Moving Away from Individualism-Fit Measures of Happiness Attenuates Individualism-Happiness Association

Studies on happiness tend to focus on life satisfaction of individual person. In the current study we test the hypothesis that happiness may associate with individualism because this specific measure of happiness is individualism-fit. Building on recent cross-cultural research we differentiate between two types of well-being: the traditionally researched concept of life satisfaction and the more Eastern concept of interdependent happiness, which includes a sense of interpersonal harmony, ordinariness, and quiescence. Further, we argue that in some cultures the happiness of one’s family may play as important of a role as the happiness of oneself. In the Happiness Meanders study we aimed at exploring antecedents of four types of happiness: life satisfaction vs interdependent happiness measured for individuals and families separately. Our results show that the life satisfaction of individuals is positively related to individualism, while the interdependent happiness of families is less culture dependent.