print

Studies

Becchetti et al. (2016): study ZZ Europe 2006

Publication

Author(s):
Becchetti, L.; Corrado, L.; Sama, P.
Title:
Inside the Life Satisfaction Blackbox.
Source:
World Happiness Report, 2016, Vol.2, 1 - 36

Investigation

Public
50+ aged, general public, Europe, 2006,2007
Survey name
SHARE
Sample
Selection from general population sample
Respondents
N = 30325000
Non Response
Assessment
Interview: Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI)

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on single question:

Now here are some questions concerning how satisfied - or dissatisfied - you are with various things about your life, such as your standard of living, your education etc. To indicate this, would you use this card. If you are extremely SATISFIED with something you would call of the highest number, ten. If you are extremely DISSATISFIED you would mention the lowest number, zero. If you are neither extremely satisfied nor extremely dissatisfied, you would mention some number in between zero and ten - the higher the number, the more satisfied, the lower the number the less satisfied.
How satisfied - or dissatisfied - are you with the following? Just read off the number that comes closest to how you feel.
We have talked about various parts of your life. Now taking everything into account, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your life as a whole?
0  dissatisfied
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 satisfied
Classification:
O-SLW-u-sq-n-11-e
Author's label:
Life satisfaction
Page in publication:
4, 17
Observed distribution
Summary Statistics
On original range 0 - 10 On range 0-10
Mean:
7.54 7.54
SD:
1.78 1.78

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Male Sexe: male (vs female) Log income Household income Education years Level of school-education Household size Current household-composition Age class Age difference among elderly Leaving inheritance Savings Marital status Married (vs never married)
Never married (vs widowed)
Never married (vs divorced)
Never married (vs separated)
Never married (vs cohabiting)
Number of children Number of children Number of grandchildren Grand-children Hrooms Surface of house Urban area Community size Long term illness Self-perceived chronic illness Number of illnesses Number of health complaints Limited activities Degree of restriction Help to family Current social support provided Attended education Involved in schooling or not Sport social Current participation in voluntary associations Political participation Political participation in nation Participation in church Participation in church Voluntary work Voluntary work Countries Current nation of residence Age no prevent Attitude to ageing (getting older)
Degree of restriction
No out control Inner locus of control No feel left out Satisfaction with personal contacts Freedom of choice Current absence of restrictions (social freedom) No family responsibility Attitudes to family of procreation
Specific restrictions (perceived and actual)
No lack money Specific restrictions (perceived and actual)
Attitudes to own income
Life meaningful Single aspects of meaning of life Past good Retrospective level of happiness (period unspecified) Vitality Single aspect evaluations (on criteria of good life)
Feeling energetic (vs lethargic, tired)
Opportunities Single aspect evaluations (on criteria of good life) Future good Hopeful (vs hopeless)