The Quality of Life in China

The Quality of Life in China

Xiaoling Shu Æ Yifei Zhu

Accepted: 6 October 2008 / Published online: 4 November 2008� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008

Abstract The Asia Barometer Survey of 2,000 respondents reveals that substantial

majorities of the Chinese people experience feelings of happiness, enjoyment, and

accomplishment. In fact, the proportion experiencing these indicators of a high quality of

life are larger in China than in some more prosperous countries. Favorable historical

comparison, sustained high economic growth, satisfaction with interpersonal life, and a

high percentage of married people are among the explanations for China’s prevalence of

subjective well-being. The Chinese people’s high levels of satisfaction with their inter-

personal, material, and nonmaterial life domains, their positive assessments of their relative

living standards, and their high rate of marriage are three direct positive influences on

subjective well-being. Value priorities and other demographic characteristics also have

indirect bearings on subjective well-being in China.

Keywords Subjective well-being � Happiness � Enjoyment � Accomplishment �Life domains � China

For millennia, China has been the Center of East Asian civilization. In China, the teachings

of Confucius and Mencius have served as its ethical system and political ideology. These

teachings, known as Confucianism, have for more than 2,000 years profoundly affected

how the people of China and other East Asians live and what they value for themselves and

their country. Confucianism delineates the rights and duties of individuals relative to the

power and authority of fathers, husbands, and political leaders (Bell 2006; Bell et al 1995;

Compton 2000; Pye 1992; Tu 1996). As the birthplace of Confucianism, China constitutes

the core state of the Confucian Asian civilization zone, which stretches northeast to Korea

and Japan and southwest to Singapore and Vietnam.

X. Shu (&) � Y. Zhu (&)Department of Sociology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USAe-mail: [email protected]

Y. Zhue-mail: [email protected]

123

Soc Indic Res (2009) 92:191–225DOI 10.1007/s11205-008-9350-4

In recent years, Confucianism has been interpreted as the ideological and cultural

engine powering economic growth. According to this thesis, Confucianism embodies a

belief system that values and demands hard work, frugality, education, and the willing

sacrifice of the individual for the benefit of collective good. The East Asian economic

miracle is, therefore, seen as a direct result of the moral regeneration of Confucianism (Tu

1996). The recent growth of the Chinese economy has also been attributed to Confucian

tradition, at least partially. Emphasizing authority, hierarchical order, and discipline,

Confucianism is widely believed to have enabled the Chinese government to mobilize the

society and facilitate the achievement of economic development (Peng 1996).

Against this backdrop of a long Confucian tradition, the Chinese society has since the

late 1970s experienced some of the most rapid advances in human history. From the start

of the reform in the later 1970s to 2002, China’s GDP enjoyed an average annual growth

rate of 9.3%, and the total GDP grew more than eightfold. Per capita GDP grew more than

six times, and household consumption grew more than five times (China National Bureau

of Statistics 2003). In the past 30 years, China has lifted more than 400 million Chinese

people out of poverty (Ravallion and Chen 2004). The consumption structure of both urban

and rural residents has experienced substantial change, with the relative expenses on food

and clothing declining (China National Bureau of Statistics 2003). Life expectancy has also

increased rapidly (China National Bureau of Statistics 2003). China’s Human Develop-

ment Index Ranking increased 20% since 1990 (United Nations Development Program

2005).

China actively partakes in globalization and is increasingly engaged in international

trade and cultural exchanges. Its total imports and exports grew more than 30-fold, and

foreign direct investment increased more than 12-fold (China National Bureau of Statistics

2003) from 1978 to 2002. China received more than 36 million international tourists in

2002, and more than 16 million of its 1.3 billion residents traveled to other countries that

the same year (China National Bureau of Statistics 2003).

However, much of China’s phenomenal economic advance has yet to be translated into

social progress. The Communist state continues its one-party rule and controls all of the

vital institutions (all levels of government, all levels of legislature, the military, the courts,

and police) and major industries (utilities, telecommunications, and banking), despite

market reforms. Economic reforms also led to massive layoffs from state-owned enter-

prises. From 70 to 80% of rural households no longer have medical insurance after China’s

socialized health care system was dismantled (United Nations Development Program

2005). Income inequalities, both between individual citizens and between rural and urban

regions, have been on the rise. The uneven economic development and globalization also

resulted in regional inequality within China, with the coastal regions enjoying a much

higher level of development than the hinterland (United Nations Development Program

2005).

How have these drastic changes, particularly in Chinese economy and society during the

past three decades, affected the way the Chinese people live and what they value for

themselves and their country? How have those changes affected the quality of life the

Chinese people experience in their private and public lives? Have these economic gains

enabled them to live lives of subjective well-being, evidenced by feelings of happiness,

enjoyment, and accomplishment? What factors directly and indirectly influence the

Chinese people’s perceptions and evaluations of the quality of their lives? To answer these

questions, we start this paper with a brief introduction of China as a place to live; we

describe its geography, climate, population, economy, politics, culture, public health, and

environment. We next introduce a hypothesized conceptual model that depicts the ways in

192 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

which lifestyles, value priorities and satisfaction with various life domains influence

perceived quality of life, both directly and indirectly. We then analyze data from the 2006

AsiaBarometer Survey to examine subjective well-being, measured as perceived quality of

life in terms of happiness, enjoyment, and achievement, among Chinese people. We first

analyze the various lifestyles the Chinese lead and the effects demographic characteristics

have on their lifestyles. Next we ascertain the types of resources and activities that they

value most for their lives and how demographic characteristics affect their value priorities.

Afterwards, we analyze assessments of life quality as a whole and of its specific compo-

nents, i.e. happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. These analyses are followed by

analyses of how demographics, value priorities, and satisfaction with various life domains

affect the Chinese’s assessments of overall life quality. On the basis of all these analyses,

we finally construct a model that specifies both direct and indirect influences on perceived

quality of life in China.

1 Life in China

1.1 Geography and Climate

The territory of China contains a large variety of landscapes. In the East, there are

extensive and densely populated plains, while Southern China is dominated by hills and

low mountain ranges. In the West are major mountain ranges, high plateaus, and deserts.

The climate of China also varies greatly. Northern China has fairly hot summers and

extremely cold winters. Central China has a temperate continental climate. Southern China

has a subtropical climate and is very hot in the summer and mild in the winter.

1.2 Population

On this diverse land resides a population of more than 1.3 billion, the largest national

population in the world (China National Bureau of Statistics 2007). Sixty-five percent of

the Chinese population is concentrated in Eastern and Middle China, which constitute only

20% of the country’s land area. Western provinces account for more than 70% of China’s

land but less than 30% of its population. Overall, 56% of the Chinese are rural residents,

while 44% are urban dwellers (China National Bureau of Statistics 2007).

1.3 Economy

Since the late 1970s, China’s economy has been reforming from a socialist structure to a

market-oriented economy. Notable reforms include private contracts of farmlands,

allowances for private and other new forms of firms, relaxed prices, increased authority of

managers, and policies and practices to promote foreign investment. As a result, China’s

GDP increased six-fold since 1978, with an average annual GDP growth rate of 9.4% for

the past 25 years (United Nations Development Program 2005). With the rapid economic

development, there has been a significant rise in the Chinese people’s objective standard of

living. The percentage of the population in poverty has been reduced to 10%. The per-

centage of literate citizens increased from 20% in 1950 to more than 90% in 2004 (United

Nations Development Program 2005).

The Quality of Life in China 193

123

1.4 Politics

China is a one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Compared to the

strict control prior to the mid-1970s, the political climate has become more open. Openly

contested elections are held at the village and town levels. Despite these changes, the CCP

retains effective control and continues to impose heavy restrictions on the press, Internet

use, freedom of assembly, freedom of reproductive rights, and freedom of religion. There

is also widespread corruption among government leadership.

1.5 Education

China operates a 9-year compulsory education in 90% of its populated areas. As of 2002,

the literacy rate for the population aged 15 and older was 91%, with the rate for males at

95% and females 87%; the literacy rate among 15–24 year olds was 99% in 2000 (Ross

2004). For non-compulsory education, China adopts a shared-cost mechanism, charging

tuition at a certain percentage of the cost. This policy has posed considerable difficulties

for students from low-income families and regions.

1.6 Public Health

The health of the Chinese population has improved rapidly as a result of better nutrition.

Life expectancy increased from about 41 years in 1950 to 69 years in 1998 to 73 years in

2006. Infant mortality declined more than 40% from 37 per thousand in 1990 to about 20

per thousand in 2006 (World Health Statistics 2008). However, many of the free public

health services provided to the rural population have disappeared in the last 20 years, and

health care has become largely a private fee-for-service industry during China’s market

transition.

1.7 Environment

Despite fairly stringent regulations, the environment of China continues to deteriorate.

While seeking economic development, local communities frequently disregarded envi-

ronment regulations (Ma and Ortalano 2000). With rapid industrialization, air quality in

large cities has rapidly deteriorated. As a result, 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the

world are Chinese (World Bank and China State Environmental Protection Administration

2007). Due to expansion of deserts and poor agricultural practices, Northern China has also

suffered from dust storms each spring. In addition, China faces a severe water crisis as

increased industrial production has created considerable water pollution in many of the

country’s rivers. The drinking water of 300 million peasants is unsafe, and water quality in

one fifth of the cities is not up to standard. In addition, 400 out of 600 cities suffer from a

water shortage (Ma 2004).

2 The Conceptual Model

How do individual Chinese citizens appraise their quality of life? What forces have the

most influence on their experiences of well-being, evidenced by happiness, enjoyment, and

achievement? To answer these questions, we consider demographic characteristics, life-

style types, value priorities, and satisfaction levels with specific life domains. We take into

194 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

account the dynamics that exist between these forces, noting that satisfaction levels depend

on value priorities and lifestyles, which are, in turn, influenced by demographic charac-

teristics. We also examine how a Chinese person’s membership in a particular population

group affects his or her chances of experiencing a sense of wellbeing. Figure 1 shows the

interrelationships among demographic characteristics, lifestyles, value priorities, satisfac-

tion with life domains, and subjective well-being. It also presents the types and measures of

demographic characteristics, lifestyles, value priorities, life domain satisfaction, and sub-

jective well-being. We organize our analysis based on this conceptual model describing a

series of direct and indirect influences on subjective well-being.

We analyze the four sets of variables reported in Fig. 1 as influences on subjective well-

being, which we measure in terms of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. These

four variable sets influencing well-being are: (1) the demographic characteristics of gender,

age, educational attainment, marital status, household income, employment, and urban/

rural residency; (2) value priorities, which refer to the resources and activities the Chinese

consider to be the most important to their private and public lives; (3) lifestyles, which

refer to the various ways people spend their time and money and their interactions with

other people; and (4) satisfaction with 16 specific life domains encompassing personal life,

interpersonal life, material life, nonmaterial life, and public life.

3 Sampling and Respondents

We use data from the 2006 Asia Barometer Survey (ABS hereafter), a national sample of

2,000 males and females aged 20–69. The survey was carried out by the Chinese Academy

of Social Science Research Center in the summer of 2006. It used a three-stage stratified

sampling methodology. In the first stage, China was stratified into five population sizes and

three regions. In the second stage, 100 primary sampling units were chosen randomly from

Demographic Characteristics: Gender Age Education Marital status Household income Employment Urban/rural resident

Value Priorities: Being healthy Having a comfortable home Having enough to eat Having access to medical care Raising children

Lifestyles: Household related Access to resources Religiosity Participation in elections Trusting others Self-rated living standard Globalism and localism

Life Domain Satisfaction: Personal life Interpersonal life Material life Nonmaterial life Public life Subjective wellbeing:

Happiness Enjoyment Accomplishment

Fig. 1 A conceptual model of influences on happiness, enjoyment, accomplishment and overall subjectivewell-being


123

the city lists in the China Population Statistics Yearbook 2005, and two sampling units

(neighborhoods or villages) were selected from each of these units. In the last stage, ten

individuals were systematically chosen at equal intervals from the resident registration

ledger at each neighborhood or village. Then face-to-face interviews were conducted to

gather information. Appendix Table A1 describes the variables and their measurements

used in our analysis.

We compared data from the 2006 ABS with data from two recent national surveys and

the 2000 Census, and present demographic characteristics of the respondents in Appendix

Table A2. The table shows that the ABS respondents have similar demographic charac-

teristics with the two other national surveys. The respondents from all three national

surveys are slightly better educated than the census population and have a higher per-

centage residing in urban areas, however.

Regarding gender, 49% of the respondents are female and 51%, male. Respondents’

average age is 41. The largest age group, those 30–39, covers 29% of the respondents,

while the smallest age cohort, respondents aged 60–69, accounts for 10% of the sample.

Thirteen percent of respondents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, 13%, an associate

degree, 24%, a senior high education, and the rest, 50%, a junior high education or lower.

Seventy-nine percent of respondents are married, while 17% are single. The rest are either

divorced/separated (2%) or widowed (also 2%). When respondents are divided into three

income groups, 50% fall in the low income group (an annual household income of

20,000 RMB yuan or less), 30% are in the medium income range (an annual household

income of 20,000–40,000 yuan), and 20%, are in the high income category (an annual

household income of more than 40,000 yuan per year). Ten percent of the respondents are

unemployed, and the respondents are evenly divided between urban and rural residents

(Table 1).

4 Statistical Methods

To estimate the magnitude and significance of the hypothesized causal connections

described in Fig. 1 between various variable sets, we analyze either a series of OLS

regression or Logistic regression models, depending on whether the dependent variable is

continuous or dichotomous. Because multiple independent variables linking to the

dependent variables by arrows are simultaneously included in the statistical analyses in

these models, the estimated coefficients are considered ‘‘net’’ influences of these variables

after controlling for the effects of other variables in these models. Figure 1 helps plan the

analysis and represents the causal connections that are predicted by our hypothesis. Fol-

lowing our completion of a series of OLS and Logistic regressions will be another diagram

that depicts the relationships actually found. This second diagram will summarize complex

scientific ideas in terms of statistical relationships.

To report the OLS and Logistic regression results, we present partial regression coef-

ficients for OLS regression and odds-ratios for Logistic regression. For a continuous

dependent variable, a partial regression coefficient indicates the predicted change in the

dependent variable per each unit increase in the independent variable after controlling for

the effects of all the other variables in the model. For a dichotomous dependent variable, an

odds-ratio for a given independent variable represents the factor by which the odds change

for a one-unit change in the independent variable. An odds ratio[1 means the independent

variable increases the probability of event. If an odds ratio = 1, the independent variable

has no effect. If an odds ratio is smaller than 1, then the independent variable decreases the

196 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

odds. For instance, if odds ratio = 3, then we may say that when the independent variable

increases one unit, the odds that the dependent = 1 increase by a factor of 3, when other

variables are controlled. We report these ‘‘net’’ effects of independent variables in our

analytical tables for three reasons: (1) to rule out other relationships and find true asso-

ciations, (2) to connect our findings with the existing literature in which the predictors of

subjective well-being are always ‘‘net’’ effects with other variables controlled for, and (3)

to summarize our findings in a conceptual model as described by Fig. 1.

5 Lifestyles

5.1 Family Life

Confucianism emphasizes family as the most important institution of human life. To

examine the nature of Chinese family life, the ABS asked four questions concerning

household composition, home ownership, and the frequency of eating breakfast and dinner

at home. As Table 2 indicates, the average Chinese person lives in a two-generation

Table 1 Descriptive statistics for demographic variables

Percentage N

Gender

Female respondents 49.3 2000

Male respondents 50.7 2000

Age

Cohort 20–29 20.8 2000

Cohort 30–39 29.2 2000

Cohort 40–49 22.8 2000

Cohort 50–59 17.5 2000

Cohort 60–69 9.7 2000

Educational attainment

Primary school or below 18.2 2000

Junior high 31.6 2000

Senior high/vocational school 24.4 2000

Associate’s degree 13.3 2000

Bachelor’s degree and Graduate degree 12.5 2000

Marital status

Single 16.7 1988

Married 79.3 1988

Divorced and Widowed 4.0 1988

Household Income

Low income households: less than 20,000 yuan 49.2 1990

Median income households: 20,000–40,000 yuan 28.9 1990

High income households: 40,000 yuan and above 21.9 1990

Employment

Employed 93.0 2000

Unemployed 7.0 2000


123

Table 2 Descriptive statistics for lifestyle variables

Means/percentages N

Family related

Household Size 3.74 2000

Home ownership 77.5% 1992

Eating breakfast at home 81.0% 2000

Eating dinner at home 92.1% 2000

Access to resources

Access to no. of utilities (public water supply; electricity; LPGor piped gas; fixed-line phone; mobile phone; facsimile; cable tv)

4.91 2000

Access to communication technologies

Frequency viewing Internet webpages by computers

Never 59.0% 1968

Seldom 11.7% 1968

Several times a month 5.6% 1968

Several times a week 8.7% 1968

Almost everyday 14.9% 1968

Frequency reading or writing emails by computers 1.63

Never 70.5% 1959

Seldom 12.2% 1959




Frequency using mobile phone to send and receive messages 2.77 1981

Never 39.7% 1981

Seldom 14.1% 1981




Religious behavior

Being religious 19.9% 1993

Christian 4.1% 1993

Muslim 0.7% 1993

Buddhist 13.4% 1993

Frequency pray 1.56 1996

Political involvement

Vote in national elections 28.5% 1991

Vote in local elections 43.3% 1989

Globalism and localism

Being able to speak English 6.3% 1997

Overseas connections 44.1% 2000

Identify oneself as Chinese 84.4% 1990

Being proud to be Chinese 88.6% 1991

Being able to memorize the national anthem 89.9% 2000

Indentify oneself as Asian 43.5% 1998

198 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

household with 3.7 members. More than three out of four Chinese people (78%) own the

place in which they live. Four out of five (81%) eat breakfast at home, and nine out of ten

(92%) eat dinner at home.

How does each demographic characteristic affect the way the Chinese live their lives?

To address this question, we estimated the independent effects of seven demographic

variables on each of the aforementioned four indicators of family-related lifestyles by the

techniques of ordinary least square and logit regression. Table 3 reports results of these

multivariate analyses. We use B to represent regression coefficients for OLS regressions

and Exp(B) to represent odds-ratios for logit regressions. The coefficients reported in this

table show that marital status significantly affects all four indicators of family-related

lifestyles. Compared with single people, the married live in larger households (?.32); are

more likely to be homeowners (the odds-ratio increases by a factor of 2.0); and have

breakfast and dinner at home more often (the odds-ratios change by factors of 1.83 and

2.32 respectively).

Education also significantly influences family-related lifestyles. Specifically, greater

education is negatively associated with household size. Compared with a primary school

education; a junior high school education decreases household size by .61; a senior-high

education, by .96; and a college education, by more than 1.0. In terms of having meals at

home, those with a senior high school education and more are significantly less likely to

have breakfast at home (odds-ratios decrease by a factor of .40 or more), perhaps partly due

to their busy work schedule. Somewhat surprising is the finding that those with a college

education are no more likely than those with a primary education to be homeowners. This

may be due to the fact that when the housing market first opened, state enterprises and

institutions heavily subsidized housing purchases of their employees. In particular, these

work units considered the seniority of their employees and granted those with longer

seniority favorable prices in purchasing apartments previously owned by these work units.

In addition, foreign companies, joint ventures, and private companies usually do not

provide housing subsidies. Thus, it was work sector and job seniority, not educational level

or technical expertise, that determined both a person’s access to and the price of housing in

the early housing market that was heavily subsidized by work units. Only in more recent

years has the housing market become fully commercialized, allowing income and

knowledge to play an important role in homeownership (Logan 2002).

As expected, income is positively associated with homeownership. High-income people

are more likely to own their home than low-income people. Age is also an important

predictor on three of the four measures of family-related lifestyles: household size,

homeownership, and having breakfast at home. Compared with those in their 20s, those 40

and older have fewer household members, are more likely to be homeowners, and are more

likely to eat breakfast at home. In particular, the difference between those in their 60s and

Table 2 continued

Means/percentages N

Other

Trusting others 63.9% 1994

Self-rated standard of living

High 10.7% 1998

Medium 68.1% 1998

Low 21.2% 1998


123

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0.1

3***

0.2

9***

0.9

5-

0.1

1*

1.0

70.4

6***

R2

0.1

10.0

70.0

80.0

30.2

90.5

20.4

50.4

70.0

50.0

60.0

60.0

9

200 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

Ta

ble

3co

nti

nued

Glo

bal

ism

and

loca

lism

Sel

f-ra

ted

stan

dar

dof

livin

gO

ther

Spea

k

Engli

sha

(Exp(B

))

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sea

(B)

Iden

tify

as

Chin

ese

(Exp(B

))

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ud

tobe

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ese

(Exp(B

))

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ori

ze

anth

em

(Exp(B

))

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tify

as

Asi

an

(Exp(B

))

Low

(Exp(B

))

Med

ium

(Exp(B

))

Hig

h

(Exp(B

))

Tru

stin

g

oth

ers

(Exp(B

))

Mal

e,ag

es20–29,

pri

mar

ysc

hool

educa

tion,

single

,lo

wfa

mil

yin

com

e,

not

unem

plo

yed

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ral

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den

t

0.0

00.3

4***

2.3

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9***

6.0

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9***

0.6

71.5

9*

0.0

2***

1.4

1

Gen

der

Fem

ale

1.3

50.0

00.8

31.3

3*

0.8

10.8

90.8

11.2

00.9

20.8

7

Age

cohort

30–39

0.3

3***

0.0

51.8

9***

0.7

80.7

30.8

41.4

10.8

40.8

71.4

3*

40–49

0.4

0*

0.0

41.8

8**

1.4

30.4

8*

1.1

81.2

80.8

70.9

61.9

6***

50–59

0.1

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71.5

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30.8

61.2

31.5

80.6

4*

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60–69

0.0

9*

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63.3

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tional

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t

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rhig

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ior

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oci

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or’

san

dgra

duat

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tal

statu

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ried

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orc

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ated

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hold

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me

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ium

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yed

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123

Ta

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lism

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sha

(Exp(B

))

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ese

(Exp(B

))

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(Exp(B

))

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ori

ze

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em

(Exp(B

))

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tify

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(Exp(B

))

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(Exp(B

))

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(Exp(B

))

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202 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

those in their 20s is the largest. Compared with those in their 20s, the 60-year-olds live in

households that are smaller by almost one person (.7), and the odds-ratios of being a

homeowner and having breakfast at home are nearly three-fold greater (2.96 and 2.73

respectively).

Lastly, the family life of urban residents differs from that of rural residents in size,

homeownership, and eating habits. Urban residents live in smaller households and are less

likely to be homeowners with the odds-ratio being only 47% of those of rural residents.

Moreover, the odds-ratio for urbanites to have breakfast at home is only 70% of rural

residents.

5.2 Access to Modern Utilities and Digital Technologies

To what extent do the Chinese people live a modern life? To address this question, the

ABS first asked respondents whether their households were provided with seven utility

services, including water supply, electricity, LPG or piped gas, fixed-line phone, mobile

phone, facsimile, and cable TV. Of these seven utilities surveyed, the Chinese people as a

whole averaged fewer than five (4.9). Nearly three out of five (57%) households have

access to electricity, a public water system, LPG gas, and a fixed phone line. Almost every

household has access to at least one of these four modern utility services (see Table 2).

When asked about access to the Internet, e-mail, and cellular phone service, majorities

reported not having access to these digital telecommunication technologies. More than half

of the Chinese population ‘‘seldom’’ or ‘‘never’’: (1) viewed Internet web pages by

computers (71%); (2) read or wrote emails by computers (83%); or (3) read or wrote

messages by mobile phones (54%). Among the three telecommunication technologies, cell

messaging is the most widely used with 30% of respondents reporting messaging via

mobile phone almost every day, as compared to 15% for the Internet and 5% for email (see

Table 2).

Table 3 shows the effects of demographic characteristics on access to modern utilities

and digital technologies. Education is positively associated with access to modern utility

services. The college educated use the Internet, e-mail, and cellular phones more than do

those with an associate degree, while the latter use these telecommunication technologies

more often than do high school graduates. Higher income and urban residency are asso-

ciated with greater access both in terms of utilities and the modern telecommunication

technologies. Age is, however, negatively associated with the use of Internet, e-mail, and

cellular phone but has no effect on the number of modern utilities accessed. Married people

are less likely than single people to use the Internet, e-mail, and cellular phone, and women

use the Internet and e-mail less than do men.

5.3 Religious and Spiritual Life

The ABS asked respondents about their religious affiliations and their level of spiritual

activity as measured by praying and meditating. Only 20% of the Chinese respondents

reported a religious affiliation with 13% being Buddhists, 4% Christians, and 1% Muslims.

A much smaller minority of about 10% reported praying daily (7%) or weekly (3%). Nine

out of ten Chinese prayed ‘‘never’’ (68%) or only ‘‘on special occasions’’ (22%). Among

those who are more religious are females, the least educated, rural residents, and those with

a high household income. While higher education and urban living tends to detract from

religious life, more income tends to contribute to it.


123

5.4 Political Involvement

In China, popular elections take place only at the village level and local areas in cities.

Only these elected local representatives can then participate in the elections at the next

level. Members of the national legislature, the People’s Congress, are thus elected through

a series of indirect elections. As a result, more than one-third of respondents reported no

experience with either national or local elections. Men, the married, older people, and those

with higher household incomes are more involved in national elections than are their

counterparts. Education is positively associated with voting on the national level. Com-

pared with an elementary school education, a college education increases the odds-ratio of

voting nationally by more than three folds (Exp(B) = 3.06). The unemployed and urban

residents are less likely to vote locally than their counterparts; their odds-ratios to voting

are reduced to 61% and 46% respectively.

5.5 National Identify and Global Life

Chinese identity remains very strong with 84% of respondents identifying themselves as

Chinese, 89% reporting pride in their Chinese identity, and 90% reporting being able to

recite the Chinese national anthem from memory. More than two out of five (44%) also

identify themselves as Asian. In terms of connections to the outside world, 44% of

respondents reported having some form of interaction with overseas people or institutions,

and 4% reported being able to speak English. Older people are less likely to be able to

speak English and are more likely to identify themselves as Chinese. More education and

income are associated with more overseas connections and greater ability to speak English.

More education also results in a higher likelihood of being able to recite the Chinese

national anthem and a greater identification with Asia. Gender, marital status, employment

status, and community size are not significantly associated with either global or local

identity.

5.6 Standard of Living

When asked to rate their own standard of living, more than two-thirds (68%) of respon-

dents rated it as ‘‘average.’’ About one in ten (11%) rated it as ‘‘high’’ or ‘‘very high’’ while

twice as many (21%) rated it ‘‘low’’ and ‘‘very low.’’ As expected, education and income

are associated positively with high ratings of standard of living. The unemployed are more

likely to report a low standard of living. Oddly, urban residents were more likely than rural

residents to report both a high and a low standard of living. Why would more urban

residents than rural residents place themselves in the low category? We see two possible

explanations for this surprising finding. The first reason is that the poor and rich segments

of the Chinese population actually are concentrated in urban areas, an objective fact. The

second reason is that the poor in rural areas compare themselves only with their peers who

are equally poor, while the poor in urban areas have rich neighbors to whom they compare

themselves, creating a subjective difference.

5.7 Trusting Others

To what extent do the Chinese people trust each other? Nearly two-thirds (64%) expressed

trust in other people. Of the six demographic variables, Table 3 shows that only two, age

and education, have significant relationships with trust. Those 40 and older trust people

204 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

more than those in their 30s, while those in their 30s trust others more than those in their

20s. Those with some college education trust others more than people without college

education; college education increases the odds-ratio of trusting others to close to two-fold.

6 Value Priorities

What do the Chinese value most for themselves and their country? To explore this

question, the ABS asked respondents to choose their five most important life concerns from

a list of 25. Table 4 lists, in descending order, the percentages of the Chinese who chose

each of the 25 life concerns as one of their five most important. Health tops the list, being

chosen by 84% of respondents. It is followed by having a comfortable home (54%) and

having enough to eat (46%). Having access to good medical care (36%), raising children

(33%), and spending time with family (30%) are among what about one-third of the

Chinese considered important. Among the concerns that the Chinese people value least are

freedom of expression and association (3%), being famous (3%), appreciating art and

culture (2%), being devout (2%), and dressing up (2%). The fact that all of the top three

value—being healthy, having a comfortable home, and having enough to eat—concern the

Table 4 Value priorities by prevalence

Rank Value priorities Percentage

1 Being healthy 84

2 Having a comfortable home 54

3 Having enough to eat 46

4 Having access to good medical care 36

5 Raising children 33

6 Spending time with your family 30

7 Earning a high income 26

8 Being able to live without fear of crime 24

9 Being on good terms with others 23

10 Having a job 22

11 Being successful at work 20

12 Living in a country with a good government 14

13 Safe and clean environment 13

14 Enjoying a pastime 11

15 Expressing your personality or using your talents 11

16 Pleasant community to live 9

17 Having access to higher education 7

18 Winning over others 6

19 Contributing to your local community or to society 5

20 Owning lots of nice things 4

21 Freedom of expression and association 3

22 Being famous 3

23 Appreciating art and culture 2

24 Being devout 2

25 Dressing up 2


123

physical and financial aspects of life indicates that the Chinese people remain, by and

large, firmly attached to the values of materialism rather than post-materialism.

6.1 Value Priorities by Demographic Characteristics

What influences people’s value priorities? Table 5 shows that some demographic char-

acteristics affect the choice of the top ten value priorities. Gender matters, as more women

than men think that raising children and spending time with family are of high priority,

while more men regard being able to live without the fear of crime as important.

Age also makes a difference. People younger than 50 emphasize earning a high income

more than do older cohorts, while older cohorts emphasize having enough to eat, having

access to good medical care, and being able to live without fear of crime. Those in the

oldest age group (60–69) also emphasize having a comfortable home more than those in

the youngest group (20–29). Those in their 20s, on the other hand, value raising children

and having a job much more than other age groups, probably because those in their 20s are

just entering the adult roles of workers and parents.

The top ten value priorities also vary somewhat by education. Education is negatively

associated with a focus on having enough to eat. Compared with the least educated, the

college-educated are less likely to stress having a comfortable home and raising children

and are more likely to care about being on good terms with others.

Marital status also influences value priorities. Compared with single people, the married

and those with marriage experiences are more likely to stress the importance of raising

children (by factors of more than 7 and 4 respectively), while married people also

emphasize being able to live without fear of crime more. Compared with singles, married

people are less likely to emphasize being on good terms with others and having a good job.

Household income also influences value priorities. Compared with the lowest income

group, those in the two higher income groups are less likely to value having enough to eat

and having a job and are more likely to value living without fear of crime. The most

wealthy are also the least likely to highlight the importance of having a comfortable home.

The well-off people in China are less concerned about material issues, which they have

under control, and are more concerned about safety, which is largely beyond their control.

7 Global Assessments of Life

How do the Chinese feel about their overall life experiences? To what degree do they

experience happiness, enjoyment, and achievement, the three components of global life

quality? To explore this question, the ABS asked respondents to rate separately their

experiences of happiness, enjoyment, and achievement. Majorities reported the experience

of these three qualities. Specifically, 74% said that they enjoy life very often or sometimes,

62% are very happy or quite happy, and 58% have achieved a great deal or some of what

they want out of life. However, those who report the most positive ratings constitute

minorities with 23% enjoying life often, 19% feeling very happy, and 9% achieving a great

deal of what they want out of life (Fig. 2).

In terms of these three qualities of life, the Chinese appraise their life quality more

positively than do South Koreans and residents of Hong Kong but slightly less positively

than the Japanese (see this issue). This finding is consistent with data from the 1995 World

Value Survey that showed the Chinese have a greater sense of well-being than do residents

of countries with similar or higher levels of GNP per capita such as Peru, India, Pakistan,

206 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

Ta

ble

5O

dds-

rati

oof

logis

tic

regre

ssio

nof

top

ten

val

ue

pri

ori

ties

by

dem

ogra

phic

char

acte

rist

ics

Bei

ng

hea

lthy

(Exp(B

))

Hav

ing

aco

mfo

rtab

lehom

e(E

xp(B

))

Hav

ing

enough

toea

t(E

xp(B

))

Hav

ing

acce

ssto

good

med

ical

care

(Exp(B

))

Rai

sing

chil

dre

n(E

xp(B

))

Spen

din

gti

me

wit

hyour

fam

ily

(Exp(B

))

Ear

nin

ga

hig

hin

com

e(E

xp(B

))

Bei

ng

able

toli

ve

wit

hout

fear

of

crim

e(E

xp(B

))

Bei

ng

on

good

term

sw

ith

oth

ers

(Exp(B

))

Hav

ing

ajo

b(E

xp(B

))

Mal

e,ag

es20–29,

pri

mar

ysc

hool

educa

tion,

single

,lo

wfa

mil

yin

com

e,not

unem

plo

yed

,ru

ral

resi

den

t

2.7

4***

1.7

4***

1.6

7**

0.1

8***

0.0

8***

0.3

1***

0.4

6***

0.1

3***

0.3

4***

0.5

1***

Gen

der

Fem

ale

1.0

20.9

81.0

31.1

21.3

3**

1.3

5***

1.0

10.7

3***

0.9

61.0

0

Age

cohort

30–39

1.4

41.1

51.4

2*

1.5

8**

1.1

30.9

80.8

91.2

80.8

01.2

1

40–49

1.5

31.0

52.0

0***

1.7

0**

1.0

60.7

70.7

41.6

7**

0.9

81.0

3

50–59

1.4

11.2

72.6

7***

2.2

8***

0.9

70.9

40.5

5***

1.9

8***

0.6

3*

0.7

3

60–69

1.6

81.6

9*

2.5

6***

4.8

0***

0.5

6*

1.3

70.1

2***

2.0

5***

0.6

60.5

3*

Educa

tional

att

ain

men

t

Junio

rhig

h1.2

50.9

10.7

3*

1.0

91.0

61.2

80.9

31.0

91.4

11.0

4

Sen

ior

hig

h/v

oca

tional

school

1.4

00.7

2*

0.4

4***

1.2

20.8

51.0

11.3

41.2

11.4

51.2

9

Ass

oci

ate’

sdeg

ree

1.4

30.7

30.3

2***

0.8

90.6

81.3

21.6

0*

1.2

71.4

80.9

7

Bac

hel

or’

san

dgra

duat

edeg

ree

0.9

80.4

4***

0.1

7***

0.7

30.3

5***

1.1

51.4

00.9

41.8

3*

1.2

9

Mari

tal

statu

s

Mar

ried

1.1

50.8

90.7

31.4

27.5

4***

1.1

20.9

61.6

6*

0.6

6*

0.6

4*

Div

orc

ed/s

epar

ated

/wid

ow

ed0.9

10.7

50.8

21.0

54.6

5***

1.1

01.3

81.6

00.6

30.7

1

House

hold

inco

me

Med

ium

:20,0

00–40,0

00

Yuan

0.8

30.8

70.5

5***

0.8

41.1

30.8

50.9

21.3

6*

1.1

20.7

7*

Hig

h:

40,0

00

and

Yuan

and

above

0.8

70.6

6***

0.4

4***

0.9

81.2

71.0

61.0

21.5

4***

1.0

90.5

9***

Unem

plo

yed

0.9

10.9

31.2

21.5

2*

0.9

40.6

6*

0.8

31.2

90.7

31.4

5

Urb

an

resi

den

t1.3

7*

0.9

61.0

71.4

9***

1.0

21.1

60.8

80.8

61.0

20.7

7*

R2

0.0

10.0

40.1

40.0

70.1

00.0

20.0

50.0

30.0

30.0

3

*P

\.0

5,

**

P\

.01,

***

P\

.001


123

Fig. 2 Experience of happiness, enjoyment and accomplishment

208 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

Slovakia, and Hungary (Inglehart and Klingemann 2000). One explanation is that the

Chinese still have fresh memories of the economic difficulties they experienced in

childhood and youth, and that their past experiences with poverty, famine, and economic

hardship make them more appreciative of their present circumstances. The finding that

relatively large majorities of the Chinese are experiencing happiness, enjoyment, and

achievement may therefore confirm the hypothesis that rapid growth in income is asso-

ciated with a higher level of subjective well-being (Parducci 1995).

Fig. 3 Percentages of respondents reporting number of positive and negative experiences of happiness,enjoyment and accomplishment


123

Combined measures of the three qualities of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment

convey the same messages that the majority of Chinese people are happy, find life

enjoyable, and are achieving what they want out of life. Figure 3 shows that two out of five

(41%) experience all of these three qualities and live a highly desirable life of happiness,

enjoyment, and achievement. One-quarter (26%) experience two, and nearly nine out of ten

Chinese (87%) experience at least one.

7.1 Subjective Well-being by Demographic Characteristics

As in the case of value priorities, demographic characteristics matter considerably in how the

Chinese experience happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. When all other demo-

graphic variables are controlled for, Table 6 shows that household income is consistently

positively associated with the experience of enjoyment, happiness, and accomplishment.

Table 6 OLS regression coefficients and odds-ratios of logistic regression of positive experience of hap-piness, enjoyment, accomplishment, and overall quality life by population groups

Positive experience Overall quality of life

Happiness(Exp(B))

Enjoyment(Exp(B))

Accomplishment(Exp(B))

No. ofpositiveexperiences(B)

7-pointsummaryindex (B)

Male, ages 20–29, primary schooleducation, single, low familyincome, not unemployed, ruralresident

0.55*** 1.41 0.56*** 1.34*** 1.51***

Gender

Female 1.23* 1.06 1.08 0.08 0.13

Age cohort

30–39 0.73* 1.13 1.19 -0.01 -0.04

40–49 0.75 1.07 1.09 -0.03 -0.02

50–59 0.74 1.19 1.25 0.01 0.12

60–69 1.24 1.39 1.66* 0.22* 0.56***


Junior high 1.21 1.18 0.98 0.07 0.20

Senior high/vocational school 1.43* 1.54* 1.10 0.18* 0.36***

Associate’s degree 1.52* 1.30 1.10 0.17 0.37**

Bachelor’s and graduate degree 1.54* 1.31 1.91*** 0.28** 0.56***

Marital status

Married 1.96*** 1.11 2.01*** 0.33*** 0.43***

Divorced/separated/widowed 0.91 0.49* 1.18 -0.15 -0.04

Household income

Medium: 20,000–40,000 Yuan 1.46*** 1.63*** 1.69*** 0.30*** 0.37***

High: 40,000 and Yuan and above 1.96*** 2.68*** 2.91*** 0.54*** 0.74***

Unemployed 0.65* 0.84 0.58*** -0.27*** -0.30*

Urban resident 1.01 1.02 0.87 -0.02 -0.11

R2 0.05 0.04 0.08 0.09 0.07

* P \ .05, ** P \ .01, ***P \ .001

210 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

Compared with those with a low income, those from median- and high-income households

are from one-half to nearly two times more likely to experience the three components of well-

being. Education is also positively correlated with two measures of well-being: those with a

senior high and more education are more likely to experience happiness than are those with

an elementary school education; and those with a bachelor’s degree are more likely to

experience a sense of accomplishment than are those with an elementary school education.

Marital status also has a bearing on those experiences. Compared with single people, married

people have greater odds for experiencing happiness and accomplishment by a factor of 1.96

and 2.01. Divorced/separated/widowed people are half as likely to enjoy life as are single

people. Unemployment also dampens people’s chances of experiencing happiness and

accomplishment; the unemployed are 40% less likely to experience happiness and accom-

plishment than are the employed. Gender, age, and community size have little impact on the

experience of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment.

A similar pattern persists when we use the total number of positive experiences and a

7-point summary index of life qualities as the dependent variable (see Table 6). The

Chinese who are in their 60s, who are married, who are employed, who have a college or a

graduate degree, and who command a large income are more likely than their counterparts

to experience a higher overall quality of life as measured by totaling their positive

responses concerning happiness, enjoyment, and achievement. Among age groups, the

oldest group of those in their 60s scores highest on the summary index of life quality.

8 Life Domain Satisfaction

To what extent are the Chinese satisfied or dissatisfied with a variety of their life domains?

The ABS asked Chinese respondents to rate 16 life domains on a 5-point numeric scale

ranging from very dissatisfied to very satisfied. We grouped these domains into the five life

spheres of (1) personal life, (2) interpersonal life, (3) material life, (4) non-material life,

and (5) public life. For the domains in each life sphere, Table 7 reports the mean on the

5-point scale, percentages expressing satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and the percentage

differential index measuring the balance of these two percentages.

In Table 7, we assigned values of -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 to the five categories of being most

dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, neither dissatisfied nor satisfied, somewhat satisfied,

and most satisfied and calculated the mean scores for each of the 16 life domains.

According to the means reported in this table, the top five most satisfying domains are

marriage, friendship, health, family life, and neighbors. The bottom five domains are the

social welfare system, the democratic system, public safety, household income, and job.

Most of the domains in the top five groups belong to the interpersonal life sphere, while

most of those in the bottom five belong to the public life sphere.

Table 7 shows that Chinese people are most satisfied in the sphere of interpersonal life

and least satisfied in that of public life. In the interpersonal life sphere, for example, the

smallest proportion of satisfied respondents is nearly one-half (49%), while the largest is

nearly three-fourths (73%). Moreover, less than 10% reports dissatisfaction with any of the

interpersonal life domains, which include marriage, friendship, family life, and neighbors.

In the public life sphere, on the other hand, minorities ranging from 14 to 31% are satisfied

with the four domains of the environment, public safety, the democratic system, and the

social welfare system. Moreover, those expressing dissatisfaction outnumber those

expressing satisfaction in all of these domains, excepting the environment. Concerning the

social welfare system, the dissatisfied are nearly four times as numerous as the satisfied.


123

In the other three life spheres, personal life, material life, and nonmaterial life, the former

outnumber the latter by a large margin. Same as in other Confucian countries, ordinary

citizens in China are least satisfied with the public sphere of their lives.

In Table 8, we considered together the ratings of all the domains for each life sphere and

calculated the percentages of its domains which the Chinese people rated satisfied and

dissatisfied. As expected, the interpersonal life sphere registers the highest level of satis-

faction and the lowest level of dissatisfaction (57% vs. 7%). The public life sphere registers

the lowest level of satisfaction and the highest level of dissatisfaction (22% vs. 32%).

Regarding all of the other four spheres, the satisfied are more common than the dissatisfied.

Satisfaction is greatest concerning the interpersonal life sphere, where the satisfied out-

number the dissatisfied by a large margin of 52%. The personal life sphere is the next most

satisfying, followed by the material life sphere and the nonmaterial life sphere. In China

today, the quality of public life is in the greatest need of improvement.

8.1 Life-domain Satisfaction by Demographic Characteristics

We now examine how seven demographic characteristics and respondents’ top five value

priorities affect their evaluations of the five life spheres. Table 9 reports OLS regression

Table 7 Assessment of life domains

Domains Scale points (%) Mean Percentages

-2 -1 0 1 2 Satisfied Dissatisfied PDI

Personal life sphere

Health 2.46 6.93 34.10 33.85 22.65 0.67 56.50 9.39 47.11

Education 4.09 17.02 46.41 24.85 7.63 0.15 32.47 21.11 11.36

Job 7.48 18.98 42.81 22.12 8.61 0.05 30.74 26.46 4.28

Interpersonal life sphere

Marriage 0.77 2.62 23.47 33.89 39.26 1.08 73.15 3.39 69.76

Friendship 0.65 1.81 37.08 37.88 22.57 0.80 60.45 2.47 57.98

Family life 1.96 5.94 40.39 33.05 18.66 0.61 51.71 7.90 43.81

Neighbors 1.26 4.72 45.33 32.08 16.62 0.58 48.69 5.97 42.72

Material life sphere

Housing 4.76 11.48 34.95 35.06 13.74 0.42 48.8 16.25 32.55

Standard of living 2.06 10.55 55.33 23.77 8.29 0.26 32.06 12.61 19.45

Household income 5.37 16.17 52.64 20.39 5.42 0.04 25.82 21.55 4.27

Nonmaterial life sphere

Spiritual life 3.88 11.05 45.71 27.04 12.31 0.33 39.35 14.93 24.42

Leisure 5.35 15.09 49.27 23.07 7.22 0.12 30.29 20.44 9.84

Public life sphere

The condition of theenvironment

4.84 16.73 47.13 24.19 7.11 0.12 31.3 21.57 9.73

Public safety 7.25 22.21 45.27 19.64 5.64 -0.06 25.28 29.46 -4.18

The democratic system 10.23 19.29 52.42 13.94 4.12 -0.18 18.07 29.52 -11.45

Social welfare system 18.07 30.71 37.61 9.75 3.86 -0.49 13.6 48.78 -35.18

Notes: -2—very dissatisfied, -1—somewhat dissatisfied, 0—neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 1—some-what satisfied, 2—very satisfied

212 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

coefficients estimating the direct effects of these variables on summary ratings of five

domain sphere indices. Women are significantly more satisfied with material and public

life domains than men. Compared with married and singles, the divorced/separated/wid-

owed are significantly less satisfied with three of the five life spheres: personal, material,

and nonmaterial. Age is positively associated with satisfaction with material and public life

domains, and those in their 60s are the age group most satisfied with all five life domains.

Household income is positively associated with satisfaction in all five life domain spheres.

Compared with those with a low income, those with a middle and high income are

significantly more satisfied with all five life spheres. Education is positively correlated with

satisfaction in all of the domains except public life. The unemployed are significantly less

content than the employed are with their personal, nonmaterial, and public lives. Compared

with rural residents, urban residents are significantly less content with their material life

but are more content with their nonmaterial life.

Prior research has shown that materialism is negatively correlated with subjective well-

being (Kasser 2000; Sirgy 1998). People who view material goods and services as more

important than other resources such as interpersonal relationships and personal growth are

known to be less happy than people with the opposite view (Ryan and Dziurawiec 2001).

This is consistent with our findings. Among the top five value priorities reported in

Table 9, the two indicative of materialism—having a comfortable home and having

enough to eat—are negatively associated with satisfaction levels for all five life spheres.

Too much concern with physical health also appears to detract from satisfaction in all these

spheres.

9 Influences on Subjective Well-being

We use four sets of predictors to estimate the sources of subjective well-being as measured

by happiness, enjoyment, accomplishment, and their combined index. The four sets of

predictors include: (1) demographic characteristics (gender, age, educational attainment,

marital status, household income, employment status, urban/rural residency), (2) lifestyles,

(3) value priorities, and (4) satisfaction with life domains. Table 10 shows the coefficients

estimating the direct and independent effect of each predictor on happiness, enjoyment,

accomplishment, and overall sense of well-being as measured by the index. For happiness,

enjoyment, and accomplishment, we used logistic regression and report odds ratios.

Table 8 Percentage of life domains rated as satisfied and dissatisfied by domain spheres

Domains satisfied Domains dissatisfied Balance N

Personal life spherea 40.2 18.8 21.4 1996

Interpersonal life sphereb 57.4 5.2 52.2 1999

Material life spherec 35.6 16.8 18.9 2000

Non-material life sphered 34.8 17.8 17.0 1986

Public life spheree 22.1 32.3 -10.2 1995

a Personal life sphere includes health; education; and jobb Interpersonal life sphere encompasses friendship; marriage; family; and neighborc Material life sphere encompasses housing; standards of living; and incomed Non-material life sphere encompasses leisure; and spiritual lifee Public life sphere encompasses public safety; environment; welfare; and democratic politics


123

In these estimates, an odds ratio larger than one indicates a positive effect. For the index

measuring overall sense of well-being, we used OLS regression and report regression

coefficients.

How satisfied the Chinese people are with various life domains is an important predictor

of happiness, enjoyment, accomplishment, and overall subjective well-being. Especially

important is satisfaction with the four domains of interpersonal life. For those who are

satisfied with their interpersonal life, their odds to report happiness are 68% higher, and

that to report both enjoyment and accomplishment are 18% higher. Satisfaction with

interpersonal life sphere is also positively associated with the overall index of subjective

well-being; those satisfied with their interpersonal life score a quarter- point higher on

overall subjective well-being than those who are not.

Table 9 OLS regression coefficients for five domain sphere indices by demographic characteristics

Personal Interpersonal Material Nonmaterial Public

Male, ages 20–29, primary schooleducation, single, low family income,not unemployed, rural resident

0.15 0.94*** -0.46** 0.06 -0.68***

Gender

Female -0.05 0.04 0.18** 0.05 0.15*

Age cohort

30–39 0.11 -0.09 0.16 -0.18 0.13

40–49 0.35** 0 0.44*** -0.07 0.38***

50–59 0.11 -0.07 0.39*** -0.18 0.26*

60–69 0.42** 0.24* 0.95*** 0.42* 0.74***


Junior high 0.37*** 0.21** 0.08 0.03 0.1

Senior high/vocational school 0.53*** 0.44*** 0.30** 0.36** 0.02

Associate’s degree 0.68*** 0.36*** 0.29* 0.41** 0.02

Bachelor’s and graduate degree 0.94*** 0.42*** 0.38* 0.42* 0.26

Marital status

Married -0.04 0.16 0.26* -0.06 0.04

Divorced/separated/widowed -0.62*** -0.25 -0.53** -0.66*** -0.15

Household income

Medium: 20,000–40,000 Yuan 0.21** 0.18*** 0.71*** 0.25** 0.27***

High: 40,000 and Yuan and above 0.58*** 0.37*** 1.23*** 0.58*** 0.35***

Unemployed -0.27* -0.14 -0.21 -0.34* -0.25*

Urban resident 0.04 -0.11 -0.33*** 0.25*** -0.11

Value priorities (top five categories)

Being healthy -0.03 0.17** 0.09 0.14 0.11

Having a comfortable home -0.03 -0.04 -0.06 -0.03 -0.01

Having enough to eat -0.14 -0.08 -0.07 -0.15 -0.14*

Having access to good medical care ifrequired

-0.26*** -0.11* -0.16* -0.16* -0.25***

Raising children -0.11 0.02 0.03 0.12 -0.07

R2 0.11 0.06 0.15 0.08 0.05

* P \ .05, ** P \ .01, *** P \ .001

214 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

Table 10 OLS regression coefficients and odds-ratios of logistic regression for Happiness, Enjoyment,accomplishment, Overall measure of quality of life by all explanatory variables

Happiness Enjoyment Accomplishment OverallExp(B) Exp(B) Exp(B) B

Male, ages 20–29, primary school education,single, low family income, not unemployed,rural resident

0.03*** 0.79 0.14*** 0.51

Demographic characteristics

Gender (female = 1) 1.19 1.01 0.96 0.05

Age cohort

30–39 0.72 1.17 1.16 -0.04

40–49 0.64* 0.98 0.86 -0.16

50–59 0.71 1.24 1.1 0.06

60–69 0.98 0.94 1.08 0.2


Junior high 1.14 0.92 0.96 0.08

Senior high/vocational school 1.11 0.96 0.98 0.08

Associate’s degree 1.16 0.8 1.02 0.08

Bachelor’s and graduate degree 1.1 0.75 2.13** 0.18

Marital status

Married 1.9*** 0.91 1.82*** 0.25*

Divorced/separated/widowed 1.34 0.64 1.77 0.25

Household income

Medium: 20,000–40,000 Yuan 0.98 1.17 1.04 -0.02

High: 40,000 and Yuan and above 0.92 1.36 1.33 0.03

Unemployed 0.79 1.07 0.61* -0.08

Urban resident 1.17 1.2 1.12 0.04

Life domain satisfaction

Personal life sphere 1.03 1.08 0.96 0.04

Interpersonal life sphere 1.68*** 1.18** 1.18*** 0.26***

Material life sphere 1.39*** 1.34*** 1.80*** 0.28***

Nonmaterial life sphere 1.09* 1.19*** 0.98 0.09***

Public life sphere 0.96 1.05 1.01 0.05*

Value priorities

Being healthy 1.06 0.99 0.76 -0.02

Having a comfortable home 0.98 0.99 0.91 -0.07

Having enough to eat 1.13 0.79 0.96 -0.02

Having access to good medical care if required 0.92 0.89 1.17 -0.07

Raising children 1.03 0.99 1.25 0.06

Lifestyles

Household related lifestyles

Household size 1.04 1.00 1.09* 0.04

Home ownership 0.79 1.11 0.85 -0.10

Having meals at home 1.30* 1.13 0.99 0.08


123

Satisfaction with the material life sphere is also positively associated with all four

measures of subjective well-being. For those who are satisfied with their material lives, as

compared to those who are unsatisfied, their odds to be happy are 39% more, the odds to

report enjoyment are 34% higher, and the odds to report a sense of accomplishment are

80% higher; those who are satisfied also report a quarter point higher on the index mea-

suring the overall level of subjective well-being.

Satisfaction with the non-material life sphere is also positively associated with all four

measures of well-being, though at a smaller magnitude than what was observed with the

interpersonal and material life spheres. Those satisfied with their nonmaterial life increase

their odds to be happy by 9%, their odds to have enjoyment by 19%, and score close to a

one-tenth point higher on overall subjective well-being.

Respondents’ subjective ranking of their standard of living is also an important pre-

dictor of subjective well-being. Compared with those who rate their standard of life as low

and average, those who rate their living standard as high increase their odds to have

enjoyment by 30% and their odds to experience a sense of accomplishment by 21%, and

score .15 points higher on overall subjective well-being. This is consistent with the findings

from other similar studies on life satisfaction and happiness that show the subjective

evaluation of income from a relative perspective has a strong effect on happiness and life

satisfaction (see Headey et al. 1984; Fuentes and Rojas 2001; Haller and Hadler 2004).

On the other hand, the amount of actual household income has no significant effect on

any measure of subjective well-being after controlling for the effects of subjective income.

This finding is again consistent with a number of other studies (Frey and Stutzer 2002) and

findings from a series of multilevel regression analyses using data from 41 countries from

the 1995 World Value Survey (Haller and Hadler 2004).

Being married is positively associated with two components of well-being and overall

well-being. Compared with singles, the odds for married people to be happy are 90% more

and those for married people to have a sense of accomplishment are 80% higher. Married

people also score one-quarter point higher on overall subjective well-being than single

people.

Table 10 continued

Happiness Enjoyment Accomplishment OverallExp(B) Exp(B) Exp(B) B

Access to resources

Utility 0.98 1.00 1.00 0.02

Modern telecommunication 1.01 0.99 1.00 -0.01

Religiosity 1.05 0.95 1.16*** 0.03

Participation in local/national elections 0.97 1.19* 1.16* 0.08

Trusting others 1.20 1.03 1.12 0.03

Self-rated living stand high 1.30** 1.20 1.21* 0.15***


Global connection 1.08 1.07 0.98 0.06

Nationalism 1.32*** 1.10 1.23* 0.09

Identify oneself as Asian 1.05 1.14 0.79* 0.05

R2 0.24 0.16 0.24 0.34

N 1936 1937 1937 1936

* P \ .05, ** P \ .01, *** P \ .001

216 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

Neither gender, age, educational attainment, employment status, urban residency, sat-

isfaction with the personal life and public life spheres, value priorities, household-related

lifestyles, access to resources, religiosity, participation in elections, trusting others, glob-

alization, nor nationalism have consistent and systematic effects on either happiness,

enjoyment, accomplishment, or overall subjective well-being.

10 Conclusion and Discussion

We examined lifestyles, value priorities, satisfaction with life domains, and subjective

well-being in China using a national sample of 2,000 men and women aged 20–69. We

conceptualized subjective well-being as a multidimensional and multilevel phenomenon

and measured it in terms of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. We also

hypothesized it to be shaped by a multitude of forces including demographic character-

istics, lifestyles, value priorities, and satisfaction with various life domains. A summary of

our key findings follows.

10.1 High Levels of Subjective Well-Being in China

The Chinese feel more positive than negative about their lives. Substantial majorities

experience feelings of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. Their sense of well-

being is, moreover, higher than that of South Koreans and residents of Hong Kong who live

in greater prosperity. This finding is consistent with earlier research that also showed the

Chinese tend to hold a greater sense of well-being than people from countries with similar

or higher levels of GNP per capita (Inglehart and Klingemann 2000).

We offer four plausible explanations for relatively high levels of subjective well-being

in China. First, the Chinese evaluate their lives by historical comparison. They compare

their current life, made possible by economic gains achieved in the last few decades, with

what they experienced during childhood and arrive at a favorable assessment of their

present (Parducci 1995). Second, sustained high economic growth gives people a sense of

freedom and optimism. The future economic prospects of a country make people optimistic

about their own situation. Economic growth gives people the feeling that opportunities are

there, and it is within their power to improve their lives. Third, satisfaction with inter-personal life is high in China. Close to 60–70% are happy with their marriages, friendships,

family life, and neighbors. Satisfaction with the interpersonal life sphere is the most

powerful predictor of subjective well-being in China and as a result, it has a strong

favorable impact on overall life quality. This strong relationship between the interpersonal

life sphere and life quality reflects the significance and centrality of social relationships in

Confucian culture. A good life in China is a social one as individuals are embedded in

circles of relationships. Lastly, a high percentage of married people also contributes to a

high degree of subjective well-being in the Chinese population. Extensive evidence shows

that married people tend to evaluate life more positively than do the unmarried. In China,

more than 80% of adults are married, and this is bound to have a positive impact on the

people’s experience of well-being.

10.2 Direct and Indirect Influences on Subjective Well-being

What factors directly and indirectly influence Chinese people’s sense of well-being?

Figure 4 presents statistically significant direct and indirect influences on happiness,


123

enjoyment, accomplishment, and overall subjective well-being. Satisfaction with the

interpersonal life, material life, and nonmaterial life spheres, relative assessments of one’s

living standard, and marital status are three factors with direct influence on subjective well-

being. Value priorities and other demographic characteristics, including education,

household income, being divorced/separated/widowed, employment status, and community

size do not have a direct influence on evaluation of life quality, but they do affect how

satisfied individuals are with various life domains, as well as how they evaluate their

standard of living compared to others, and domain satisfaction and standard of living

evaluation have direct bearings on subjective well-being.

10.2.1 Life Domain Satisfaction

Our results show that of the five spheres of life in China, satisfaction in the interpersonal,

material, and non-material spheres of life contributes directly to the experience of hap-

piness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. Of these three spheres, the interpersonal life

sphere shapes the experience of subjective well-being most powerfully. In China, inter-

personal relationships have the greatest direct bearing on the way in which the Chinese

people appraise their quality of life.

10.2.2 Relative Living Standard

How Chinese people evaluate their own standard of living compared to the standard of

living they perceive others experiencing is another important predictor of subjective well-

being. The more positively the Chinese evaluate their standard of living relative to others’,

the greater the quality of life they experience. It is Chinese people’s subjective ranking of

living standards, not the actual level of income at their disposal, that directly affects their

+

-

+

+

Age

Education

Household Income

Married

Value Priorities: Enough to eat Medical Care

Life Domain Satisfaction:Interpersonal Life

Material LifeNonmaterial Life

Relative Living StandardSubjective Wellbeing:

HappinessEnjoyment

Accomplishment+

+

+

++

60 +

Divorced/Separated/Widowed

Unemployed

Urban Resident

- -

-

-

Fig. 4 Statistically significant influences on happiness, enjoyment, accomplishment and overall subjectivewell-being

218 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

perceptions of life quality. This finding also confirms the importance of social life as a

criterion for the appraisal of life quality.

10.2.3 Marriage

Compared with the unmarried, married people perceive their life more positively and

experience more happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. This finding is consistent

with a large number of prior studies from different countries and periods (e.g. Diener et al.

2000).

Age, education, household income, being divorced or widowed, and value priorities are

indirect influences on subjective well-being, mostly through satisfaction with life domains.

The oldest age group, those aged 60–69, are the most satisfied with their interpersonal,

material, and nonmaterial life spheres. The better educated and those from households with

higher incomes also have higher levels of life satisfaction for these three spheres. The

divorced/separated/widowed are less satisfied with these three life spheres. In addition,

those who emphasize ‘‘having enough to eat’’ and ‘‘having access to medical care’’ tend to

evaluate their interpersonal, material, and nonmaterial life spheres as less satisfying. Age is

positively associated with value priorities on these aforementioned two value orientations;

older people are more likely to emphasize ‘‘having enough to eat’’ and ‘‘having access to

medical care’’.

Household income, being divorced/separated/widowed, unemployment, and urban

residence also have an indirect influence on subjective well-being by affecting how

Chinese people rate their relative standard of living. Those with a high household income

are more likely to rate themselves as having a relatively higher living standard than those

with a low household income. People who are divorced/separated/widowed are more likely

to see themselves as having a relatively lower living standard, even after controlling for

their real household income. The unemployed and urban residents also tend to rate

themselves lower on relative living standard after controlling for the real income than do

their counterparts. These negative effects of divorce/separation/widowhood, unemploy-

ment, and urban residency demonstrate the power of social comparison. Regardless of their

actual income, these individuals who compare themselves negatively with their peers see

their standard of living as low.

10.3 Predicting Future Change in Subjective Well-being in China

What changes will the future bring to the sense of well-being in China? Will the changes

be mostly for the better or mostly for the worse? Though no one can say for sure, we can

venture an informed guess by identifying the positive and negative forces now affecting

Chinese quality of life and examining their strength and potential future effects.

We begin with five negative forces that are likely to work against rising levels of

subjective well-being. First, increasing inequalities are likely to lead more people to

perceive themselves as having a low income. The relativistic judgment model suggests

that people assess the adequacy of their income in relation to others (Easterlin 1974), and

thus increases in income inequality are likely to bring about decreases in the experience

of well-being (Veenhoven 1993). Second, people’s desires will likely increase as market

competition and advertising cause people to crave more commodities and services. Even

further economic growth will not fulfill these heightened levels of desires, and as a

result, people will grow more dissatisfied. Third, the prevalence of marriage is likely todecline in China as its population is becoming more accepting of divorce, cohabitation,


123

and remaining single. Married people are happier and have higher levels of satisfaction

than single and divorced/separated/widowed people, while divorced/separated/widowed

are more likely to report a low subjective standard of living. Thus a decline in the

marriage rate is likely to push subjective well-being in the negative direction. Fourth, the

sustained rural–urban migration will likely reduce the level of subjective well-being.

Because urban residents are exposed to extreme wealth and commercial advertising more

than are rural residents, they tend to be more negative in their evaluations of their

relative income, which, in turn, leads them to be more negative in their evaluations of

life quality. Last, increased international and domestic competition will likely lead to

more people experiencing unemployment. Unemployed people tend to be more negative

about their standard of living, and this negative evaluation leads to lower levels of

subjective well-being.

On the positive side, three trends are likely to work to increase subjective well-being.

First, if economic growth leads to continued increases in household income, it will likely

also increase the happiness of the Chinese people, as a higher household income is

associated with higher satisfaction levels in the material life sphere. Second, economic

expansion also grants more people education opportunities. Higher education can increase

satisfaction with various life domains and thus increase subjective well-being. Last,

compared with older cohorts, young people in China are less oriented toward materialisticgoals. Because people who focus on material concerns tend to be less satisfied, and

therefore, tend to experience lower subjective well-being, a shift away from materialism is

likely to lead to a higher quality of life.

Appendices

Table A1 Variables used in estimation of subjective well-being

Variable Coding

Demographic variables

Female A dummy variable with 1 = female respondents, 0 = male respondents.

Age cohorts

Cohort 20–29 A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent belongs to this age cohort,and 0 for otherwise.






Primary schoolor below

A dummy variable for respondent’s educational attainment (1 = primary schoolor below; 0 = else).

Junior high A dummy variable for respondent’s educational attainment (1 = junior high; 0 = else).

220 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

123

Table A1 continued

Variable Coding

Senior high/vocationalschool

A dummy variable for respondent’s educational attainment (1 = senior high orvocational school; 0 = else).

Associate’s degree A dummy variable for respondent’s educational attainment (1 = associatedegree; 0 = else).

Bachelor’s andgraduatedegree

A dummy variable for respondent’s educational attainment (1 = bachelor’sdegree or graduate degree; 0 = else).

Marital status

Married A dummy variable for respondent’s marital status (1 = married; 0 = otherwise).

Single A dummy variable for respondent’s marital status (1 = single; 0 = otherwise).

Divorce/separated/widowed

A dummy variable for respondent’s marital status (1 = divorced/separated/widowed; 0 = otherwise).

Household Income

Low income A dummy variable for respondent’s household income (1 = low: less than 30 k;0 = otherwise).

Medium income A dummy variable for respondent’s household income (1 = median: 30–50 k;0 = otherwise).

High income A dummy variable for respondent’s household income (1 = high: 50 k andabove; 0 = otherwise).

Unemployment A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent is currently unemployed,and 0 otherwise.

Urban resident A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent is an urban resident, and0 otherwise.

Livestyle variables

Family related

Household size Household Size (number of people living in the same household with therespondent).

Home owner A dummy variable for respondent’s home ownership, with 1 = owner,0 = otherwise.

Breakfast at home A dummy variable for eating home-made breakfast at home, with 1 = yes,0 = no.

Dinner at home A dummy variable for eating home-made dinner at home, with 1 = yes, 0 = no.

Access to resources

No. of Utilities Number of utilities the respondent has access to, including public water supply;electricity; LPG or piped gas; fixed-line phone; mobile phone; facsimile; cabletv.

Internet How often do you view Internet web pages by computers? (5 = almost everyday; 4 = several times a week; 3 = several times a month; 2 = seldom;1 = never).

Email How often do you read or write emails by computers? (5 = almost every day;4 = several times a week; 3 = several times a month; 2 = seldom;1 = never).

Cellular phone How often do you read or write messages by mobile phones? (5 = almost everyday; 4 = several times a week; 3 = several times a month; 2 = seldom;1 = never).

Moderntelecommunication

A summary scale that measures the respondent’s access to moderntelecommunications. (sum of INTERNET, EMAIL CELLULAR PHONE)


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Table A1 continued

Variable Coding

Religious behavior

Religious A dummy variable for respondent’s religious belief (1 = being religious;0 = otherwise).

Pray How often the respondent prays or meditates (5 = daily; 4 = weekly;3 = monthly; 2 = on special occasions; 1 = never).

Religiosity A summary scale that measures the respondent’s degree of religiosity (sum ofReligious pray).

Political involvement

Vote national A dummy variable with 1 indicating the respondent votes in national elections,and 0 otherwise.

Vote local A dummy variable with 1 indicating the respondent votes in local elections, and 0otherwise.

Participation inlocal/nationalelections

A summary scale that measures the respondent’s degree of participation in localand national elections (sum of VOTE NATIONAL, VOTE LOCAL).


English A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent is able to speak English,and 0 otherwise.

Oversea Number of interactions the respondent has with people or institutions overseas,including has a member of family or a relative lives in another country; hastraveled abroad at least three times in the past 3 years on holidays or forbusiness purpose; has friends from other country who are in China; oftenwatches foreign-produced programs on TV; often communicates with peoplein other countries view the internet or email; own job involves contact withorganizations or people in other countries).

Global connection A summary scale that measures the degree of the respondent’s global connections(sum of ENGLISH, OVERSEA).

Identify as Chinese A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent thinks of him/herself asbeing Chinese, and 0 otherwise.

Proud to be Chinese A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent is proud of beingChinese, and 0 otherwise.

Memorize anthem Is the respondent able to memorize the national anthem of China? (1 = yes,0 = no). A dummy.

Identify as Asia Does the respondent identify him/herself as being Asian? (1 = yes, 0 = no). Adummy.

Self-rated standard of living

Low A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent rated own standard ofliving as low, and 0 otherwise.

Medium A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent rated own standard ofliving as medium, and 0 otherwise.

High A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent rated own standard ofliving as high, and 0 otherwise.

Trusting others A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent thinks people can betrusted, and 0 otherwise.

222 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

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Table A1 continued

Variable Coding

Top ten value priorities

Being healthy A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent values this aspect, and0 otherwise.

Having a comfortablehome

A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent values this aspect, and0 otherwise.

Having enough to eat A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent values this aspect, and0 otherwise.

Having access to goodmedical care


Rasing children A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent values this aspect, and0 otherwise.

Spending time with yourfamily


Earning a high income A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent values this aspect, and0 otherwise.

Being able to liveout fearof crime


Being on good terms withothers


Having a job A dummy variable with 1 indicating that the respondent values this aspect, and0 otherwise.

Subjective well-being

Happiness A dummy for positive experience of happiness (1 = very happy and quitehappy; 0 = otherwise).

Enjoyment A dummy for positive experience of enjoyment (1 = enjoy life often andsometimes; 0 = otherwise)

Accomplishment A dummy for positive experience of accomplishment (1 = feel accomplishingsome and a great deal of what one wants in life; 0 = otherwise).

Number of positiveexperiences

Number of positive experiences the respondent reports he/she has experiencedamong happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment.

7-Point summary index I first construct non-negative indexes for happiness, enjoyment andaccomplishment, 0 = not experiencing happiness, enjoyment oraccomplishment, 1 = experiencing some happiness, enjoyment andaccomplishment, 2 = experiencing a lot happiness, enjoyment andaccomplishment. The overall index is the summation of non-negative valueson these three elements. It ranges from 0–6. It is based on instructionsprovided in Shin’s email on May 15, 2007 (data analysis procedures).

Recode Q4 (1 = 2)(2 = 1)(3,4,5 = 0) (Else = 9) into happy.

Recode Q5 (1 = 2)(2 = 1)(3,4 = 0) (Else = 9) into enjoy.

Recode Q6 (1 = 2)(2 = 1)(3,4 = 0)(Else = 9) into accomplish.

Missing values happy enjoy accomplish (9).

Compute overall 7 = happy ? enjoy ? accomplish.


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Table A2 Comparison of basic statistics across ABS2006, Women’s 2000, and Chinese Health and FamilyLife Survey

ABS2006 WOMEN2000 CHFLS CENSUS2000

Mean/percentage

Mean/percentage

Mean/percentage

Mean/percentage

Gender

Female respondents 49 54 50 48

Male respondents 51 46 50 52

Age

Respondent’s age 40.77 39.24 38.77

Cohort 20–29 21 20 23

Cohort 30–39 29 34 32

Cohort 40–49 23 26 27

Cohort 50–59 18 14 14

Cohort 60–69 10 6 5


Primary school or below 18 33 20 28

Junior high 32 37 37 27

Senior high/vocational school 24 22 29 9

Associate’s degree 13 6 10 3

Bachelor’s degree and Graduate degree 13 2 5

Marital status

Single 17 10 11

Married 79 86 86

Divorced and widowed 4 4 3

Household income

Low income households: less than20,000 yuan

49 N/A N/A

Medium income households: 20,000–40,000 yuan

28 N/A N/A

High income households: 40,000 yuanand above

22 N/A N/A

Employment

Employed, retired, student andhomemaker

93 94 89

Unemployed 7 6 11

Urban residence

Urban resident 50 51 80 36

Rural resident 50 49 20 64

224 X. Shu, Y. Zhu

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