Peer-reviewed article
Eastern and Western Children’s Voices on their Well-Being
Silvia Exenberger, Raphaela Banzer, Jayakumar Christy, Stefan Höfer, Barbara Hildegard Juen ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study gathered views from 42 South Indian children and 48 European children aged 8 to 17 years about what makes them happy, sad, and how they cope with sadness. The research found seven key themes affecting children's well-being, including school, family relationships, friendships, health, and money. Indian and European children valued different things, shaped by whether they saw themselves as individuals separate from others or as part of a connected group.
Key points
- Indian and European children attach different values to school as a source of well-being
- Family interactions both support and threaten children's well-being
- Relationships have positive and negative effects on how children see themselves
- Children from different cultures name different exclusive sources of well-being
- Physical health, material resources, and culture-specific coping strategies all matter for well-being
Limitations
The study captures children's self-reported views on well-being but does not measure actual well-being outcomes or test whether these perceptions predict future health or development. The findings reflect only two geographic regions and may not represent all cultural groups.
Abstract
Few studies are planned to ‘give voice’ to children from different cultural backgrounds to explore their sources of happiness. To address this gap, the present study analysed focus group discussions with 42 South Indian and 48 European children aged 8 to 17 years. During the discussions, the children were asked about what makes them happy and sad and about what helps them feel good again when they feel sad. The data were analysed based on grounded theory. Data analysis revealed the following seven themes: ‘Indian and European children attach different values to school’, ‘interactions with biological families both support and threaten well-being’, ‘positive and negative effects of relationships on the self’, ‘Indian and European children name different exclusive well-being sources’, ‘cross-cultural and culture-specific coping and relaxation strategies’, ‘staying physically healthy is important to the children’s well-being’, and ‘material and economic resources are clearly linked with children’s well-being’. Moreover, the results suggest that the meaning of the well-being themes is shaped by a child’s self-construal, which is either independent (the self is separated from others) or interdependent (the self is connected with others). How culture might influence children’s viewpoints regarding their own well-being is discussed.