The purpose of this study is to examine the association between social capital and subjective well-being (life satisfaction) by using multilevel analysis considering both individual and area-level social capital while adjusting for various control variables at multiple-levels in Seoul, South Korea. The data was from the 2010 (Wave 2) Seoul Welfare…

Quality of life concerns individual (physical and psychological health), interpersonal (social relationships) and contextual (environment) aspects, which are both subjective and objective. In considering contextual characteristics, empirical findings have demonstrated that people's relation to their living environment is a key issue for their…

This paper seeks to analyze the influence of the weather on a person's self-reported life satisfaction. On a theoretical level, it is claimed that "nice" weather can improve the affective well-being of a person. Given this, it is argued that affects can, in turn, have an impact on that person's general assessment of his or her life. In…

We draw on the recommendations of the Stiglitz Report to select a set of economic and social variables that can be used to make cross-country comparisons of wider well-being. Using data for the EU-15 countries for 1999 and 2005, we show how three-way analysis can be used to extract synthetic information from a large data set to determine the main…

The main purpose of this study is to examine the mediator and moderator role of positive and negative affectivity variables on the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction in university students. 397 university students, ranging in age from 18 to 27 (M = 20.98), attending different departments of the Faculty of Education, at Pamukkale…

In this paper we present standardized measures of tenth grade students' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours concerning sustainable development as those concepts are understood in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and we test the hypothesis that knowledge and favourable attitudes toward SD lead to favourable…

Using data from surveys on "social quality survey questionnaires", carried out by the Asian Consortium for Social Quality between 2009 and 2011, this study investigates the causes of social exclusion in six Asian societies. About 6,460 questionnaires were completed and the analysis of the data reveals the features and the causes of…

This study explored how people perceive the causes of poverty. Literature revealed that there are three broad theoretical explanations of perceptions of the causes of poverty, namely individualistic explanations, where blame is placed squarely on the poor themselves; structural explanations, where poverty is blamed on external social and economic…

The theoretical analysis of the concepts of social capital and of social cohesion shows that social capital should be considered as a micro concept whereas social cohesion, being a broader concept than social capital, is a more appropriate concept for macro analysis. Therefore, we suggest that data on the individual level should only be used to…

This paper examines the potential of self-reported information on capabilities as an alternative indicator and aggregator for well-being. We survey a population of 18 year old first-year Bachelor students in applied economics and business studies and demonstrate a way in which capabilities can be measured on the level of life domains as well as on…

This paper analyzed the effect of major positive and negative life events (marriage, divorce, birth of child, widowhood, and unemployment) on life satisfaction. For the first time, this study estimated the effects of life events not with a precision of 12 months but of 3 months. Specifically, two questions were addressed: (1) Does the precision of…

Empirical analyses of the determinants of life satisfaction routinely include the number of children as one of the socio demographic controls, without explicitly considering that, for a given household income, more children imply a lower level of income per family member. The variable "number of children" then often attracts a negative…

We examined the extent to which satisfaction with life, with one's self, and with one's day are predicted by pleasure, purpose in life, interest, and mood. In a sample of 222 college students we found that both satisfaction with life and self-esteem were best predicted by positive feelings and an absence of negative feelings, as well as purpose in…

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…

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to test a cause-and-effect model of factors affecting leisure satisfaction among Taiwanese adolescents. A structural equation model was proposed in which the relationships among leisure motivation, leisure involvement, and leisure satisfaction were explored. The study collected data from 701 adolescent…