Abstract
Previous studies have shown that Asian American or Chinese individuals value low-arousal positive affect and a harmonious
state of happiness more than European Americans do. However, the affective component of subjective well-being has mostly been
defined as the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affect. This definition emphasizes the importance of
hedonic pleasure but fails to include the affect valued in Chinese culture. The present study developed the construct of peace
of mind to describe the affective well-being valued in Chinese culture. Peace of mind was defined as an internal state of
peacefulness and harmony. To develop a measure to assess peace of mind, three studies were conducted. Study 1 developed the
Peace of Mind Scale (PoM), Study 2 established its validity as an affective well-being measure, and Study 3 found that individuals
from Chinese cultures score higher on this scale than those from Western cultures. The results indicate that the PoM has good
reliability and validity for measuring affective well-being. The cross-cultural validation also found that Taiwanese individuals
scored higher on the PoM than European Americans, which provides further evidence of good construct validity of the PoM.
state of happiness more than European Americans do. However, the affective component of subjective well-being has mostly been
defined as the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affect. This definition emphasizes the importance of
hedonic pleasure but fails to include the affect valued in Chinese culture. The present study developed the construct of peace
of mind to describe the affective well-being valued in Chinese culture. Peace of mind was defined as an internal state of
peacefulness and harmony. To develop a measure to assess peace of mind, three studies were conducted. Study 1 developed the
Peace of Mind Scale (PoM), Study 2 established its validity as an affective well-being measure, and Study 3 found that individuals
from Chinese cultures score higher on this scale than those from Western cultures. The results indicate that the PoM has good
reliability and validity for measuring affective well-being. The cross-cultural validation also found that Taiwanese individuals
scored higher on the PoM than European Americans, which provides further evidence of good construct validity of the PoM.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Research Paper
- Pages 1-20
- DOI 10.1007/s10902-012-9343-5
- Authors
- Yi-Chen Lee, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Yi-Cheng Lin, Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Chin-Lan Huang, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
- Barbara L. Fredrickson, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Journal Journal of Happiness Studies
- Online ISSN 1573-7780
- Print ISSN 1389-4978