A survey has found that Asian teenagers care more about their looks than their peers in the United States. A survey on high school students’ perceptions of life in China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States showed teenagers in the three Asian countries were more concerned about their looks.

The study, conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center, the Japan Youth Research Institute, the Korean Youth and Children Development Institute and a U.S. company, questioned 7,304 high school students -- 3,240 Chinese, 1,342 Japanese, 1,714Koreans and 1,008 Americans -- in 156 schools. Koreans, at 83.2 percent, cared most about their image, followed by 68.5 percent of Chinese students, and 66 percent of Japanese, while U.S. students showed the least interest at 33.4 percent.

U.S. students displayed more “individuality”, with 88.2 percent agreeing that “people should mind their own interests instead of others’”, much higher than Korea’s 69.6 percent, China’s 48.8 percent and Japan’s 47.6 percent.

The survey also found that U.S. teenagers showed more self-confidence as 85.2 percent were happy with themselves, while about 30 percent Chinese students were not satisfied with themselves.

Most seem to be content with their lives, with American students topping at 83.8 percent, followed by China 82.7 percent, Japan 77.4 percent and Korea 73.3 percent.

Japanese students, at 52.4 percent, were most dissatisfied with modern society, compared with 43.9 percent of Chinese students, 40.1 percent of Koreans and 24.5 of Americans, the survey says. Strong ambition is observed in Chinese high schools, only 41.2 percent of high school students content with “an average living”, compared with Koreans at 48.4 percent, Japanese at 66.3 percent and Americans at 71.7 percent. The statistics show 73.7 percent of Chinese students are very or relatively politically-minded, followed by Japanese and Koreans both at 45.9 percent, and Americans 45.4 percent.

Chinese students pay little attention to making money by taking part-time jobs, at only 45.8 percent, while Japanese students top the list by 70.7 percent, Americans at 63.3 percent and Koreans at52.2 percent.

Sixty-two percent of Chinese fathers and 65.8 percent of Chinese mothers have high expectations of their high school children, a lower level than the 76.7 percent of Korean parents and 69.2 percent of American fathers and 73.1 percent of mothers, while 57.1 percent of Japanese fathers and 73.1 percent of Japanese mothers expect much. Home and places where friends gather are the favorite places to seek happiness, while academic results and choices upon graduation are among the most frustrating things, according to the survey.