guides our everyday qualitative distinctions and positions
us within a unified narrative of continuity and change. The substantive conception of a good life, we argue, presupposes but
is not reducible to a set of basic values. As an initial exploration of cultural variation, Canadian, Chinese, Indian, and
Japanese university students were compared on what they held to be most important for assessing the worth of their lives.
The results revealed considerable commonality of content with notable differences consistent with the cultural ethos of each
group.
The answers to these questions are implicit in the often unarticulated commitments by which people define their selves, purposes,
and actions. These commitments structure the moral framework that guides our everyday qualitative distinctions and positions
us within a unified narrative of continuity and change. The substantive conception of a good life, we argue, presupposes but
is not reducible to a set of basic values. As an initial exploration of cultural variation, Canadian, Chinese, Indian, and
Japanese university students were compared on what they held to be most important for assessing the worth of their lives.
The results revealed considerable commonality of content with notable differences consistent with the cultural ethos of each
group.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Research Paper
- Pages 1-18
- DOI 10.1007/s10902-011-9290-6
- Authors
- Romin W. Tafarodi, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada
- Greg Bonn, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada
- Hanyu Liang, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada
- Jiro Takai, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
- Satoshi Moriizumi, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
- Vivek Belhekar, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India
- Amruta Padhye, University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India
- Journal Journal of Happiness Studies
- Online ISSN 1573-7780
- Print ISSN 1389-4978