The goals of this study were to validate a number of available collective social capital measures at the US state and county levels, and to examine the relative extent to which these social capital measures are associated with population health outcomes. Measures of social capital at the US state level included aggregate indices based on the…

During the last 30 years US citizens experienced, on average, a decline in reported happiness, social connections, and confidence in institutions. We show that a remarkable portion of the decrease in happiness is predicted by the decline in social connections and confidence in institutions. We carry out our investigation in three steps. First, we…

In 1995, a study entitled "Does Marriage Matter?" was published by Linda Waite in the journal of "Demography," which was concerned with the direction of such causal relationships. While Waite's examination of the causal relationships associated with marriage, and most other analyses of this type, is primarily concerned with the individual level…

National average happiness and the difference in happiness between women and men are positively correlated in European countries. This study focuses on this cross-country relationship and tests (1) whether, after controlling for socio-economic factors, the correlation is attributed to their direct relationship, or, alternatively, explained by the…

There is a common belief that economic crisis will lead to a decrease in subjective wellbeing. Previous studies indicate that income is correlated with happiness and unemployment with unhappiness. The relationship between increased income and happiness is well documented while the impact of decreased income has been less explored. The aim of this…

Nowadays, there is a wide debate about what rural means. An operational definition of rural concept is essential in order to measure health problems, optimize resource allocation and facilitate decision making aimed at closing the gap on inequity between areas. In 2005, the rurality index for Small Areas in Spain (IRAP) was developed using the…

The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between subjective economic status and indicators of successful aging to life satisfaction trajectories among the elderly in Taiwan. Data were from the four waves of "Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan". Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted. Subjective…

This study examines the association between work-related insecurity and health, with a focus on how this relationship is moderated by social location (gender, age and race). Drawing on longitudinal data from a Canadian labour market survey (1999-2004) the findings show that certain groups have a higher prevalence of exposure to certain types of…

Three field studies compared helping behavior across a sample of 24 small, medium and large cities across the United States. The relationship of helping to statistics reflecting the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of these communities was then examined. The strongest predictors of city differences in helping were population size,…

The present study investigated theoretically and empirically derived similarities and differences between the constructs of enduring happiness and self-esteem. Participants (N = 621), retired employees ages 51-95, completed standardized measures of affect, personality, psychosocial characteristics, physical health, and demographics. The relations…

Studies examining relationships between demographic variables in a general population of psychiatric outpatients and quality of life (QOL), in which QOL was assessed according to current recommendations, have not been performed yet. The aim of this study was to examine one particular aspect of this relationship: the question to what extent QOL…

Recent studies investigating need theory and the extent to which money can buy happiness have called for more research within culturally homogeneous samples from developing countries to explore this relationship. We examine wealth as a measure of possessions and savings and relate this to subjective well-being (SWB) among poor indigenous farmers…

Child poverty, as a critical indicator of the QOL, is intricately related to the social structure of the community. This hypothesis is explored for the 159 counties of Georgia for the year 2000. The influence of demographic, economic, family and health factors upon child poverty are explored through models of total, black and white child poverty.…