Subjective well-being and culture across time and space

Abstract

The authors compare the subjective well-being of citizens in 20 nations with the subjective well-being of Americans who claim to have ancestors from those nations. The results show that the rank order of the well-being scores for the citizens of the 20 nations is similar to the rank order of the well-being scores for the Americans with ancestors from those nations. This finding suggests that the aspects of culture that influence subjective well-being have been passed from people who lived centuries ago to their contemporary descendants at home and in America. Additional analysis suggests that religion may be an important agent in the transmission process.