Micro and Macro Conditions for Happiness in Urban China

Despite the large literature on happiness research, sociological studies on the social determinants of happiness in China remain rare. This study examines not only micro conditions for happiness but also the potential interplay of micro and macro conditions in urban China. Specifically, we focus on some wide-studied and much overlooked micro conditions, socioeconomic achievements (what you get) and non-cognitive skills (who you are), respectively. However, the happiness effects of micro conditions may well differ across macro contexts. We thus investigate how the happiness effects socioeconomic achievements and non-cognitive skills depend on the level of economic development in urban China.

Our data are drawn from the urban sample of the 2011 Chinese General Social Survey, a nationally representative social survey. Socioeconomic achievements refer to years of education and annual total income. Non-cognitive skills refer to conscientiousness, operationalized by indicators of consistency, dependability, and deferral of gratification in performing the student role. Macro condition refers to urban areas in the most developed provinces versus less developed provinces, as indicated by provincial-level GDP per capita. We obtain three main findings: (1) Both adolescent conscientiousness and personal income, but not education, enhance personal happiness. (2) The happiness effects of education and income are highly contingent on the level of development, with education having a positive effect in less developed areas but a negative effect in more developed areas. (3) The happiness benefit of conscientiousness is robust across urban areas of high and low economic development. The evidence thus suggests that the micro conditions for happiness do depend on certain macro conditions in China. There is a penalty on happiness for high achievers of education and income in the most developed urban areas, but the happiness effect of adolescent conscientiousness is uniform across development contexts.