Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore.

Family appears to be one of the most salient life domains that correlate with personal happiness for people in all cultures. Western studies have accumulated strong evidence showing that family life affects happiness greatly (Argyle, 1987; Chilman, 1982; Rodgers and Bachman, 1988). In an Asian civ...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tan, Ansel Tsu Minh., Lim, Kevin Wei Jie.
Other Authors: Ho Kong Weng
Format: Final Year Project (FYP)
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38606
_version_ 1811697027284729856
author Tan, Ansel Tsu Minh.
Lim, Kevin Wei Jie.
author2 Ho Kong Weng
author_facet Ho Kong Weng
Tan, Ansel Tsu Minh.
Lim, Kevin Wei Jie.
author_sort Tan, Ansel Tsu Minh.
collection NTU
description Family appears to be one of the most salient life domains that correlate with personal happiness for people in all cultures. Western studies have accumulated strong evidence showing that family life affects happiness greatly (Argyle, 1987; Chilman, 1982; Rodgers and Bachman, 1988). In an Asian civilization, family life is especially relevant due to Confucian beliefs and ethics. From his review of studies in various fields, economist Richard Layard identified a hierarchy of happiness, seven factors most crucial to happiness. Ranking top of the list is family relationships, of which there are various factors and variables. This paper examines the effect family happiness has on respondents, mainly the children of parents. It also tests the effect of quality and level of closeness of family relationships, and if they are predictors of happiness. Through the use of surveys conducted in a Singaporean university, statistical analysis of these data found family relationships to correlate very highly with happiness levels of the respondents. The perception of household happiness, quality of family relationship, quality of interaction between the family and respondent, filial piety as well as household size were all found to have strong positive correlations with the respondents’ happiness levels. On the other hand, the actual reported happiness levels of parents were found not to have any correlations with their children (their respondents)
first_indexed 2024-10-01T07:48:44Z
format Final Year Project (FYP)
id ntu-10356/38606
institution Nanyang Technological University
language English
last_indexed 2024-10-01T07:48:44Z
publishDate 2010
record_format dspace
spelling ntu-10356/386062019-12-10T12:52:37Z Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore. Tan, Ansel Tsu Minh. Lim, Kevin Wei Jie. Ho Kong Weng School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Family, marriage and women Family appears to be one of the most salient life domains that correlate with personal happiness for people in all cultures. Western studies have accumulated strong evidence showing that family life affects happiness greatly (Argyle, 1987; Chilman, 1982; Rodgers and Bachman, 1988). In an Asian civilization, family life is especially relevant due to Confucian beliefs and ethics. From his review of studies in various fields, economist Richard Layard identified a hierarchy of happiness, seven factors most crucial to happiness. Ranking top of the list is family relationships, of which there are various factors and variables. This paper examines the effect family happiness has on respondents, mainly the children of parents. It also tests the effect of quality and level of closeness of family relationships, and if they are predictors of happiness. Through the use of surveys conducted in a Singaporean university, statistical analysis of these data found family relationships to correlate very highly with happiness levels of the respondents. The perception of household happiness, quality of family relationship, quality of interaction between the family and respondent, filial piety as well as household size were all found to have strong positive correlations with the respondents’ happiness levels. On the other hand, the actual reported happiness levels of parents were found not to have any correlations with their children (their respondents) Bachelor of Arts 2010-05-13T03:22:34Z 2010-05-13T03:22:34Z 2010 2010 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38606 en Nanyang Technological University 143 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Family, marriage and women
Tan, Ansel Tsu Minh.
Lim, Kevin Wei Jie.
Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore.
title Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore.
title_full Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore.
title_fullStr Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore.
title_full_unstemmed Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore.
title_short Economics of happiness : an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in Singapore.
title_sort economics of happiness an exploratory study on family relationship qualities and happiness in singapore
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Family, marriage and women
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38606
work_keys_str_mv AT tananseltsuminh economicsofhappinessanexploratorystudyonfamilyrelationshipqualitiesandhappinessinsingapore
AT limkevinweijie economicsofhappinessanexploratorystudyonfamilyrelationshipqualitiesandhappinessinsingapore