The Societal Determinants of Happiness and Unhappiness: Evidence From 152 Countries Over 15 Years

Abstract

What makes people (un)happy? From the macro viewpoint, this study investigates the societal determinants of average life satisfaction (LS), the percentage of thriving/suffering people, and positive/negative affect collectively experienced in a society. Using the aggregate-level panel data for 152 economies over 15 years, country-fixed effects regressions reveal (1) the marginal effect of economic growth is likely to be smaller in affluent countries; (2) generosity predicts higher LS and positive affect heterogeneously across macroeconomic standards; (3) social support is substantially linked to both happiness and unhappiness worldwide; (4) freedom of choice predicts the lower risk of suffering and the higher chances of thriving and positive affect, especially in advanced economies; (5) longer healthy life expectancy is associated with the higher frequency of encountering negative affect; and (6) corruption negatively predicts happiness, particularly in the richest country group. These findings advance the socioeconomics of (un)happiness and relevant policy toward human flourishing.

Keywords

happiness unhappiness human flourishing socioeconomics comparative research

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aknin

L. B.

Broesch

Kiley Hamlin

Van De Vondervoort

J. W.

(2015). Prosocial behavior leads to happiness in a small-scale rural society. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(4), 788–795. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000082

Aknin

L. B.

Dunn

E. W.

Helliwell

J. F.

Biswas-Diener

Nyende

Barrington-Leigh

C. P.

Burns

Kemeza

Ashton-James

C. E.

Norton

M. I.

(2013). Prosocial spending and well-being: Cross-cultural evidence for a psychological universal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(4), 635–652. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031578

Aknin

L. B.

Dunn

E. W.

Proulx

Lok

Norton

M. I.

(2020). Does spending money on others promote happiness? A registered replication report. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(2), e15–e26. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000191

Araki

(2022a). Does education make people happy? Spotlighting the overlooked societal condition. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23(2), 587–629. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00416-y

Araki

(2022b). The resilience divide among older adults under uncertainty: A positive sociological study of life satisfaction during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 41(8), 1792–1801. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648221089284

Araki

(2023). Life satisfaction, skills diffusion, and the Japan Paradox: Toward multidisciplinary research on the skills trap. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 64(3), 278–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152221124812

Boehm

J. K.

(2021). Positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular disease: Exploring mechanistic and developmental pathways. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(6), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12599

Burnes

Sheppard

Henderson

C. R.

Wassel

Cope

Barber

Pillemer

(2019). Interventions to reduce ageism against older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Public Health, 109(8), E1–E9. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305123

Cai

Yuan

Wang

Huang

Jing

Yang

(2023). Does economic growth raise happiness in China? A Comprehensive reexamination. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(2), 238–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221089804

10.

Clark

A. E.

Frijters

Shields

M. A.

(2008). Relative income, happiness, and utility: An explanation for the Easterlin paradox and other puzzles. Journal of Economic Literature, 46(1), 95–144. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.46.1.95

11.

Clifton

(2022). Blind spot: The global rise of unhappiness and how leaders missed it. Gallup.

12.

Diener

(2000). Subjective well-being. The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.34

13.

Diener

(2012). New findings and future directions for subjective well-being research. American Psychologist, 67(8), 590–597. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof

14.

Diener

Chan

M. Y.

(2011). Happy people live longer: Subjective well-being contributes to health and longevity. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 3(1), 1–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-0854.2010.01045.x

15.

Diener

Pressman

S. D.

Hunter

Delgadillo-Chase

(2017). If, why, and when subjective well-being influences health, and future needed research. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 9(2), 133–167. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12090

16.

Diener

Wirtz

Tov

Kim-Prieto

Choi

won Oishi

Biswas-Diener

(2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9493-y

17.

Dunn

E. W.

Aknin

L. B.

Norton

M. I.

(2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687–1688. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150952

18.

Dunn

J. R.

Schweitzer

M. E.

(2005). Feeling and believing: The influence of emotion on trust. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(5), 736–748. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.5.736

19.

Easterlin

R. A.

(1974). Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence. In David

P. A.

Reder

M. W.

(Eds.), Nations and households in economic growth (pp. 89–125). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00286477

20.

Easterlin

R. A.

(2003). Explaining happiness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(19), 11176–11183. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1633144100

21.

Easterlin

R. A.

(2005). Diminishing marginal utility of income? Caveat emptor. Social Indicators Research, 70(3), 243–255.

22.

Easterlin

R. A.

McVey

L. A.

Switek

Sawangfa

Zweig

J. S.

(2010). The happiness-income paradox revisited. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(52), 22463–22468. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1015962107

23.

Falk

Graeber

(2020). Delayed negative effects of prosocial spending on happiness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(12), 6463–6468. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914324117

24.

Frey

Stutzer

(2002). Happiness and economics: How the economy and institutions affect human well-being. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1162/001152604323049361

25.

Gallup. (2023). Gallup analytics. https://www.gallup.com/analytics/213617/gallup-analytics.aspx

26.

Glass

Simon

R. W.

Andersson

M. A.

(2016). Parenthood and happiness: Effects of work-family reconciliation policies in 22 OECD countries. American Journal of Sociology, 122(3), 886–929. https://doi.org/10.1086/688892

27.

Helliwell

J. F.

(2003). How’s life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being. Economic Modelling, 20(2), 331–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979391006300202

28.

Helliwell

J. F.

Aknin

L. B.

(2018). Expanding the social science of happiness. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(4), 248–252. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0308-5

29.

Helliwell

J. F.

Layard

Sachs

J. D.

De Neve

J.-E.

(2020). World happiness report 2020. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

30.

Helliwell

J. F.

Layard

Sachs

J. D.

De Neve

J.-E.

Aknin

L. B.

Wang

(2021). World happiness report 2021. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

31.

Helliwell

J. F.

Layard

Sachs

J. D.

De Neve

J.-E

Aknin

L. B.

Wang

(2022). World happiness report 2022. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

32.

Helliwell

J. F.

Layard

Sachs

J. D.

De Neve

J.-E.

Aknin

L. B.

Wang

(2023). World happiness report 2023. Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

33.

Helliwell

J. F.

Putnam

R. D.

(2004). The social context of well-being. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 359, 1435–1446. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567523.003.0017

34.

Hui

B. P. H.

J. C. K.

Berzaghi

Cunningham-Amos

L. A.

Kogan

(2020). Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1084–1116. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000298

35.

Inglehart

Foa

Peterson

Welzel

(2008). Development, freedom, and rising happiness. Psychological Science, 3(4), 264–285. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00078.x

36.

Jebb

A. T.

Tay

Diener

Oishi

(2018). Happiness, income satiation and turning points around the world. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(1), 33–38. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0277-0

37.

Kahneman

Deaton

(2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(38), 16489–16493. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011492107

38.

Kahneman

Krueger

A. B.

(2006). Developments in the measurement of subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1), 3–24.

39.

Kushlev

Radosic

Diener

(2022). Subjective well-being and prosociality around the globe: Happy people give more of their time and money to others. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 13(4), 849–861. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211043379

40.

Leszczensky

Wolbring

(2022). How to deal with reverse causality using panel data? Recommendations for researchers based on a simulation study. Sociological Methods and Research, 51(2), 837–865. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124119882473

41.

Levy

S. R.

Lytle

Macdonald

(2022). The worldwide ageism crisis. Journal of Social Issues, 743–768. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12568

42.

Lim

Putnam

R. D.

(2010). Religion, social networks, and life satisfaction. American Sociological Review, 75(6), 914–933. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122410386686

43.

Lind

Bluck

McAdams

D. P.

(2021). More vulnerable? The life story approach highlights older people’s potential for strength during the pandemic. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 76(2), E45–E48. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa105

44.

Lyubomirsky

King

Diener

(2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803–855. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803

45.

Mikucka

Sarracino

Dubrow

J. K.

(2017). when does economic growth improve life satisfaction? Multilevel analysis of the roles of social trust and income inequality in 46 countries, 1981–2012. World Development, 93, 447–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.01.002

46.

Minahan

Falzarano

Yazdani

Siedlecki

K. L.

(2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and psychosocial outcomes across age through the stress and coping framework. The Gerontologist, 61(2), 228–239. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa205

47.

Nickell

(1981). Biases in dynamic models with fixed effects. Econometrica, 49(6), 1417–1426.

48.

Nikolova

(2016). Minding the happiness gap: Political institutions and perceived quality of life in transition. European Journal of Political Economy, 45, 129–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.07.008

49.

Oishi

Kesebir

(2015). Income inequality explains why economic growth does not always translate to an increase in happiness. Psychological Science, 26(10), 1630–1638. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615596713

50.

Oishi

Koo

Akiomto

(2008). Culture, interpersonal perceptions, and happiness in social interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(3), 307–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167207311198.Culture

51.

Oishi

Kushlev

Schimmack

(2018). Progressive taxation, income inequality, and happiness a policy analysis of taxation: Traditional versus. American Psychologist, 73(2), 157–168.

52.

Ono

Lee

K. S.

(2013). Welfare states and the redistribution of happiness. Social Forces, 92(2), 789–814. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sot094

53.

OECD. (2013). OECD guidelines on measuring subjective well-being. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264191655-en

54.

Park

S. Q.

Kahnt

Dogan

Strang

Fehr

Tobler

P. N.

(2017). A neural link between generosity and happiness. Nature Communications, 8, 15964. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15964

55.

Poulin

M. J.

Haase

C. M.

(2015). Growing to trust: Evidence that trust increases and sustains well-being across the life span. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(6), 614–621. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550615574301

56.

Pressman

S. D.

Jenkins

B. N.

Moskowitz

J. T.

(2019). Positive affect and health: What do we know and where next should we go? Annual Review of Psychology, 70, 627–650. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102955

57.

Steptoe

Deaton

Stone

A. A.

(2015). Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing. The Lancet, 385, 640–648. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61489-0

58.

Stevenson

Wolfers

(2008). Economic growth and subjective well-being: Reassessing the Easterlin paradox. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 39(1), 1–102.

59.

Tay

Herian

M. N.

Diener

(2014). Detrimental effects of corruption and subjective well-being: Whether, how, and when. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5(7), 751–759. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614528544

60.

Teachman

B. A.

(2006). Aging and negative affect: The rise and fall and rise of anxiety and depression symptoms. Psychology and Aging, 21(1), 201–207. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.21.1.201

61.

Uchida

Kitayama

(2009). Happiness and unhappiness in East and West: Themes and variations. Emotion, 9(4), 441–456. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015634

62.

United Nations. (2023). World social report 2023: Leaving no one behind in an ageing world. https://doi.org/10.18356/7f5d0efc-en

63.

Vanderweele

T. J.

(2017). On the promotion of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(31), 8148–8156. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1702996114

64.

Veenhoven

(1991). Is happiness relative? Social Indicators Research, 24(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00292648

65.

Veenhoven

(2000). Freedom and happiness: A comparative study in forty-four nations in the early 1990s. In Diener

Suh

E. M.

(Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 257–288). The MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2352-0_2

66.

Verme

(2009). Happiness, freedom and control. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 71(2), 146–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2009.04.008

67.

Wolbring

Keuschnigg

Negele

(2013). Needs, comparisons, and adaptation: The importance of relative income for life satisfaction. European Sociological Review, 29(1), 86–104. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcr042

68.

World Bank. (2022). The world by income and region. https://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/the-world-by-income-and-region.html

69.

World Bank. (2023). World bank open data. https://data.worldbank.org/

70.

Zheng

Wang

Sun

Zhang

Kahn

M. E.

(2019). Air pollution lowers Chinese urbanites’ expressed happiness on social media. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(3), 237–243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0521-2

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

1.80 MB