Are Cognitive,Affective, and Eudaimonic Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being Differently Related to Consumption? Evidence from Japan

In this study, we investigate the relationship between consumption and subjective well-being (SWB). There is clear evidence in the literature that the income–SWB relationship depends on the SWB measure, but the reasons are not fully clear yet; however, the main reason may be related to consumption because most income is used for that. This study is the first to examine directly whether the consumption–SWB relationship differs between affective, cognitive, and eudaimonic SWB measures. We adopt the following four SWB indices: life satisfaction, the Cantril ladder, affect balance, and eudaimonia. In addition, on the consumption side, we consider both material and relational consumption. Nonparametric analysis of our uniquely collected survey results in Japan suggests that total consumption contributes to cognitive measures of SWB and eudaimonia, while there is a certain threshold for affective measures. However, once material versus relational consumption is considered in total consumption, we find that relational consumption contributes to any SWB measure without clear upper bounds, while material consumption contributes to all SWB measures only to certain thresholds. Our results also show that the marginal effects of total consumption, material consumption, and relational consumption on cognitive measures of SWB and eudaimonia are greater than on affective measures. In addition, our results show that the marginal effects of relational consumption tend to be greater than those of material consumption for all SWB indices. Based on the findings, we expect relational consumption to be key for improving well-being.

     

Correction to: Are Cognitive,Affective, and Eudaimonic Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being Differently Related to Consumption? Evidence from Japan

Journal of Happiness Studies - In the original publication, the authors’ affiliation has been published incorrectly. The correct affiliation of authors is given in this correction.     

The translation and validation of the Mini‐K scale in Japanese

The purpose of this study was to validate the 20‐item Mini‐K scale, which is the short form of the Arizona Life History Battery, as translated into Japanese. Two samples of Japanese adults (N = 2000; 50.0% men; Mage = 40.9 for the first survey; N = 400; 50.0% men; Mage = 42.2 for the second survey) completed a web‐based questionnaire, including the Japanese translation of the Mini‐K. The results showed that the psychometric properties of the Japanese Mini‐K scale were comparable to those of the original English version. The scale had good reliability based on Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω. Convergent validity was demonstrated by the correlation between the Mini‐K scores and life history indicators. In addition, the Mini‐K score was related to both personality and psychosomatic health. The translated scale provides a valid and reliable instrument in Japanese that measures human life‐history strategy.     

Intercultural Understanding through Intergroup Dialogue between Japanese and Chinese University Students

This study had two purposes: (1) to develop university classes in which students can participate in intercultural dialogue by exchanging letters focusing on a topic about everyday norms implicit in each culture, and (2) to examine how students develop their intercultural understanding through participating in these classes. Twenty-two Japanese and six Chinese university students (each group in their own country) participated in three class sessions. At the beginning of the first class, students were given a dialogue theme that focused on cultural differences. The selected theme was mobile phone use while riding on public transportation, as this practice is prohibited in Tokyo but not in Beijing. Students discussed their opinions in small groups, wrote questions to their counterparts in the other country, and then reflected on and discussed the answers received. Analysis of the Japanese students’ written reflections showed that their understanding of different cultural values and beliefs changed from one based only on a Japanese cultural perspective to one that respected the relativity of cultural norms. The results suggested that the arousal of negative emotions when students are exposed to the perspectives of other cultures is closely related to their understanding of cultural relativity.     

Social Affordances and the Possibility of Ecological Linguistics

This paper includes an effort to extend the notion of affordance from a philosophical point of view the importance of ecological approach for social psychology, ethics, and linguistics. Affordances are not always merely physical but also interpersonal and social. I will conceptualize affordance in general and social affordance in particular, and will elucidate the relation between intentional action and affordances, and that between affordances and free will. I will also focus on the relation between social institution and affordance. An extended theory of affordances can provide a way to analyze in concrete ways how social institution works as an implicit background of interpersonal interactions. Ecological approach considers social institution as the producer and maintainer of affordances. Social institutions construct the niches for human beings. Finally, I will argue the possibility of the ecological linguistics. Language is a social institution. The system of signs is the way to articulate and differentiate interpersonal affordances. Language acquires its meaning, i.e. communicative power in the interpersonal interactions, and interpersonal interactions, in turn, develop and are elaborated through the usage of signs. Communication is seen as never aimed to transmit inner ideas to others, but to guide and adjust the behaviors of others thorough articulating the affordance of responsible-ness.     

Prospective cohort study of stress, life satisfaction, self-rated health, insomnia, and suicide death in Japan

The association between many psychosocial factors and risk of suicide was examined. A cohort was conducted over 14 years of follow up among the general population (15,597 people) in Japan. A baseline survey of psychosocial characteristics was conducted by self-administrated questionnaire. The relative risks of occasional emotional stress, difficulty maintaining sleep, and reporting unhealthy as their self-rated health are 3.2 (95% CI: 1.3, 7.6), 2.4 (95% CI: 1.3, 4.3) and 2.6 (95% CI: 1.1, 6.2), respectively. The importance of these observations lie in its potential for improving physician and public awareness of psychosocial factors as an early indication of mental health morbidity.     

Conditioned taste aversion with sucrose and tactile stimuli in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis

A new form of taste aversion conditioning was established in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. An associative memory, lasting 24h, was produced in the pond snail with 20 pairings of 100 mM sucrose as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and mechanical stimulation to the head as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Animals exposed to reverse pairings of the CS and UCS failed to learn the association. The learning was characterized by a shift in the response to the UCS from a whole-body withdrawal response to the cessation of feeding behavior.     

Development of Japanese version of the long‐term mating orientation scale (LTMO‐J)

The purpose of this study was to validate the 7‐item long‐term mating orientation scale (LTMO) as translated into Japanese. Two samples of Japanese adults (N = 2000; 50.0% male; Mage = 40.9 for the first survey; N = 300; 54.7% male; Mage = 42.4 for the second survey) completed a web‐based questionnaire, including the Japanese translation of the LTMO. The results showed that the psychometric properties of the Japanese LTMO scale were comparable to those of the original English version. The scale had adequate reliability based on Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω. Convergent validity was demonstrated by the correlation between the LTMO scores and related variables: human life history strategies, short‐term sociosexual orientation, attitude to infidelity, romantic attachment style, and so on. The translated scale provides a valid and reliable instrument in Japanese that measures human mating strategy.