National Differences in Reported Subjective Well-Being: Why Do They Occur?
Author(s)
Diener, Ed
Abstract
There are marked variations between nations in reported subjective well- being (SWB), but the explanations for this diversity have not been fully explored. It is possible that the differences are entirely due to true variability in SWB, but it is also reasonable that the differences may be due to factors related to self-report measurement such as variation across nations in whether it is desirable to say one is happy. At a substantive level, there might be differences in the norms governing the experience of emotion such that cultural differences in SWB are due to affective regulation.
