Cross-Cultural Validation of Fear of Happiness Scale Across 14 National Groups

Abstract

A survey of the cultural notions related to happiness and the existing empirical evidence indicate that some individuals endorse the belief that happiness, particularly an immoderate degree of it, should be avoided. These beliefs mainly involve the general notion that happiness may lead to bad things happening. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel modeling, this study investigates the measurement invariance, cross-level isomorphism, predictive validity, and nomological network of the fear of happiness scale across 14 nations. The results show that this scale has good statistical properties at both individual and cultural levels. The findings also indicate that this scale has the potential to add to the knowledge about how people conceive of, and experience, happiness across cultures.

Keywords

fear of happiness subjective well-being happiness emotion cross-cultural religion

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Berg

C. Z.

Shapiro

Chambless

D. L.

Ahrens

A. H.

(1998). Are emotions frightening? II: An analogue study of fear of emotion, interpersonal conflict, and panic onset. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 3-15.

Bond

M. H.

Leung

Tong

K.-K.

de Carrasquel

S. R.

Murakami

. . . Lewis

J. R.

(2004). Culture-level dimensions of social axioms and their correlates across 41 Cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35, 548-570.

Bryant

F. B.

Veroff

(2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Byrne

B. M.

(2012). Structural equation modeling with Mplus: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Byrne

B. M.

Shavelson

R. J.

Muthén

(1989). Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 456-466.

Central Intelligence Agency. (2012). World factbook. Langley, VA: Author.

Chen

F. F.

(2008). What happens if we compare chopsticks with forks? The impact of making inappropriate comparisons in cross-cultural research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1005-1017.

Cheung

G. W.

Rensvold

R. B.

(2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233-255.

De Beuckelaer

Swinnen

(2011). Biased latent variable mean comparisons due to measurement non-invariance: A simulation study. In Davidov

Schmidt

Billiet

(Eds.), Methods and applications in cross-cultural analysis (pp. 117-148). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

10.

Diener

(1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 851-864. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.851

11.

Diener

Emmons

R. A.

Larsen

R. J.

Griffin

(1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.

12.

Diener

Harter

Arora

(2010). Wealth and happiness across the world: Material prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity predicts positive feeling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 52-61.

13.

Diener

Oishi

Ryan

K. L.

(2013). Universals and cultural differences in the causes and structure of happiness: A multilevel review. In Keyes

(Ed.), Mental well-being (pp. 153-176). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.

14.

Eid

Diener

(2001). Norms for experiencing emotions in different cultures: Inter-and intranational differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 869-885.

15.

Erber

M. W.

(2000). The self-regulation of moods: Second thoughts on the importance of happiness in everyday life. Psychological Inquiry, 11(3), 142-148.

16.

Feldman

G. C.

Joormann

Johnson

S. L.

(2008). Responses to positive affect: A self-report measure of rumination and dampening. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 32, 507-525.

17.

Fischer

Ferreira

M. C.

Assmar

Redford

Harb

Glazer

. . . Achoui

(2009). Individualism-collectivism as descriptive norms: Development of a subjective norm approach to culture measurement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 40, 187-213.

18.

Fischer

Van de Vliert

(2011). Does climate undermine subjective well-being? A 58-nation study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1031-1041.

19.

Fontaine

J. R. J.

Fischer

(2011). Data analytic approaches for investigating isomorphism between the individual-level and the cultural-level internal structure. In Matsumoto

van de Vijver

F. J. R.

(Eds.), Cross-cultural research methods in psychology (pp. 273-298). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

20.

Freedman

(1978). Happy people: What happiness is, who has it, and why. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

21.

Gilbert

McEwan

Gibbons

Chotai

Duarte

Matos

(2012). Fears of compassion and happiness in relation to alexithymia, mindfulness, and self-criticism. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 85, 374-390.

22.

Gross

J. J.

John

O. P.

(2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348-362.

23.

Held

B. S.

(2002). The tyranny of the positive attitude in America: Observation and speculation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, 965-991.

24.

Hinks

Davies

(2012). Life satisfaction in Malawi. In Selin

Davey

(Eds.), Happiness across cultures (Vol. 6, pp. 271-292). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

25.

Hofstede

(1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in related values. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE.

26.

Horn

J. L.

(1991). Comments on issues in factorial invariance. In Collins

L. M.

Horn

J. L.

(Eds.), Best methods for the analysis of change (pp. 114-125.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

27.

Horn

J. L.

McArdle

J. J.

(1992). A practical and theoretical guide to measurement invariance in aging research. Experimental Aging Research, 18, 117-144.

28.

Inglehart

(1997). Modernization and postmodernization: Cultural, economic and political change in 43 societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

29.

Inglehart

(2009). Faith and freedom: Traditional and modern ways to happiness. In Diener

Helliwell

Kahnemann

(Eds.), International differences in well being (pp. 342-368). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

30.

Inglehart

Baker

W. E.

(2000). Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review, 65(1), 19-51.

31.

Iyengar

S. S.

Lepper

M. R.

(1999). Rethinking the value of choice: A cultural perspective on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 349-366.

32.

Jöreskog

K. G.

(1971). Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations. Psychometrika, 36, 409-426.

33.

Joshanloo

(2012). Investigation of the factor structure of spirituality and religiosity in Iranian Shiite university students. International Journal of Psychology, 47, 211-221.

34.

Joshanloo

(2013). The influence of fear of happiness beliefs on responses to the satisfaction with life scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 647-651.

35.

Kim

Yang

K. S.

Hwang

K. K.

(Eds.). (2006). Indigenous and cultural psychology. New York, NY: Springer.

36.

Leung

Bond

M. H.

(2008). Psycho-logic and eco-logic: Insights from social axiom dimensions. In van de Vijver

van Hemert

Poortinga

Y. P.

(Eds.), Individuals and cultures in multilevel analysis (pp. 199-221). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

37.

Little

T. D.

(1997). Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analyses of cross-cultural data: Practical and theoretical issues. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32, 53-76.

38.

(2006). Cultural Fit: Individual and societal discrepancies in values, beliefs, and subjective well-being. The Journal of Social Psychology, 146, 203-221.

39.

Lutz

(1987). Goals, events, and understanding in Ifaluk emotion theory. In Quinn

Holland

(Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp. 290-312). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

40.

Lvina

Johns

Treadway

D. C.

Blickle

Liu

Y. L.

Liu

. . . Ferris

G. R.

(2012). Measure invariance of the Political Skill Inventory (PSI) across five cultures. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 12, 171-191.

41.

Lyubomirsky

(2000, October). In the pursuit of happiness: Comparing the U.S. and Russia. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia. (Symposium titled “Happiness, Hope, Optimism and Maturity: Social Psychological Approaches to Human Strengths.”)

42.

Matsumoto

Nezlek

J. B.

Koopmann

(2007). Evidence for universality in phenomenological emotion response system coherence. Emotion, 7, 57-67.

43.

Matsumoto

Yoo

S. H.

Nakagawa

Alexandre

Altarriba

Anguas-Wong

Zengeya

(2008). Culture, emotion regulation, and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 925-937.

44.

McMahon

D. M.

(2006). Happiness: A history. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press.

45.

McMahon

D. M.

(2010). What does the ideal of happiness mean? Social research. An International Quarterly, 77, 469-490.

46.

Melka

S. E.

Lancaster

S. L.

Bryant

A. R.

Rodriguez

B. F.

Weston

(2011). An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the Affective Control Scale in an undergraduate sample. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33, 501-513.

47.

Menon

(2012). Hinduism, happiness and wellbeing: a case study of adulthood in an Oriya Hindu Temple Town. In Selin

Davey

(Eds.), Happiness across cultures (Vol. 6, pp. 417-434). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

48.

Minami

(1971). Psychology of the Japanese people. Tokyo, Japan: University of Tokyo press.

49.

Minkov

(2009). Predictors of differences in subjective well-being across 97 nations. Cross-Cultural Research, 43, 152-179.

50.

Miyamoto

(2011). Dampening or savoring positive emotions: A dialectical cultural script guides emotion regulation. Emotion, 11, 1346-1357.

51.

Morris

(2012). The science of happiness: A cross-cultural perspective. In Selin

Davey

(Eds.), Happiness across cultures (Vol. 6, pp. 435-450). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

52.

Muthén

L. K.

Muthén

B. O.

(2010). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Author.

53.

Myers

D. G.

(1993). The pursuit of happiness: Discovering the pathway to fulfillment, well-being, and enduring personal joy. New York, NY: Avon Books.

54.

Nezlek

J. B.

(2011). Multilevel modeling for social and personality psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

55.

Owe

Vignoles

V. L.

Becker

Brown

Smith

P. B.

Lee

S. W. S.

. . . Jalal

(2013). Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 44, 24-45.

56.

Peng

Spencer-Rodgers

Nian

(2006). Naïve dialecticism and the Tao of Chinese thought indigenous and cultural psychology. In Kim

Yang

K-S.

Hwang

K-K.

(Eds.), Indigenous and cultural psychology: understanding people in context (pp. 247-262). New York, NY: Springer.

57.

Peugh

J. L.

Enders

C. K.

(2005). Using the SPSS mixed procedure to fit cross-sectional and longitudinal multilevel models. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 65, 717-741.

58.

Quoidbach

Berry

E. V.

Hansenne

Mikolajczak

(2010). Positive emotion regulation and well-being: Comparing the impact of eight savoring and dampening strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 368-373. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.048

59.

Ralston

D. A.

Egri

C. P.

Reynaud

Srinivasan

Furrer

Brock

. . . Wallace

(2011). A twenty-first century assessment of values across the global workforce. Journal of Business Ethics, 104, 1-31.

60.

Realo

Koido

Ceulemans

Allik

(2002). Three components of individualism. European Journal of Personality, 16, 163-184.

61.

Richardson

F. C.

(2012). On psychology and virtue ethics. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology, 32, 24-34.

62.

Robitschek

(1998). Personal growth initiative: The construct and its measure. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 30, 183-198.

63.

Robitschek

(1999). Further validation of the personal growth initiative scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 31, 197-210.

64.

Robitschek

Keyes

C. L. M.

(2009). Keyes’s model of mental health with personal growth initiative as a parsimonious predictor. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 321-329. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0013954

65.

Ryan

R. M.

Huta

Deci

E. L.

(2008). Living well: A self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 139-170.

66.

Ryff

C. D.

(1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081.

67.

Schmitt

Kuljanin

(2008). Measurement invariance: Review of practice and implications. Human Resource Management Review, 18, 210-222.

68.

Schwartz

S. H.

(1994). Are there universal aspects in the structure and contents of human values? Journal of Social Issues, 50(4), 19-45.

69.

Schwartz

S. H.

(2006). A theory of cultural value orientations: Explication and applications. Comparative Sociology, 5, 136-182.

70.

Selin

Davey

(Eds.). (2012). Happiness across cultures. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

71.

Smith

P. B.

Peterson

M. F.

Schwartz

S. H.

(2002). Cultural values, sources of guidance, and their relevance to managerial behavior. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33, 188-208.

72.

Steenkamp

Benedict

E. M.

Baumgartner

(1998). Assessing measurement invariance in cross-national consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 25, 78-107.

73.

Steenkamp

J. E. M.

Baumgartner

(1998). Assessing measurement invariance in cross-national consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 25, 78-107.

74.

Steinmetz

(2011). Estimation and comparison of latent means across cultures. In Davidov

Schmidt

Billiet

(Eds.) Cross-cultural analysis: Methods and applications (pp. 85-116). New York, NY: Routledge.

75.

Suh

E. M.

(2007). Downsides of an overly context-sensitive self: Implications from the culture and subjective well-being research. Journal of Personality, 75, 1321-1343.

76.

Torsheim

Samdal

Rasmussen

Freeman

Griebler

Dür

(2012). Cross-national measurement invariance of the teacher and Classmate Support Scale. Social Indicators Research, 105, 145-160.

77.

Triandis

H. C.

Bontempo

Leung

Hui

C. H.

(1990). A method for determining cultural, demographic, and personal constructs. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 21(3), 302-318.

78.

Tsai

J. L.

(2007). Ideal affect: Cultural causes and behavioral consequences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 242-259.

79.

Tsai

J. L.

Knutson

Fung

H. H.

(2006). Cultural variation in affect valuation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 288-307. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.90.2.288

80.

Tsai

J. L.

Miao

F. F.

Seppala

(2007). Good feelings in Christianity and Buddhism: Religious differences in ideal affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(3), 409-421.

81.

United Nations Development Programme. (2007). Statistics of the Human Development Report. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

82.

Van de Vijver

F. J. R.

Leung

(2000). Methodological issues in psychological research on culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31(1), 33-51.

83.

Veenhoven

(2009). World database of happiness. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Erasmus University Rotterdam. Retrieved form http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl

84.

Welzel

(2010). How selfish are self-expression values? A civicness test. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 41, 152-174.

85.

Wood

J. V.

Heimpel

S. A.

Michela

J. L.

(2003). Savoring versus dampening: Self-esteem differences in regulating positive affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 566-580. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.3.566