Relationships Among Financial Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction, and Political Action: A Comparative Study of the United States and South Korea

Background: Major social indicators such as employment rate, Gini coefficients, and tax revenue demonstrate comparable economic structures between the United States and South Korea (OECD, 2017). However, according to cultural dimensions theory (Hofstede, 1983), the former is categorized as an individualistic society, whereas the latter is culturally collectivistic. As such this study explores the potential impact of cultural orientation on the relationship among financial satisfaction, life satisfaction, and political action within the U.S. and South Korea.

Methods: The World Values Survey Wave 6 was used for this study. The total sample was 3,432 (United States=2,232, South Korea=1,200). Financial satisfaction and life satisfaction were measured by a ten-point, Likert scale (1="Completely dissatisfied", 10="Completely satisfied"). Political orientation was also measured by a ten-point, Likert scale (1="Left", 10="Right"). Political action, defined as 'elite-challenging political action' (Inglehart & Catterberg, 2002), was assessed by five questions on whether respondents had signed a petition, joined in boycotts, attended peaceful demonstrations, joined strikes, and other act of protest (1="Would never do", 2="Might do", 3="Have done").

One CFA model and path analysis model were assessed using a maximum likelihood estimation and a bootstrapping approach with Mplus 7. The CFA model evaluated the factor loadings of the five observed variables and the goodness-of-fit by multiple indices. The path model examined the relationship between financial satisfaction and life satisfaction and the indirect effect of political action. The effect of political orientation on political action was also examined.

Results: The CFA result revealed the latent variable for assessing the level of political action had parsimonious goodness-of-fit indices, [χ²=465.723 (df=18), CFI=.937, TLI=.930, SRMR=.055, RMSEA=.120]. The goodness-of-fit indices for the path analysis model were also acceptable [χ²=401.836 (df=80), CFI=.909, TLI=.898, SRMR=.063 RMSEA=.069]. According to path analysis, for the U.S. sample, financial satisfaction significantly affected life satisfaction (ß=.561, p<.001), and political action (ß=-.059, p<.05). Political orientation negatively affected political action (ß=-.267, p<.001). Similarly, for the South Korea sample, financial satisfaction significantly affected life satisfaction (ß=.476, p<.001), and political orientation negatively affected political action (ß=-.165, p<.001). However, the relationship between financial satisfaction and political action was opposite (ß=.141, p<.001). Lastly, the indirect effect of political action on a path from financial satisfaction to life satisfaction was not significant in both countries.

Implications: The findings showed a strong positive relationship between financial satisfaction and life satisfaction in both countries. Also, in both countries, more progressive individuals participated in more political actions. However, when exploring political action, we find an inverse relationship--with greater political action among lower-income individuals in the U.S. and greater political action among higher-income in South Korea. From a cultural dimensions theory perspective, these data suggest political actions in the U.S. (classified as "individualistic") were largely conducted by low-income individuals, potentially as means to enhance their individual well-being. In South Korea (culturally "collectivistic") middle-income individuals were also found to participate in political actions that likely benefit larger segments of society. As such, we encourage greater attention towards the political engagement of individuals across the economic spectrum to ensure enhanced life satisfaction for all.