South Korea was one of twelve nations that participated in this study, alongside other nations including Romania, Colombia, Norway, Israel, Nepal, Algeria, Turkey, Spain, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Germany with a total of 42,567 participants.
This so-called 'happiness level' was determined through various arbitrary measures including family, education, social status, personal relationships, and other factors. Korean youngsters were especially dissatisfied with their overall outward appearance, weight, and school rankings, with the lowest scores, among the participating nations, of 7.2, 7.4, and 7.0 (out of 10) respectively. The criterion that scored the highest (8.9/10) among Korean children was their satisfaction with family.
The head researcher of this study, Seoul National University's Social Welfare Department professor Lee Bong Joo, stated, "The reason Korean children hold low regard for their own appearance and rankings is they are worn down from constantly being compared to other children on how well they are meeting the standards demanded by their parents and society in general."
This research was able to be performed by Seoul National University's Social Welfare Research Center with the support of both Save the Children and the Jacob's Foundation.
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