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【原文网址】http://www.uschina.usc.edu/ShowFeature.aspx?articleID=3089
【声明】Anti-CNN原创翻译，转载请注明译者及出处
【译文】
研究表明在中国笑脸越来越多，尽管不像以前那么多。照片由Chris Suderman.摄制。
当钱不能买到幸福
伴随着经济发展，有志之士说，中国人应该享受他们劳动的成果。因此为什么他们没有更快乐？
更新日期： 12/22/2008
作者：ROBSON MORGAN
这是很少见的经济学家，他对中国数十年的经济发展不太感兴趣。用各种数据度量——GDP、出口、外国投资、工业化、产量、房产消费只是一小部分——中国经济自1978年开始的改革后发展很快。许多人臆想繁荣会带来幸福，但在中国却不是这样的。中国的生活满意度看起来没有太大变化，尽管经济飞速增长。
南加利福尼亚大学经济学教授Richard Easterlin,说：“调查显示人们认为收入增加会使他们更加幸福，如果经济增长可以提高人们生活满意度，你可以设想在中国看到这种证据”。
但是调查显示，没有迹象表明伴随经济提高而使得幸福感大涨。Easterlin 说：“不同调查显示，没有迹象表明生活满意度提高了”。
据Gallup指导的一份调查显示，中国居民收入在1994到2004之间增加了2.5倍，但生活满意度没有提高。中国居民生活满意度还在一个比较高的水平（63%），这比1997年高峰时期的72%有所下降。
这个国家过去几十年的经济发展对成千上万人的生活方式产生了影响。他们进入更加现代的舒适生活中，82%的家庭拥有彩电，4.5亿多人拥有移动电话，Gallup没有发现任何公众在生活观上的转变。这家公司也发现没有数据显示在城乡之间认知的差异。在2004年，城市居民满意度为64%，而农村地区仅仅低了两个点。盖洛普公司调查了15,000个来自不同阶层的中国人来完成他们的调查。
盖洛普组织追查了中国人过去几年的满意度。2007年的皮尤全球态度调查提供了中国经济发展的不同图景，这个国家的人们在2002到2007年没有在生活满意度上以每年11%的速度增加。作为盖洛普调查的对比，像中国和印度这样的发展中国家对未来很乐观，80%和76%的两国民众认为他们的生活会在五年之内得到改善。这个调查指出，在中国34%的受访者对他们的生活感到满意，而在更加发达的国家爱，例如美国、加拿大，有65%和71%的受访者这样认为。
中国经济发展是深远的，成果在全国是不平衡的，因此公众的态度是不一样的。在中国仍然有2亿多人每天生活费用不足1.25美元。
南加利福尼亚大学毕业生王妃（音）同意这样的观点，她出生在湖南一个小镇，然后到遥远的北京上大学。她说，从20世纪90年代以来，虽然人们生活改变了，但是整体来看，还不是很富裕。
王说：“在北京的人们更加担心钱，人们收入增加了，但是他们的花费也增加了。在城市，人们更加关注钱，工作和良好的教育”。王认为在她的家乡，她更加幸福，那里远离喧嚣，拜金的城市。
中国经济发展令人印象深刻，可是数据没有揭示，更深的口袋里产生更多的期待了。
Easterlin说：“由于收入增加，人们认为他们需要什么来让自己变得更加幸福的期待也上升了。收入增加在单一程度上会增加人们的幸福，但是他们的比较标准，他们认为自己收入的价值，也上升了，他们没有变得比以前更幸福”。
Easterlin引述了他1974年论文‘经济发展改善人类命运了吗？’里描述的这种现象，围绕着一个矛盾：富人觉得比他们穷同胞们更幸福，富国的人们没有觉得自己比贫穷国家的人们更幸福。这个现象在最近被宾夕法尼亚大学教授 Justin Wolfers 和Betsy Stevenson 再次提起，他们批评这里理论，认为没有可靠的调查提供精确的证据。
盖洛普的结果，支持了Easterlin的结论，以及城市及农村民众认知的差异。据这一公司的说法，由于大批农民工涌入城市，那些仍然生活在乡村的人们却显著性的认为他们的生活地比起城市来说，更像一个生活的地方。2004年的数据显示，52%的城市居民觉得满意，而有65%的农村居民觉得自己的生活很好。
Easterlin在一个采访中解释了另一个为什么生活满意度不是必然与收入增加相称，它来自与某些伴随经济发展的致命原理。虽然经济发展了，人们远离贫困，但这是有代价的。在中国，工业化和现代化使得数百万计的人们迁移到，生活在拥挤的城市。家庭分离，因为人们在全国找寻求工作机会，盼望能抓住繁荣的衣角。
在2008年七月的一次调查表明，经济发展带来了很多好处，平常的中国人增加了这种发展对社会负面影响的担忧。“中国人显然在与经济发展带来的弊端做斗争，关注通货膨胀和环境问题的担忧与日俱增。大多数人接受了自由市场，他们担心经济领域的不平等。”这个调查指出中国不同区域的差异，指出23%的中国西部人认为购买食品有点问题，而在东部这个比例仅仅为10%。中国西部有27%的人认为失业是个问题，而在东部只有16%的人这样认为。生活在华中地区的人们担心环境，这里有84%的人关注空气污染，这是是中国产煤的主要区域。
王的家人不得不分开来住。“我的父亲在哈尔滨（远离王的家乡的中国北方的一座大城市），但他经常回家，他想和整个家庭在一起。在他回家不久，我开始了在南加利福尼亚大学的学业。这种生活是很艰辛的。”
香港大学心理学副教授Samuel Ho从不同的角度解读幸福。
Ho解释说在中国现在社会，在个人幸福问题上没有重点，他说：“在中国传统文化中，一些人不想觉得太幸福，你努力工作，通过痛苦使你成长。”2006年，在一本临床护理杂志的研究中发现，幸福的认知“很大程度上与个人和其他人及社会环境的关系决定的”。个人幸福往往和整个社会需求联系在一起。拥挤的城市，繁忙的工作，家庭分离会使得社会关系产生负面影响。
Ho解释说，对于中国人，繁荣的原因比结果更重要。
Ho指出，“承受本身与在西方有很大不同，在中国传统文化中，苦难可以产生积极的影响。因此人们不太喜欢让自己太幸福”。
Ho强调说由人们渐渐鼓起的钱包带来的结果也削弱了未来的满意度。
Ho解释说：“随着经济发展，人们变得很物质主义，而物质主义又使得人们情感低落”。他引用另一个美国心理学家Barry Schwartz,称之为‘选择的悖论’的结论。由于钱和更多的选择变得可能了，人们对于他们最终的购买决定变得不那么满意了。花费更多时间和精力，人们发现自己难以完成一个更好的决定。从找到合适的工作到选择合适的商品，选择的不断上升使得中国人的生活复杂化了。
Ho也认为延续的财政扩展对中国人看待幸福的眼光有潜在的影响。
Ho说：“如果在未来，文化像西方的，允许个人关注自己的幸福，告诉人们自己的幸福，情况会好一些的”。尽管关注自身增加了，Ho认为经济繁荣会促使中国的幸福观发生改变。
Ho解释说，一些人会从中受益，达到更高幸福水平。另一些人则会在这种生活方式的改变而受到困扰，发现自己会沮丧。Ho相信这两种力量会平衡起来。
对于未来，Easterlin认为，如果现代中国社会将重点放在不只是简单提高收入方面来，幸福水平会提高。经过改良的健康保障系统，更加稳定的社会安全，失业保障机制会大大提高公众的态度。 Easterlin建议政府应该拿出钱来通过改进社会支持系统来保障居民的基本关注面。
Ho也对中国未来充满信心。
“增加收入只是一个部分，但是，如果我们更多去关注社会支持，强调精神生活，让人们更多关心自己的幸福，那将是很有帮助的。”
（Robson Morgan ）是南加州大学经济学专业毕业生）
【原文】
Studies show that smiling faces are all over China, though no more than there used to be. Photo by Chris Suderman.
When Qian Doesn’t Buy Happiness
AsChina’s economic development powers on, common wisdom says Chinesepeople should be enjoying the fruits of their labor. So why aren’t theyhappier?
Release Date: 12/22/2008
By ROBSON MORGAN
It’sthe rare economist who isn’t impressed with China’s economicperformance over the past decades. By nearly any measure -- grossdomestic product, exports, foreign investment, industrialization,productivity, and household consumption are just a few -- China hasdone exceptionally well since economic reforms were initiated in 1978.One measure of success, however, is often overlooked. While most assumethat prosperity brings increased happiness, this has not held true inChina. Life satisfaction rates among the Chinese have shown no signs ofimprovement, despite booming economic growth.
“Surveysshow that people almost invariably think more income would make themhappier,” said Richard Easterlin, professor of economics at theUniversity of Southern California. “If economic growth were to raisepeople’s life satisfaction, you would certainly expect to see someevidence of it in China.”
Thesurveys, however, show no indication of a happiness boom following thecountry’s economic rise. “Three different surveys are consistent in notgiving any indication of better life satisfaction,” Easterlin said.
Accordingto one such survey conducted by Gallup, Chinese household income grew 2½ times between 1994 and 2004, yet life satisfaction rates showed noimprovement. While Chinese respondents expressed high levels ofcontentment with their current quality of life (63%), the numberactually slipped from its 1997 high, when 72% expressed satisfaction.
Thecountry’s economic boom over the past two decades has led to aconsiderable change in lifestyle for millions of Chinese. Access tomodern living amenities yields a more comfortable life, yet while 82%of homes have color televisions and more than 450 million own mobilephones, Gallup found little to suggest a marked shift in public opinionon life fulfillment. The polling company also found that there islittle data to support a difference in perceptions among urban dwellersand rural populations. In 2004, city residents polled at 64% whilethose in the countryside were only two points lower. Gallup interviewedmore than 15,000 Chinese people from all parts of China to completetheir polling.
Gallup Organization tracing the satisfaction of Chinese people over the years.
A2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey provides a slightly different pictureof China’s economic boom, noting that the country has seen an 11% gainin life satisfaction rates from 2002 to 2007. In contrast to theGallup findings, developing countries like India and China expressedgrowing optimism for the future, polling 80% and 76% for those whobelieve their lives will improve in the next five years. The study,however, notes that 34% of those polled in China voiced theircontentment while citizens in more developed countries like the UnitedStates and Canada claimed 65 and 71% respectively.
WhileChina’s economic development has been profound, gains have beendistributed unevenly throughout the country, possibly explaining thevariance in public attitudes. Over 200 million people in China stilllive on less than US$1.25 a day.
WangFei, a graduate student at the University of Southern California,agrees with the findings. Wang was born in a small town in Hunanprovince, and later moved far away from her family to Beijing forcollege. She says that since the mid-1990s, although people’s liveshave changed, people are not better off overall.
“Peopleworry more about money in Beijing,” Wang said. “People’s incomesincrease, but their spending also increases. In the city, there aremore worries about money, jobs, and doing well in school.” Wang thinksshe is happier when she is in her hometown, away from the busy,money-hungry city.
Theeconomic progress China has made is impressive. Those statistics,though, do not convey how deeper pockets have also produced risingexpectations.
“Aspeople’s income goes up, [their] views of what they need to make themhappy go up just as much,” said Easterlin. “An income increase initself tends to increase people’s happiness, [but] since theircomparison standard, the way they evaluate that income, is also risingat the same time, they end up no happier than before.”
Easterlindetailed this phenomenon in his influential 1974 paper “Does EconomicGrowth Improve the Human Lot?” Known by economists as the EasterlinParadox, the concept centers around a key contradiction: while richpeople in a society tend to be happier than their poor counterparts,wealthy countries show little or no indication of being happier thanpoor countries. The Paradox recently came back in to populardiscussion after professors Justin Wolfers and Betsy Stevenson of theUniversity of Pennsylvania voiced their criticism of the concept,noting modern polling practices that provide more accurate results.
TheGallup results, however, support Easterlin’s assessment and thedifference in perceptions among urban and rural groups. According tothe company, “While China's cities continue to grow rapidly because ofmassive internal migration, those Chinese who have remained in thecountryside are now dramatically more likely than their urbancounterparts to say they are satisfied with their own communities ‘as aplace to live’.” The 2004 data highlights that while 52% of urbanresidents were satisfied, 65% of rural respondents voiced contentmentwith their local communities.
Asecond reason to explain why life satisfaction doesn’t necessarilyincrease with income, Easterlin explained during an interview, comesfrom certain destructive elements that occur along with economicgrowth. Although incomes rise and people are freed from poverty, thereare costs. In China in particular, industrialization and modernizationhas required millions to migrate and live in burgeoning, overcrowdedcities. Families are split up while workers scour the country for jobs,looking to grab a piece of the boom.
AJuly 2008 Pew Survey noted that while economic development has broughtmany benefits, ordinary Chinese increasingly worry about the socialtoll such rapid change can have. “Chinese people may be struggling withthe consequences of economic growth. Notably, concerns about inflationand environmental degradation are widespread. And while most Chineseembrace the free market, there is considerable concern about risingeconomic inequality in China today.” The survey highlights the dividebetween China’s regions, noting that 23% of respondents from westernChina stated that paying for food was difficult while only 10% of thosein the east felt similarly. 27% of those in western China also saidunemployment was a problem compared to only 16% of those in the east.Environmental issues were a pressing concern for those living incentral China -- 84% worried about air pollution in the region, thecountry’s top producer of coal.
Wang’s family had to live apart from each other.
“Myfather took a military job in Harbin [a large city in northeasternChina far away from the Wangs’ hometown], but very quickly came backhome. He wanted to stay with the entire family,” Wang said. Shortlyafter he returned, however, Wang left home to start graduate school atUSC. “I think this [lifestyle] is very difficult.”
SamuelHo, an associate professor in psychology at the University of HongKong, looks at the happiness issue from a different angle.
“InChinese culture, some people do not want to feel too happy,” Ho said,explaining that in today’s Chinese society, little emphasis is put onpersonal happiness. “You work hard, and it is through suffering thatyou grow.” A 2006 study in the Journal of Clinical Nursing found thatamong Chinese people, perceptions of wellbeing are “significantlydetermined by a harmonious relationship with others in the social andcultural context.” Consideration of one’s own happiness often takes aback seat to the needs of the entire community. Overcrowded cities,hectic work schedules, and family separation may all contribute to abreakdown of this social relationship.
Ho explained that, for many Chinese, the actual trials of prosperity are often more important than the end result.
“Sufferingitself has a different meaning than in the West,” Ho noted. “Sufferingcan lead to some positive outcome according to Chinese culture. Sopeople would not like to let themselves be too happy.”
Ho emphasized that several consequences born from people’s fatter wallets may also undermine any future jumps in satisfaction.
“Duringthe increase in economic development, people become morematerialistic,” Ho explained, noting that materialism is often linkedto increased susceptibility to depression. Ho cites another argumentfrom American psychologist Barry Schwartz, which he explains as the“paradox of choice.” As money and more choices become available toconsumers, people become increasingly less satisfied with their finalpurchasing decisions. Choosing takes more time and effort, and buyersfind themselves less fulfilled knowing that could have had made abetter decision. From finding the right job to purchasing the rightconsumer products, the rise of choice has complicated the life ofChinese people.
Ho, however, sees continued financial expansion having the potential to change Chinese views on happiness.
“Ifthe culture in the future, like in the West, would allow people tofocus more on their happiness and allow people to tell [others] theyare happy…that would be better,” Ho said. Through increased attentionto one’s own personal wellbeing and happiness, Ho believes that overtime, economic prosperity will promote a culture of happiness in China.
Somepeople will benefit from the changes and reach a higher level ofhappiness than previously possible, Ho explained. Others, however, willsuffer from these grand lifestyle shifts and find themselves depressed.Ho believes that overall, these two forces neutralize each other,balancing out any life satisfaction polls or indicators.
Lookingtowards the future, Easterlin believes that if modern Chinese societyputs an emphasis on something besides simple rises in income, happinesslevels could improve. An improved health care system coupled withgreater social security and job protection programs may go far inimproving public attitudes. Easterlin advises that the government coulddistribute extra money generated by economic development to addressfundamental concerns of the people by improving these social supportsystems.
Ho also has a positive outlook towards China’s future.
“Increasingincome is only one factor, but, if we can emphasize more on socialsupport, emphasize more on spiritual life, and allow people to pay moreattention to their happiness, that will certainly help.”
__________________________________________________________________________
Robson Morgan is a graduate student in economics at the University of Southern California.
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