Relationship between Subjective Well-Being and Social Activity: Cross-Cultural Aspect

The paper reports outcomes of the empirical research on cross-cultural specifics of the relationship between an individual’s subjective well-being and social activity. As it was revealed in the study, the level of subjective well-being was significantly higher in the sample of French young people than that in the sample of Russian youth. The data also revealed the variability of the subjective criterion in the individuals’ assessment of their well-being, inner in the case of the Russians and outer in the case of the French. Social activity of the Russian young proved to be closely tied with initiative and creativity in education, public life and hobbies, whereas for the French social activity is basically related to achieving prestige. Certain differences were also discovered in the very foundation of the individuals’ experience of subjective well-being: for the French, the roots of this feeling lay in the possibilities for broadening social contacts and achieving social prestige and independence; for the Russians, these were the active social position, longing for independence and exaggerated expression of ethnic identity.

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