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. 2014 Oct 9:5:1113.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01113. eCollection 2014.

The association between self-esteem and happiness differs in relationally mobile vs. stable interpersonal contexts

Kosuke Sato  1 , Masaki Yuki  2
Affiliations

The association between self-esteem and happiness differs in relationally mobile vs. stable interpersonal contexts

Kosuke Sato et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Does a change in the nature of surrounding social context affect the strength of association between self-esteem and happiness? This paper aims to answer this question from a socio-ecological perspective, focusing on the role of relational mobility. Recent research has shown that this association is stronger in societies that are higher in relational mobility, where there is a greater freedom of choice in interpersonal relationships and group memberships. In this study, we tested if this hypothesis could be applied to situational differences within the same physical setting. Using a quasi-experimental design, we tested if the association between self-esteem and happiness was stronger for first-year students at a Japanese university who had just entered the college and thus were in a relatively higher mobility context, than the second-year students at the same university whose relationships tended to be more stable and long-standing. The results showed, as predicted, that the association between self-esteem and happiness was stronger for the first-year students than for the second-year students. Implications for the theory and research on social change are discussed.

Keywords: culture; happiness; relational mobility; self-esteem; socio-ecology.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Relationship between satisfaction with life and self-esteem for (A) the first-years, (B) the second-years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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