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The Construction of

Youth Happiness Index in Korea

Shinyoung Kim(Ph.D in sociology)National Youth Policy Institute

June.28. 2007

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Why do we develop an index in the first place?

1.To facilitate concise and comprehensive understanding of

social phenomenon

2. To make comparisons cross-sectionally and longitudinally

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How to measure happiness?

▪measurement should be based on the conceptual understanding

▪ several issues emerge, most of all - how to define “various aspects of human life” exhaustively? - how to combine cognitive aspects with emotional aspects?

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1st issue: how to define “various aspects of

human life”?

▪matter of securing “content validity” in

methodological term ▪ no standard classification up to now

▪ the human life is made of ………..

▪ practical solution is to look for previous research on this subject

▪ Child Well-Being Index made in 1999 by sociologists in Duke University practical solution is to look for previous research on this subject

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▪ About Child Well Being Index

- synthesis of subjective well-being approach and objective social

indicator approach in the sense that

- classify major domains of human life through comprehensive literature review on subjective well-being and life satisfaction

- measures objective hard indexes based on life domain classification - seven life domains

- material well-being, health, safety, achievement, participation in community, social relationship, and emotional well-being

- twenty eight indicators

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Korean Youth Happiness Index

▪ borrow the classification of life domains from the CWI

▪ difficulty in finding comparable objective indicators due to lack of longitudinal data

▪ decided to develop subjective indicators in each life domains

▪ depli survey and focus group interview

▪ final outcome – forty indicators in six domains

- economic well-being- satisfaction with self- safety- academic achievement- social relationship - emotional/psychological well-being

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1. economic well-being -three indicators

▪ Two sub-dimensions: class identification and satisfaction with economic situation ▪ Which social class do you think your family belongs to? ▪ I am satisfied with my family's financial circumstance.   ▪ I am satisfied with my own financial circumstance.

2. satisfaction with the self ▪ I think my health is in a good condition. ▪ I am satisfied with my leisure life. ▪ I like my looks ▪ I like my personality.

▪

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3. Safety Two Sub-dimensions: safety in schools and safety in the

neighborhood

1) safety in schools

▪ I fear that someone in or around the school might hurt me.

▪ My school is filthy with litter scattered around. ▪ There is a certain place in school, where extortion, theft

or physical assault frequently takes place. ▪ There are many juvenile delinquents in my school. ▪ Many juvenile delinquents are seen around the school. 2) Safety in the neighborhood

▪ I fear that someone in my neighborhood might hurt me. ▪ My neighborhood is filthy with litter scattered around. ▪ My neighborhood has many dark and isolated places.

▪ Many drunken people are seen around my neighborhood at night.

▪ Teens in group are often seen around my neighborhood.

▪

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4. Academic Achievement▪ Are you satisfied with your academic performance?

5. Social Relationships - Three sub-dimensions 1) relationships within family

▪ I try to spend as much time as possible with my parents.  ▪ My parents always let me know that they love me and care about me ▪ My parents and I understand each other ▪ I often talk with my parents about what I want to do in the future. ▪ I get along well with my sibling(s)

▪

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2) relationships with school teachers

▪ I get along well with my teachers. ▪ I am not reluctant to talk with my teachers about what

troubles me. ▪ My teacher always lets me know how much s/he cares

about me.

3) relationships with friends

▪ I hope to remain as their close friends for long. ▪ I enjoy being with them. ▪ I try to think and feel in a way they do ▪ I can talk to my close friends about what troubles me.

▪

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6. Emotional/Psychological well-being -Two sub-dimensions: positive vs negative (not necessarily negatively correlated) 1) positive dimension

▪ I found something that interested or intrigued me. ▪ I felt proud of myself after being praised about what I

have done. ▪ I felt excited about what I have accomplished. ▪ There was a point where I was the happiest.

▪ I felt many things have played out the way I wished.

▪

6. Emotional/Psychological well-being -Two sub-dimensions: positive vs negative (not necessarily negatively correlated) 1) positive dimension

▪ I found something that interested or intrigued me. ▪ I felt proud of myself after being praised about what I

have done. ▪ I felt excited about what I have accomplished. ▪ There was a point where I was the happiest.

▪ I felt many things have played out the way I wished.

2) negative dimension

▪ I felt so anxious that I couldn't calmly sit in the chair. ▪ I felt lonely and isolated from others. ▪ I felt bored. ▪ I felt miserable and unhappy ▪ I felt offended by someone who criticized me.

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▪

Methodology

1. Data: National Sample of 9th, 10th, grade students

(approximately 2,000)

2. Fieldworks: done by Survey Research Center(KGSS)

3. weighting strategy: Principle component methods

- transform factor loadings for each item to its

proportions

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▪

More on weighing issue...

1. Reliability Check for Multiple Indicators

2. Standardize Raw Scores of Indicators

3. Produce Transformed Variables through Repeated CFA

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The Weights of Each Indicators are Proportions of Their Coefficients in CFA

factor loading of Xi

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▪

The Weights for Final Happiness Index

  9th  10th

Economic Well-Being .610(.20) .489(.14)

Satisfaction with Self .716(.23) .749(.22)

Safety .277(.09) .410(.12)

Academic Achievement .312(.10) .371(.11)

Social Relationships .633(.21) .656(.19)

Emo/Psy Well-Being .527(.17) .728(.21)

The Ranks of Individual Life Domains are Stable !!!

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▪

55.0148.9551.98

0.00

35.00

70.00

total 9th grade 10th grade

Happiness Index Score

in Korea

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▪

The Scores of Each Life Domains

1. High on Safety and Emo/Psy Well-Being 2. Low on Academic Achievements

  Mean N

Economic Well-Being 49.12 1923

Satisfaction with Self 52.95 1925

Safety 65.44 1926

Academic Achievement 25.76 1902

Social Relationships 44.73 1803

Emo/Psy Well-Being 57.00 1931

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▪

Happiness Scores by Groups

  MEAN S.D N F

Gender male 56.11 12.99 470

F=7.169** Female 53.59 14.08 363

Social Class

High 59.09 13.93 52

F=19.193*** Middle 55.81 12.93 677

Low 47.78 14.78 104

Academic

Ranks

High 57.87 13.12 251

F=10.505*** Middle 55.28 13.84 268

Low 52.37 13.36 252

Types of

School

General 54.48 13.45 566

F=2.807 Vocational

56.16 13.64 267

  * p <  .05,   ** p < .01,   *** p < .001

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Concluding Remarks

1. What Does 52 out 100 Mean?

2. Limited Data Considering the Official Age Span of "Youth"

3. Survey in 2007

        1) Extended Age Span (7th - 12th)         2) Approximately 6,200         3) Data Cleaning Stage         4) Trend and Cohort Analysis

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Thank you very much!!!!