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By Yoon Ja-young
Koreans pick "material well-being" as the number one factor that makes their lives meaningful, a survey showed.
According to a survey by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center, which posed an open-ended question about the meaning of life in 17 advanced economies, people in 14 countries picked "family" as the most significant source of meaning in their lives, more than any other factor. "Family" includes quality time spent with their kinfolk, the pride they get from the accomplishments of their relatives and even the desire to live a life that leaves a better world for their offspring. "Family" was cited as a meaningful factor by around half or more of the respondents in Australia, New Zealand, Greece and the U.S. The survey allowed respondents to choose multiple answers.
Family, however, was not the top choice in Spain, Taiwan or Korea. "Health" was cited by most Spaniards, while Taiwanese picked "society," which the research center defines as the institutions and attributes of where people live.
In Korea, "material well-being" emerged as the top answer, with 19 percent of respondents picking it. "Health" ranked second, picked by 17 percent, while "family" came in at third with 16 percent of respondents. "Material well-being" was among the top five in most of the countries, but Korea was the only country where it ranked first.
Koreans also gave little value to "occupation." While "occupation and career" is one of the top three sources of meaning in most of the countries surveyed, it took only 6 percent of the emphasis in Korea. Korean respondents also put low emphasis on connections to friends and community members or spouses and romantic partners.
Direct comparisons with other countries, however, seem limited, since the research center also noted that Koreans were likely to provide only one answer to this open-ended question. In Korea, 62 percent of respondents provided only one answer, followed by Japan at 59 percent. Koreans' choosing of only one of the options contrasts with countries like New Zealand, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the U.S. and Australia, where around three-quarters of people gave more than one answer as making their lives fulfilling.
