This article contributes to the literature on happiness by focusing on the effects of physical activity or sport participation on happiness or life satisfaction in a special population. Using survey data collected by the Korean Sports Association for the Disabled, all respondents were legally disabled. This study presents empirical evidence of positive ‘‘nonhealth effects’’ of physical activity on life satisfaction. Approximately a one-level jump in physical activity in the six-level score provided the same improvement in life satisfaction as one-quarter of the effect of the employment status change from unemployed to employed. Additionally, the empirical finding that the level of disability was insignificant in determining subjective well-being is consistent with a threshold argument. The authors’ empirical results also support there being no adaptation to disability, in contrast to findings in the psychology literature.
Bassey, E.J. ( 2005). The benefits of physical activity for health in older people-An update. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 15, 1-8.
2.
Berlin, J.A., & Cortitz, G.A. ( 1990). A meta analysis of physical activity in the prevention of coronary heart disease. American Journal of Epidemiology , 132, 612-628.
3.
Blacklock, R.E., Rhodes, R.E., & Brown, S.G. ( 2007). Relationship between regular walking, physical activity, and health-related quality of life. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 4, 138-152.
4.
Bouazzaoui, B., & Mullet, E. ( 2005). Employment and family as determinants of anticipated life satisfaction: Contrasting European and Maghrebi people’s viewpoints . Journal of Happiness Studies, 6, 161-185.
5.
Brereton, F., Clinch, J.P., & Ferreira, S. ( 2008). Employment and life-satisfaction: Insights from Ireland . Economic and Social Review, 39, 207-234.
6.
Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 917-927.
7.
Brown, W.J., Burton, N.W., & Rowan, P.J. ( 2007). Updating the evidence on physical activity and health in women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 35, 404-411.
8.
Carmeli, E., Zinger-Vaknin, T., Morad, M., & Merrick, J. ( 2005). Can physical training have an effect on well-being in adults with mild intellectual disability? Mechanisms of Aging and Development, 126, 299-304.
Clark, A., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y. & Lucas, R. ( 2008). Lags and leads in life satisfaction: A test of baseline hypothesis. Economic Journal, 118, F222-243.
11.
Clark, A., & Oswald, A. ( 1996). Satisfaction and comparison income. Journal of Public Economics, 6, 359-381.
12.
Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J., & Griffin, S. ( 1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.
13.
Easterlin, R.E. ( 1974). Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence. In P. A. David, & M. W. Reder (Eds.), Nations and households in economic growth: Essays in honor of Moses Abramowitz (pp. 98-125). New York: Academic Press.
14.
Easterlin, R.E. ( 1995). Will raising the income of all increase the happiness of all? Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 27, 35-47.
15.
Eisenberg, D., & Okeke, E. ( 2009). Too cold for a jog? Weather, physical activity, and socio-economic status. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 9 (Contributions, Article 25), 1-30.
16.
Ferrier-i-Carbonell, A. ( 2005). Income and well-being: An empirical analysis of the comparison income effect. Journal of Public Economics, 89, 997-1019.
17.
Garrett, N.A., Brasure, M., Schmitz, K.H., Schultz, M.M., & Huber, M.R. ( 2004). Physical inactivity: Direct cost to a health plan. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 27, 304-309.
18.
Graham, C., & Pettinato, S. ( 2002). Happiness and hardship: Opportunity and insecurity in new market economies. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
19.
Humphreys, B.R., & Ruseski, J.E. ( 2007). Participation in physical activity and government spending on parks and recreation. Contemporary Economic Policy, 25, 538-552.
20.
Humphreys, B. & Ruseski, J. ( 2009). The Economics of Participation and Time Spent in Physical Activity, Working Papers, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
21.
Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. ( 2006). Developments in the measurement of subjective well-being . Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20, 3-24.
22.
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A., Schkade, D.A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A.A. ( 2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306, 1776-1780.
23.
Katzmarzyk, P.T., Gledhill, N., & Shephard, R.J. (2000). The economic burden of physical inactivity in Canada. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 163, 1435-1440.
24.
Kileff, J., & Ashburn, A. ( 2005). A pilot study of the effect of aerobic exercise on people with moderate disability multiple sclerosis. Clinical Rehabilitation , 19, 165-169.
25.
Luttmer, E. ( 2005). Neighbors as negatives: Relative earnings and well-being . Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120, 963-1002.
26.
Macko, R.F., DeSouza, C.A., Tretter, L.D., Silver, K.H., Smith, G.V., Anderson, P.A., et al. (1997). Treadmill aerobic exercise training reduces the energy expenditure and cardiovascular demands of hemiparetic gait in chronic stroke patients. Stroke, 28, 326-330.
27.
Manson, J.E., Greenland, P., LaCroix, A.Z., Stefanick, M.L., Mouton, C.P., Oberman, A., et al. (2002). Walking compared with vigorous exercise for the prevention of cardiovascular events in women. New England Journal of Medicine, 347, 716-725.
28.
Morrow, J.R., Jackson, A.W., Bassarre, T.L., Miline, D., & Blair, S.N. ( 1999). A one-year follow-up to physical activity and health: A report of the surgeon general. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 17, 24-30.
29.
Njoki, E., Frantz, J., & Mpofu, R. ( 2007). Health-promotion needs of youth with a spinal cord injury in South Africa. Disability and Rehabilitation, 29, 465-472.
30.
Oreopoulos, P. ( 2003). Do dropouts drop out too soon? Evidence from changes in school-leaving laws. Mimeo, University of Toronto, March.
31.
Oswald, A.J., & Powdthavee, N. (2008). Does happiness adapt? A longitudinal study of disability with implications for economists and judges . Journal of Public Economics, 92, 1061-1077.
32.
Park, I., Kang, J., Nam, B., Lee, Y., Kim, Y., Lee, G., et al. (2007). Medical, socio-psychological and economical effect of participating in regular exercise for special population. Unpublished Report. Korea Sports Promotion Foundation .
33.
Park, I., Kwon, S., Lee, Y., Nam, B., Han, D., Kim, N., et al. (2008). Medical, socio-psychological and economical effect of participating in regular exercise for special population. Unpublished Report. Korean Sports Association for the Disabled.
34.
Penedo, F.J., & Dahn, J.R. ( 2005). Exercise and well-being: A review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 18, 189-193.
35.
Powdthavee, N. ( 2008). Putting a price tag on friends, relatives and neighbours: Using surveys of life satisfaction to value social relationships. Journal of Socio-Economics, 37, 1459-1480.
36.
Powdthavee, N. ( 2007). Economics of happiness: A review of literature and applications . Chulalongkorn Journal of Economics, 19, 51-73.
37.
Ryckman, R.M., Robbins, M.A., Thornton, B., & Cantrell, P. ( 1982). Development and validation of a physical self-efficacy scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 891-900.
38.
Sales, S.M., & House, J. ( 1971). Job dissatisfaction as a possible risk factor in coronary heart disease. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 23, 861-873.
39.
Siedlecki, K.L., Tucker-Drob, E.M., Oishi, S., & Salthouse, T.A. (2008). Life satisfaction across adulthood: Different determinants at different ages? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3, 153-164.
40.
Shedler, J., Mayman, M., & Manis, M. ( 1993). The illusion of mental health. American Psychologist, 48, 1117-1131.
Stone, W.J. ( 2004). Physical activity and health: Becoming mainstream. Complementary Health Practice Review, 9, 118-128.
43.
Tsuji, I., Takahashi, K., Nishino, Y., Ohkubo, T., Kuriyama, S., Watanabe, Y., et al. (2003). Impact of walking upon medical care expenditure in Japan: The Ohsaki cohort study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 32, 809-814.
44.
Wang, G., & Brown, D.R. ( 2004). Impact of physical activity on medical expenditures among adults downhearted and blue. American Journal of Health Behavior , 28, 208-217.
45.
Wang, G., Pratt, M., Macera, C.A., Zheng, Z.J., & Heath, G. ( 2004). Physical activity, cardiovascular disease and medical expenditures in U.S. adults. Annual Behavior Medicine, 28, 88-94.
46.
Washburn, R.A., Zhu, W., McAuley, E., Frogley, M., & Figoni, S.F. ( 2002). The physical activity scale for individuals with physical disabilities: Development and evaluation. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 83, 193-200.
47.
Winkelmann, L., & Winkelmann, R. (1998). Why are the unemployed so unhappy? Evidence from panel data. Economica, 65, 1-15.
