Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
3-2018
Abstract
What three words come to your mind in association with ‘‘happiness’’? We analyzed the 1563 words reported by 521 Korean and American participants in this free association task. The most frequently endorsed word was ‘‘family’’ in Korea, whereas the most popular word among Americans was ‘‘smile.’’ The overall frequency of social words(e.g., relationships, social emotions) reported by Koreans was higher, and the most often mentioned relationship type differed between the two groups (family in Korea; friend in the US). Nonetheless, both in Korea and the US, individuals who mentioned more social words were significantly more satisfied with their lives. The amount of social support provision mediated the link between the number of reported social words and experienced happiness. Regardless of culture, a simple count of social words associated with happiness appears to offer a reasonably good clue for how happy the person actually is.
Keywords
Happiness, Word choice, Culture, Free association task
Discipline
Applied Behavior Analysis | Community Psychology | Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Journal of Happiness Studies
Volume
19
Issue
3
First Page
649
Last Page
662
ISSN
1389-4978
Identifier
10.1007/s10902-016-9836-8
Publisher
Springer Verlag (Germany)
Citation
SHIN, Ji Eun, SUH, Eunkook M., EOM, Kimin, & KIM, Heejung S..(2018). What does "happiness" prompt in your mind? Culture, word choice, and experienced happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(3), 649-662.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2354
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9836-8
Included in
Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons