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Changes in Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being After a Severe Nationwide Disaster: The Case of the Great East Japan Earthquake

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  • Yukiko Uchida
  • Yoshiaki Takahashi
  • Kentaro Kawahara

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a longitudinal survey (N = 10,744) that examined how the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 affected the hedonic and eudaimonic well-being of young people in Japan outside of the afflicted area. Our dataset consists of Japanese citizens in their 20 and 30s from all non-afflicted prefectures. We conducted two surveys on well-being, one before the earthquake (December 2010) and one after (March 2011). The results suggested that people who were thinking about the earthquake when they completed the second survey had slightly increased general well-being after the earthquake as compared to before, showing that reflecting on the earthquake had prompted them to reevaluate their lives and increased eudaimonia. However, they experienced temporary negative emotional reactions more frequently, which shows that their sympathy for those in the afflicted area decreased their hedonic well-being. After the earthquake, Japanese youth were likely to value social connectedness and ordinary life. Moreover, this mindset promoted prosocial behaviors such as making donations and volunteering. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Yukiko Uchida & Yoshiaki Takahashi & Kentaro Kawahara, 2014. "Changes in Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being After a Severe Nationwide Disaster: The Case of the Great East Japan Earthquake," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 207-221, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:15:y:2014:i:1:p:207-221
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-013-9463-6
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    3. Jennifer S Dargin & Ali Mostafavi, 2020. "Human-centric infrastructure resilience: Uncovering well-being risk disparity due to infrastructure disruptions in disasters," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-29, June.
    4. John F. Helliwell & Lara B. Aknin & Hugh Shiplett & Haifang Huang & Shun Wang, 2017. "Social Capital and Prosocial Behaviour as Sources of Well-Being," NBER Working Papers 23761, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Eiji Yamamura & Chisako Yamane & Shoko Yamane & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2022. "Effect of major disasters on geographic mobility intentions: the case of the Fukushima nuclear accident," Chapters, in: Mark Skidmore (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Disasters, chapter 14, pages 275-291, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Saki Sugano, 2016. "The Well-Being of Elderly Survivors after Natural Disasters: Measuring the Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 67(2), pages 211-229, June.
    7. Saki Sugano, 2016. "The Well-Being of Elderly Survivors After Natural Disasters: Measuring the Impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 67(2), pages 211-229, June.
    8. Okuyama, Naoko & Inaba, Yoji, 2017. "Influence of natural disasters on social engagement and post-disaster well-being: The case of the Great East Japan Earthquake," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-13.
    9. Takuya Ishino & Akiko Kamesaka & Toshiya Murai & Masao Ogaki, 2014. "Effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake on Subjective Well-Being," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2014-010, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    10. Yamamura, Eiji, 2016. "Impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on obesity of children in Japan (2008–2014)," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 110-121.
    11. Da Jiang & Shuang Liu & John Chi-Kin Lee & Liman Man Wai Li, 2021. "Do People Become More or Less Materialistic during Disasters? The Mediating Roles of Mortality Salience and Gratitude," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-15, August.
    12. Eiji Yamamura, 2016. "Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95, pages 143-164, March.
    13. Mengqing Long & Jia Huang & Yishun Peng & Yawen Mai & Xian Yuan & Xinhua Yang, 2022. "The Short- and Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Child Maltreatment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-12, March.
    14. Jan Goebel & Christian Krekel & Tim Tiefenbach & Nicolas Ziebarth, 2015. "How natural disasters can affect environmental concerns, risk aversion, and even politics: evidence from Fukushima and three European countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(4), pages 1137-1180, October.
    15. Tiefenbach, Tim & Kohlbacher, Florian, 2015. "Disasters, donations, and tax law changes: Disentangling effects on subjective well-being by exploiting a natural experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 94-112.
    16. Yamamura, Eiji, 2015. "Impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on obesity of children in Japan, using data from 2008 to 2014," MPRA Paper 67076, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. SUGANO Saki, 2015. "The Well-Being of Elderly Survivors after Natural Disasters: Measuring the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake," Discussion papers 15069, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    18. Eiji Yamamura, 2015. "Impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the body mass index of children in Japan 2010-2014," ISER Discussion Paper 0941, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    19. Sarita Silveira & Martin Hecht & Hannah Matthaeus & Mazda Adli & Manuel C. Voelkle & Tania Singer, 2022. "Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perceived Changes in Psychological Vulnerability, Resilience and Social Cohesion before, during and after Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-30, March.

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