Debate: Evading the Paradox of Universal Self‐Ownership*

More than 1000 respondents in Sweden (2013) and the US (2014) were asked to report their subjective opinions and attitudes about situations that caused them regret, concern, worry, and anxiety. US respondents self-identified as Black. Although exploratory factor analyses extracted many latent factors from the 80 questions, a common latent inner factor was extracted from five questions that examined key psychological phenomena: worry at the present time, bothersome concerns in the present, regret for the past, anxiety about the future, and unpleasant experience in the past. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling of the latent variables (SEM/LV) provided convincing evidence of the existence of a common latent inner factor in both countries. Because each of the five key phenomena reflected concerns involving the self, the common latent inner factor was labeled "Being unable to detach from concerns involving the self." Then, the same latent inner factor was also confirmed in SEM/LV of combinations of data from Swedish and US Black respondents, and from respondents in a previous study (Japanese, and US respondents who identified as White; Hayase, 2016). Women, younger people, and people with lower levels of education were less able to detach from concerns involving the self than men, older people, and people with higher levels of education. Confirmatory factor analyses by SEM/LV provided additional evidence of the existence of a common latent inner factor for the five phenomena, worry, bothersome concerns, regret, anxiety, and unpleasant experience. Psychological and philosophical implications of the latent inner factor with regard to genuine happiness were discussed.

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concerns Involving the Self: What Is the Real Target of Anxiety, Regret, or Worry, When Things Do Not Go Right for You? More Evidence from Sweden and the United States

Hayase¹

2018

“…From a philosophical perspective, one respondent transcendently expressed that we do not own material possessions. This sentence reminds us that there are fundamental philosophical questions about the nature of material ownership (Pendlebury et al, 2001;Uyl & Rasmussen, 2003;Taylor, 2005;Curchin, 2007;Brian, 2010;Ypi, 2011). Consider the following scenario.…”

Section: Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forty years ago, John Lennon sang, "Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can". The concept of possession itself is interesting to consider, and investigate, and debate (Curchin, 2007). A recent report explained happiness and well-being as agential flourishing (Raibley, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ownership or Taking Action: Which Is More Important for Happiness?

Hayase¹,

Ura²

2015

In two studies (2010 and 2011), more than 2000 respondents living in Japan were asked whether they gained more happiness from ownership or from taking action. In the 2010 study, many more individuals preferred taking action to ownership; this preference was greater in women than in men and in older people than in younger people. Reasons for this preference were plainly expressed in respondents' free writing, and a categorical distinction between ownership and taking action was readily recognized and widely shared. Social desirability concerns probably did not play a role in responses. In the 2011 study, many individuals valued action more than ownership as like as the 2010 study. The preference for taking action over ownership was greater in women than in men, in older people than in younger people, and in people with higher levels of education than in people with lower levels of education. There was no relationship with annual income. The correlations with gender and level of education were similar to results of comparable studies conducted in the USA, although in the US studies, experiential purchases were evaluated, rather than taking action; however, the correlation with age was uncertain in the US studies. Further studies with US respondents will be necessary to examine this correlation. Possible reasons why many more people preferred happiness gained from taking action to happiness experienced from ownership were discussed.

“…They pointed out that some recent philosophical studies have argued that there is no self-ownership of one's own body, to say nothing of material ownership (Pendlebury et al, 2001;Uyl & Rasmussen, 2003;Taylor, 2005;Curchin, 2007;Ypi, 2011), and that further research is necessary to more fully address the distinction of self-ownership and no ownership, both psychologically and philosophically.…”

Section: Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concerns Involving the Self: What Is It That You Really Worry about, Regret, or Are Anxious about, When Things Do Not Go Right for You?

Hayase¹

2016

In two studies conducted in the US and Japan in 2012, more than 1000 respondents in each country were asked to report their subjective opinions and attitudes about situations that caused them regret, concern, worry, and anxiety. Although exploratory factor analyses extracted many latent factors from the 80 questions, a common latent inner factor was extracted from five questions that examined key psychological phenomena: worry at the present time, bothersome concerns in the present, regret for the past, anxiety about the future, and unpleasant experience in the past. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling of the latent variables (SEM/LV) provided convincing evidence of the existence of the common latent inner factor in both countries. Because each of the five key phenomena reflected concerns involving the self, the common latent inner factor was labeled "Being unable to detach from concerns involving the self." The same latent inner factor was also confirmed in SEM/LV of the combined USJapanese data. Women, younger people, and people with lower levels of education were less able to detach from concerns involving the self than were men, older people, and people with higher levels of education. This was true in the samples from both independent (US) and interdependent (Japan) cultures. Psychological and philosophical implications of the latent inner factor were discussed.