Singapore, 11 January 2024 – The National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School formally launched a new book today that reveals a decline in Singaporeans’ happiness and satisfaction with the overall quality of life. Entitled “Happiness and Wellbeing in Singapore – Beyond Economic Prosperity”, the book is authored by Associate Professor Siok Kuan Tambyah, Honorary Fellow Tan Soo Jiuan and PhD candidate Yuen Wei Lun from the Marketing Department at NUS Business School.
Over nine chapters, the book encapsulates the findings from the 2022 Quality of Life (QOL) Survey, which provides a holistic perspective on the wellbeing of Singaporeans. The survey evaluates wellbeing using both cognitive and affective approaches. The cognitive approach involves a self-evaluation of one’s quality of life, while the affective approach refers to one’s frequency of experiencing positive emotions. A total of 1,905 Singapore citizens from the ages of 21 years old and older, participated in the survey from June to July 2022. This is the latest survey in a series of studies on the wellbeing of Singaporeans which dates back to 1996. The last two QOL surveys were conducted in 2011 and 2016.
The study provides insights into Singaporean’s life satisfaction, satisfaction with specific life domains, aspects of affective wellbeing (for example, happiness, enjoyment and achievement), economic wellbeing, personal values, value orientations, and views on democratic rights. To further understand how Singaporean’s wellbeing has evolved over the years, the 2022 QOL Survey results were compared against the data from the previous surveys.
Singaporeans are less satisfied with life and life domains
We measure satisfaction with life and various life domains like standard of living, household income, job and housing.
Using a five-item satisfaction with life scale*, the study showed a significant decline in Singaporeans’ overall satisfaction with life over the past five years. Those who are male, married, and with higher education and income tend to have higher levels of satisfaction with life.
Amongst the 15 life domains**, Singaporeans were most satisfied with their relationships with their children, parents and siblings, their marriage or romantic relationships and their spiritual lives. Conversely, they were most dissatisfied with their household income, standard of living, health, relationship with neighbours and jobs.
Singaporeans are less happy
Affective aspects of wellbeing are related to the frequency that people experience positive emotions such as happiness, enjoyment, and having a sense of purpose. Singaporeans’ affective wellbeing has also declined over the years. From 2016 to 2022, Singaporeans have become less happy, enjoyed life less, and felt a decreased sense of achievement, control, as well as purpose. The Achievement Index had the sharpest decline of about 28.4%, falling from 58% in 2016 to 29.6% in 2022. Those who are male, married, older, have higher education and have higher income tend to have greater levels of happiness, enjoyment, achievement, control and purpose in their lives.
Positive correlation between income and happiness
Household Income seemed to have a positive relationship with Singaporeans’ satisfaction with life and overall quality of life. Singaporeans’ levels of happiness, enjoyment, achievement, sense of control and purpose increased with higher household incomes. However there are exceptions where people with higher household incomes may report lower levels of wellbeing than those in lower household income brackets. Perception of financial sufficiency is also important. We found that satisfaction with household incomes and standard of living were positively associated with the wellbeing outcomes.
Economic wellbeing
For aspects of economic wellbeing, the study found that those who were married and with higher levels of education and household incomes generally found it easier to cope with their needs, monthly loans, wants and major purchases. While age does not impact wants and major purchases, younger Singaporeans reported that they did not have enough for their needs and monthly loans.
The impact of values on wellbeing
On ranking the list of values***, Singaporeans consistently placed security and self-respect as the top two values and gave the lowest priority to fun and enjoyment in 2016 and 2022. The values of sense of belonging and excitement positively influenced Singaporeans’ satisfaction with life while the top values of security and self-respect had no significant impact.
Based on the value orientations of family values, sustainability, traditionalism, and materialism, the study found four distinct clusters of Singaporeans. The first cluster of Singaporeans focuses on pro-social values, the second cluster emphasizes traditionalism and the third cluster places a large importance on material possessions. The fourth cluster embraces all the four value orientations as it tries to find a balance among the different values. Despite having a higher income, those who tend to pursue materialistic values were the least satisfied with their lives and were least happy among the four clusters.
Perceptions about democratic rights and influence on wellbeing
Among the six democratic rights measured****, Singaporeans were most satisfied with the right to vote. Related measures also showed that citizens who felt they had a duty to vote and the power to influence government policy or actions had higher levels of wellbeing.
Except for the right to gather and demonstrate, satisfaction with all the other five democratic rights had a positive influence on satisfaction with life with Singaporeans’ satisfaction with the right to criticize the government having the strongest influence.
Associate Professor Siok Kuan Tambyah said, “The findings of the 2022 QOL Survey may be discouraging but there are some bright spots. Singaporeans are very satisfied with their familial relationships, and certain clusters of Singaporeans with prosocial values are also happier. This underscores the importance of a strong social and family fabric in building a cohesive, caring and inclusive country.”
“Singaporeans can also nurture and integrate the right mix of values, trust, openness and democratic processes that will provide a common ground for making Singapore a happy and fulfilled society”, she added.
A complimentary soft-copy of the book is available for download from here.
*The five items of the “Satisfaction of Life” scale are: 1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal, 2. The conditions of my life are excellent, 3. I am satisfied with my life, 4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life, 5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
**The 15 life domains are: relationship with your children, relationship with your parents, relationship with siblings, marriage or romantic relationship, spiritual life, studies, leisure activities or entertainment, friendships, housing, education attained, job, relationship with neighbours, health, standard of living, and household income.
***The list of values is: 1. Sense of belonging; 2. Excitement; 3. Fun and enjoyment in life; 4. Warm relationships with others; 5. Self-fulfillment; 6. Being well-respected; 7. Sense of accomplishment; 8. Security; and 9. Self-respect.
****The six democratic rights measured are satisfaction with the (1) rights to vote, (2) rights to participate in any kind of organisation, (3) rights to gather and demonstrate, (4) rights to be informed about the work and functions of the government, (5) rights to freedom of speech, and (6) rights to criticise the government.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Yvonne Chan Head, Corporate Communications NUS Business School National University of Singapore Tel: +65 6601 3018 Email: yvonnechan@nus.edu.sg
Seah Yi Qin Manager, Corporate Communications NUS Business School National University of Singapore Tel: +65 6601 2469 Email: yiqin@nus.edu.sg
About National University of Singapore (NUS)
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is Singapore’s flagship university, which offers a global approach to education, research and entrepreneurship, with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise. We have 16 colleges, faculties and schools across three campuses in Singapore, with more than 40,000 students from 100 countries enriching our vibrant and diverse campus community. We have also established more than 20 NUS Overseas Colleges entrepreneurial hubs around the world.
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