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http://dx.doi.org/10.7466/JKHMA.2017.35.1.71

The Effects of Personal Values on Life Satisfaction: Focusing on the Comparison between Korea, China, and Japan  

Jung, Sun Young (Department of Social Welfare, Incheon National University)
Publication Information
Journal of Families and Better Life / v.35, no.1, 2017 , pp. 71-81 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study examined the effects of personal values on the levels of life satisfaction among three Northeast Asian countries: Korea, China, and Japan. For this, it used data from the World Values Survey and adopted the value categories framed by Schwartz(2012). The mains findings are as follows. First, the Korean respondents showed the lowest levels of life satisfaction and the Japanese respondents showed the lowest levels of importance on each value. Second, the Korean and Chinese respondents who put more importance on the value of 'self-direction' showed higher levels of life satisfaction. Third, the Chinese and Japanese respondents who put more importance on the value of 'benevolence' showed higher levels of life satisfaction. Fourth, while the Chinese and Japanese respondents with a higher level of importance on the value of 'universalism' and 'tradition', respectively, showed higher levels of life satisfaction, the Korean respondents with a higher level of importance on the value of 'power' showed lower levels of life satisfaction. Based on the findings, it suggested the directions for future research.
Keywords
life satisfaction; personal values; international comparison; Northeast Asia;
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