Influence of Freedom of Choice on Happiness

34 Pages Posted: 24 May 2022

See all articles by Somayeh Koohborfardhaghighi

Somayeh Koohborfardhaghighi

Deloitte AI

Christopher Summers

University of Missouri, St. Louis

Almas Heshmati

Sogang University; Jönköping International Business School

Jorn Altmann

International University of Bruchsal

Abstract

The literature on happiness shows that there are many factors that influence a person’s happiness. Extending previous studies, we investigate the role of the freedom of choice as a key contributing construct in influencing a person’s happiness. We define two hypothetical sub-constructs for the freedom of choice to fully develop a model of happiness. We name those hypothetical sub-constructs (latent variables) as volitional and non-volitional choices, each of which is measured by a variety of indicators (observed variables). The selected indicators are mainly from the social dimensions of happiness within working and living environments, which affect the quality-of-life people enjoy. We use the structural equation modeling approach to test our model. We restrict our empirical studies to four East Asian countries, which are South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China. The obtained results of this study, confirm that happiness tends to be closely related to interpersonal connectedness and individuals’ experiences within shared relationships in certain countries. Our findings open new insights on how happiness can be considered as an emerging outcome of the interplay between personal characteristics and societal interactions. Findings of this study can be applied in empowering the cognitive dimension of social capital within an organization.

Keywords: hedonic and eudemonic approaches, freedom of choice, happiness, structural equation modelling, East Asia region, cognitive social capital

JEL Classification: C50, D71, E24, J24, O34

Suggested Citation

Koohborfardhaghighi, Somayeh and Summers, Christopher and Heshmati, Almas and Altmann, Jorn, Influence of Freedom of Choice on Happiness. IZA Discussion Paper No. 15315, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4118216 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4118216

Christopher Summers

University of Missouri, St. Louis ( email )

Almas Heshmati

Sogang University ( email )

Seoul 121-742
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
0082-2-705-8771 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.sogang.ac.kr/english/academic/03_under_0123.html

Jönköping International Business School ( email )

Jönköping, 551 11
Sweden

Jorn Altmann

International University of Bruchsal ( email )

1 Gwanak-Ro
Seoul, 08826
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

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