美貌と幸福度—日本，イギリス，中国の3カ国比較—

抄録

Although many previous studies have focused on the association between beauty and happiness, there have been few studies on the association between variation in the evaluation of beauty and happiness. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between variation in the evaluation of beauty and happiness in Japan, England and China. We used data from a cross-sectional survey of 1,500 women of between 20 and 69 years of age, which was collected online in Japan, England and China. We performed logistic regression to calculate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for happiness. We found that after controlling for the socio-economic status, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for happiness in individuals with a physically beautiful appearance (in comparison to non-beautiful individuals) at both the present time and 15 years previously were 4.70 (1.72–12.82), 4.38 (2.23–8.60), 10.60 (4.67–24.06) in Japan, England and China, respectively. The results indicated that higher subjective beauty was intertemporally associated with higher happiness in Japan, England and China. Further studies should be performed to investigate the association between the intertemporal evaluation of beauty and happiness.