Comparing the level of positive tendency in a life satisfaction evaluation between Chinese and Western people

Abstract

We demonstrate that people from Chinese cultural backgrounds have a smaller positive tendency in life evaluation compared to people in typical Western cultures. Participants first described their imagined best and worst life and then rated their current life on scale anchored by those imaginings (Mellor et al. International Journal of Social Research Methodology Theory and Practice, 2, 263-278, 1999), with scores above 50 indicating the strength of positive tendency. We compare responses from 82 Taiwanese students to data from the 22 Australian students in Mellor et al.'s (International Journal of Social Research Methodology Theory and Practice, 2, 263-278, 1999) study. Results of independent t tests support the hypothesis that culturally Chinese subjects have a lower positive tendency (65.32%SM) than Australian participants (76.12%SM) in life satisfaction evaluation.