WVS: Analysis of Feeling of happiness to China, France, Japan, South Korea and United States (Hojeong Lee&Subin Jung)

We compared the 'degree of happiness' in the '7th World Values Survey (2017-2022)' of China, France, Japan, Korea, and the United States. Surprisingly, it was confirmed that the index of "very happy" was quite similar to about 26% in the other four countries except for the Republic of Korea. On the other hand, the index of "very happy" in Korea was 4.1%, which was significantly lower. Also, 'France' was the country that showed the highest sense of happiness in this part.

We thought of France's happiness index as the highest and the basis for many as follows. France is a Nordic country. "The happiness index in Northern Europe is quite high (based on South Korea)," said Kim Kyung-il, a professor at Ajou University in South Korea. "There are many people who appreciate small things in North European countries. "I don't have much greed, and if I want to be happy, I often find happiness from small things," he explained. In other words, the level of happiness is high because the expectation level is not high, so the degree of happiness is high.

However, South Korea's index of "proper happiness" was far higher at 85.0%, which was surprising as it was about 20 percent different from China's 61.55, France's 57.5 percent, Japan's 58.4 percent, and the United States' 59.8 percent. Through this, it can be confirmed that the people of Korea are not very happy, but think they are moderately happy.

As Koreans living in Korea, we thought about the large deviation of Korea as follows. South Korea has the highest suicide rate in OECD countries. The average suicide rate in OECD countries is 11.1, and in Korea, it is 23.6. As such, we looked for evidence that the "very happy" index is significantly lower than that of other countries.

In addition, the U.N.'s advisory group, the "Sustainable Development Solution Network," recently released the "2022 World Happiness Report," which ranked 36th among 38 OECD member countries, the lowest.

Not at all happy, don't know, no answer, the figure is less than 1.5% in the five countries we want to compare, indicating that the degree of happiness is low in most countries.

 

In "Englehart-Welzel World Cultural Map 2022," we confirmed that Asian countries with Confucian ideas, China, Japan, and South Korea, are close to each other. These countries were also located between the upper northern hemisphere and the midpoint of the map. They belong to the same East Asian region, so there is not much cultural difference.

The United States and France have confirmed that they are close to each other, similar to Asian countries. France on the border of Catholic Europe and the United States on the border of English speaking rights have confirmed that both countries are at the border of each frame. Therefore, I don't think there was much difference in the previous graph. The United States and France have language, religion, and culture in common, and exchanges and cooperation are active in the world.

Then, let's find out whether the happiness index of China and Japan, centered on Korea, is lower than that of the United States and France, and whether the happiness index of the United States and France is quite high.

As mentioned earlier, South Korea, China, and Japan are located a little far from the United States and France on the map. Korea, China, and Japan are full of Confucian ideas in East Asia. Filled with Confucian ideas, there is a more worldly, more conventional, and thoroughness in things like breaking the rules. It's a little more controlled. In contrast, France and the United States have a high degree of freedom rather than control. Therefore, I think the results of the previous map and graph in the happiness index came out.