Table 1. Percentage Responses to Questions Used to Assess Financial Wellbeing, Socio-political Attitude, Health Status, and Lifestyle by Country.

Financial Wellbeing / Country / Strongly Agree / Somewhat Agree / Neither Agree nor Disagree / Somewhat Disagree / Strongly Disagree
Paying my bills is generally not a problem for me. / China / 8.0 / 14.0 / 27.0 / 35.5 / 15.5
Germany / 49.2 / 29.6 / 17.5 / 3.7 / .0
USA / 23.3 / 44.4 / 18.8 / 9.4 / 4.0
I’m generally satisfied with the way things are going for me financially. / China / 9.5 / 30.0 / 38.5 / 12.5 / 9.5
Germany / 14.3 / 34.4 / 32.3 / 15.3 / 3.7
USA / 10.8 / 36.3 / 23.8 / 22.9 / 6.3
I do not feel constrained to purchase the possessions I would like to buy. / China / 5.5 / 33.0 / 31.5 / 22.5 / 7.5
Germany / 9.5 / 22.2 / 41.8 / 20.1 / 6.3
USA / 9.4 / 35.0 / 26.5 / 24.2 / 4.9
I am at least as well off financially as my peers. / China / 4.0 / 43.0 / 36.0 / 14.0 / 3.0
Germany / 16.4 / 28.6 / 34.4 / 15.9 / 4.8
USA / 13.9 / 44.4 / 27.8 / 10.8 / 3.1
I probably have more debt than my peers. / China / 2.0 / 6.5 / 28.0 / 51.5 / 12.0
Germany / .5 / 4.8 / 6.3 / 21.7 / 66.7
USA / 5.8 / 12.1 / 20.2 / 32.7 / 29.1
I receive significant financial support from my parents. / China / 51.0 / 34.0 / 13.5 / 1.0 / .5
Germany / 23.3 / 23.3 / 23.8 / 18.0 / 11.6
USA / 25.6 / 21.5 / 9.4 / 16.1 / 27.4
Socio-political Attitude / Country / Strongly Agree / Somewhat Agree / Neither Agree nor Disagree / Somewhat Disagree / Strongly Disagree
People with higher income should have to pay a higher percentage of their income as taxes. / China / 33.5 / 42.5 / 21.5 / 1.5 / 1.0
Germany / 9.0 / 28.6 / 35.4 / 19.6 / 7.4
USA / 3.6 / 22.4 / 27.4 / 26.5 / 20.2
Everybody should have the same access to schools and universities at no cost. / China / 35.0 / 34.0 / 25.0 / 4.0 / 2.0
Germany / 48.7 / 30.7 / 13.8 / 6.3 / .5
USA / 15.2 / 21.5 / 21.5 / 28.3 / 13.5
Government regulation of business is necessary to protect the public interest. / China / 35.5 / 48.0 / 14.5 / 1.0 / 1.0
Germany / 11.1 / 36.5 / 42.3 / 7.9 / 2.1
USA / 7.2 / 41.7 / 19.3 / 20.2 / 11.7
Health Status / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / Very Poor
I consider my health to be: / China / 14.0 / 50.0 / 32.5 / 3.0 / .5
Germany / 17.5 / 68.8 / 13.2 / .5 / .0
USA / 34.5 / 58.7 / 5.4 / 1.3 / .0
Very Often / Often / Sometimes / Rarely / Very Rarely
How often do you get sick? / China / 2.0 / 8.5 / 42.5 / 36.0 / 11.0
Germany / .5 / 4.2 / 28.0 / 45.0 / 22.2
USA / .4 / 1.8 / 22.0 / 53.4 / 22.4
Not At All / 1-2 Times / 3-4 Times / 5-6 Times / More Than 6 Times
How often have you been in the hospital for more than three consecutive days during the last two years? / China / 75.0 / 19.0 / 4.5 / .5 / 1.0
Germany / 81.5 / 15.3 / 1.1 / 1.6 / .5
USA / 91.9 / 6.7 / .9 / .4 / .0
Lifestyle / I Don’t… / 1-2 Times / 3-4 Times / 5-6 Times / More Than 6 Times
On average, how often do you exercise per week? / China / 25.0 / 51.0 / 18.0 / 4.0 / 2.0
Germany / 27.5 / 49.7 / 17.5 / 5.3 / .0
USA / 15.7 / 31.4 / 35.4 / 13.0 / 4.5
On average, how many times per week do you eat fast food? / China / 34.0 / 57.5 / 5.5 / 2.0 / 1.3
Germany / 29.6 / 62.4 / 5.8 / 2.1 / .0
USA / 23.3 / 50.7 / 20.6 / 4.0 / 1.3
Strongly Agree / Somewhat Agree / Neither Agree nor Disagree / Somewhat Disagree / Strongly Disagree
I probably drink more alcohol than I should. / China / 1.0 / 4.5 / 14.0 / 30.0 / 50.5
Germany / 2.6 / 12.2 / 15.3 / 39.2 / 30.7
USA / 7.2 / 20.2 / 15.2 / 23.3 / 34.1
I take care of my body and avoid doing things that could adversely affect my health. / China / 17.0 / 56.0 / 21.0 / 4.0 / 2.0
Germany / 13.2 / 35.4 / 41.8 / 9.0 / .5
USA / 19.3 / 49.3 / 19.7 / 10.8 / .9

Table 2. Factor Scores for Five Constructs and Three Countries.

Panel A – Factor Score Statistics
Construct / Country / Mean / Median / Std. Dev.
Attitude toward Social Health Insurance / China / 3.85 / 3.83 / .53
Germany / 3.98 / 4.00 / .50
U.S. / 3.17 / 3.33 / .97
Financial Wellbeing / China / 3.15 / 3.16 / .73
Germany / 3.67 / 3.73 / .77
U.S. / 3.46 / 3.58 / .83
Socio-political Attitude / China / 1.94 / 2.00 / .73
Germany / 2.42 / 2.37 / .61
U.S. / 3.09 / 3.00 / .89
Self-Interest / China / 3.91 / 3.94 / .54
Germany / 4.18 / 4.29 / .54
U.S. / 4.34 / 4.29 / .45
Lifestyle / China / 4.10 / 4.03 / .57
Germany / 3.84 / 3.98 / .61
U.S. / 3.73 / 3.74 / .75
Panel B – Factor Score Comparison
Construct / Comparison / Mean Difference / Median Difference / Std. Dev. Differencea
Attitude toward Social Health Insurance / China-Germany / -.13** / -.17** / .03
China-U.S. / 0.68*** / 0.5*** / -0.44***
Germany-U.S. / 0.81*** / 0.67*** / -0.47***
Financial Wellbeing / China-Germany / -0.52** / -0.57*** / -0.04
China-U.S. / -0.31*** / -0.42*** / -0.1
Germany-U.S. / 0.21*** / 0.15* / -0.06
Socio-political Attitude / China-Germany / -0.48*** / -0.37*** / 0.12
China-U.S. / -1.15*** / -1.00*** / -0.16***
Germany-U.S. / -0.67*** / -0.63*** / -0.28***
Self-Interest / China-Germany / -0.27*** / -0.35*** / 0
China-U.S. / -0.43*** / -0.35*** / 0.09***
Germany-U.S. / -0.16*** / -0.00 / 0.09***
Lifestyle / China-Germany / 0.26*** / 0.05*** / -0.04*
China-U.S. / 0.37*** / 0.29*** / -0.18***
Germany-U.S. / 0.11 / 0.24 / -0.14***

Notes to Table 1:

aTested using Levene’s test for equality of variance.

* Significant at the 10% level.

**Significant at the 5% level.

***Significant at the 1% level.