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Social Quality and Happiness—An Analysis of the Survey Data from Three Chinese Cities

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Abstract

Over the last two decades, the focus of happiness research has shifted from the measurement of life quality with an emphasis on material well-being to subjective well-being. This article follows this direction of development, but moves further into social well-being. Utilizing the method of social quality analysis, this study developed an analysis of happiness by looking into the influence of social factors on happiness. The study was established on the basis of empirical data collected from a social quality survey done in Hangzhou, Xiamen, and Shenzhen during 2011–2012. The purpose of this study is to expose the relationships between social quality analysis and happiness studies. The study demonstrates a strong correlation of social quality factors with happiness, although each set of these factors has a different impact on happiness in different factor domains.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the EU project on Social Innovation and the Chinese Foundation of Social Sciences on social quality project. The author also appreciates Ms. Chaoying An and Mr. Fan Wu for their technical assistance.

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  1. College of Public Administration, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Ka Lin

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  1. Ka Lin
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Correspondence to Ka Lin.

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Lin, K. Social Quality and Happiness—An Analysis of the Survey Data from Three Chinese Cities. Applied Research Quality Life 11, 23–40 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-014-9352-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-014-9352-0

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