Life satisfaction in three countries

Abstract

Studies addressing factors of Life Satisfaction have focused on how individuals in particular societies experience their lives as worthwhile, enjoyable, and fulfilling and indicated a range of individual and cultural factors shape individual perceptions of Life Satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to compare the Life Satisfaction of adults from the United States, Turkey, and Germany. Participants included 163 (84 women and 79 men) from the USA, 172 (70 women, 88 men) from Germany, and 174 (79 women and 95 men) from Turkey. Significant mean differences by country were found on Life Satisfaction. Post hoc Tukey HSD tests indicated that U.S. participants reported higher Life Satisfaction than German or Turkish groups. Country differences were also found on Health Satisfaction, a predictor of Life Satisfaction. Stepwise multiple regressions involving the Turkish sample and a subsample of the American participants indicated some consistency in other factors predicting Life Satisfaction ratings; in particular, being "Too Busy" was negatively related to Life Satisfaction for both U.S. and Turkish participants. These findings support previous research indicating several factors such as health and national economic well-being influence Life Satisfaction.