Fewer people were satisfied with their quality of life in 2012 amid rising living costs and changing social values, according to a report compiled by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The report found 44.7 percent of people polled nationwide were satisfied in 2012, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points from the previous year.
Even among those who said they were satisfied with their lives, their satisfaction index decreased from 3.46 to 3.41 on a scale of zero to five points.
According to the report, 12.3 percent of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied.
The report, which was released on Monday, was based on data and surveys provided by the livelihood index research group under the National People's Congress and filed by researchers from the academy.
Wang Junxiu, a sociologist at the academy and leading author of the report, said price rises and growing employment pressures were some of the biggest factors contributing to the increasingly gloomy mood.
"The survey was conducted while prices were rising, and this definitely has a role to play in the decline in the satisfaction index," he said.
But he added that the decline was also related to psychological factors.
"If someone just had a pay raise, the satisfaction that accompanied it may disappear very quickly. But the inner demand for an improved quality of life is constantly on the rise," he said.
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